When March 2, 2023 | 4 p.m.
Where McGonigle Hall | Philadelphia, Pa.
Team Records Towson (20-2-1)
Temple (8-13)
Maryland (5-7)
West Chester (13-4)
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First Rotation
The Tigers are opening the month of March with a trip back up to Philadelphia. Temple will host Towson, West Chester and Maryland on Thursday afternoon at McGonigle Hall.
Path to Success
The Tigers are certainly on the right path this season, and the multiple major accomplishments can attest to that. Towson has defeated the past six opponents, posted six scores over 196, scored 49.000 or better on bars for six consecutive meets and currently has the most wins in the EAGL conference (20). The Black & Gold are also ranked 27
th nationally, which is the third highest ranking in season history.
This past Sunday the Tigers broke out new leos which proved to be somewhat of a good luck charm, as they won their final home meet of the season with a season high and the second highest score in program history (196.775). Starting off the meet strong with a program best score on vault (49.400), Towson continued to come out on top after each rotation. Tigers claimed the first-place spot individually on every event except beam;
Polina Belanovski (VT 9.925),
Grace Vaillancourt (9.900) and
Paige Casper (FX 9.925) were the event winners at this meet.
The team's success on vault marks the second program best Towson has achieved this season, with the first being on bars (49.400) three weeks ago. The Tigers have at least five meets to go, allowing them time to find more success on the other events as well.
Scouting the Owls
This will be the second time this season that Temple and Towson will compete against each other. Last we saw the Owls was on February 10 at SECU Arena, where Temple put up 195.300 to place second at the EAGL quad showdown with North Carolina State and Pittsburgh. Towson won the meet with 196.375.
Temple's highest score so far this season is a 195.450, earned at a quad meet on Feb 19. The teams highest scoring event is floor, where the season high and program record is a 49.400. For the top individuals in each event; Ashley Glynn holds a 9.850 on vault, Sarah Stallings has a 9.900 on bars, Brooke Donabedian posted a 9.900 on beam and Renee has a 9.925 on floor. Donabedian also picked up an EAGL Specialist of the Week on Feb 22 after earning her third gold medal of the season on floor. Temple is currently ranked 49
th nationally and sixth in EAGL.
Scouting the Terrapins
Maryland, who sits at 25
th, will be the highest nationally ranked team that the Tigers are set to compete against so far. The Terps have had a consistent season in terms of scoring, with little difference in score margin on all events. The team has scored above 49.000 on vault for every single meet this season, yet it's highest scored event is on floor (49.450). Three of the top individual scorers on each event have posted over 49.000s. Emma Silberman leads on vault with a 9.875. Aleka Tsiknias, Josephine Kogler and Alexa Rothenbuescher claim bars, beam and floor respectively all with 9.925s. Silberman was named Co-Big Ten Gymnast of the Week Feb 21 after posting the top all-around score of 39.325 at a dual meet with Minnesota.
The Terps and Tigers are quite familiar with each other, having gone head-to-head 12 previous times since 2013 where Towson has come out on top once in 2020. The two teams have certainly proven that Maryland is a successful gymnastics state.
Scouting the Rams
West Chester will be another familiar face this meet, as this will be the third time this season Towson has competed against them. Last we saw the Rams was on Feb 12 at a quad meet with UPenn and Ursinus in Philadelphia. The Tigers posted a season best (196.450) at the time to win the meet while West Chester took second place with 193.050.
West Chester has defeated the past six opponents in a row, with scores over 193.000. The teams season high is 194.650, achieved at a dual meet with Cornell on Feb 19. The Rams highest scoring event this season is beam, where they posted a season high and second-best score in program history 48.950 on Jan 15. Kiah Johnson, Jordan Coleman and Kristina Rodriguez are the individual top scorers on vault, bars and beam respectively with 9.850s. Rose Fanara, Gymnastics East Conference Co-Specialist of the Week (Jan.11), takes floor with a 9.825. McKenna Kissinger, who ranks in the top-five individual scorers for the Rams on four events, also picked up a Gymnastics East Conference (GEC) Weekly award. Kissinger was named GEC Co-Gymnast of the Week on Feb 22 after her career high (9.825) and first place finish on beam at the dual meet with Cornell.
Vault Queen
-Rookie
Polina Belanovski has claimed her role as the vault specialist for the Tigers.
-The Wisconsin native has posted 9.850 or better on the event for the past five consecutive meets including two 9.900s and a career high 9.925.
-The freshman has also placed first in the event at the past five meets.
-Belanovski picked up an EAGL Rookie of the Week award on Feb 15 for her performances.
9.900 Club
-Seven Tigers have posted 9.900s or better on their events this season.
-The most 9.900s come from bars and floor.
-
Lauren Bolen (9.900 VT),
Paige Casper (9.925 FX),
Amy Stewart (9.925 FX),
Grace Vaillancourt (9.950 UB),
Clara Hong (9.925 UB),
Polina Belanovski (9.925 VT) and
Isabella Minervini (9.950 UB & 9.900 FX) are all apart of the 9.900 club.
EAGL Rankings
-Towson (20-2-1(5-1-1 EAGL)) is currently ranked first in EAGL (via RoadToNationals.com daily results) with a high 196.775 and NQS 196.265.
-
Grace Vaillancourt is third on bars (NQS 9.900) and
Isabella Minervini is fourth (NQS 9.890).
-
Polina Belanovski moved up a couple spots and is now tied for third on vault with an NQS of 9.870.
Next Time on Tiger Gymnastics
-Towson heads to Colorado for a dual meet with #10 Denver on March 5.
