When – Friday, January 26, 2024
Where – TU Arena | Towson, Md.
Time – 6 p.m.
Team Records – Towson (0-3) | Cornell (1-4) | GW (5-4) | UNH (4-1)
Live Stats – Stat Broadcast
Live Video – YouTube
 
Home Sweet Home
The Tigers compete in TU Arena for the first time this season on Friday, January 26 at 6 p.m. in a quad-meet. Towson will get a slight preview of the East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) Championships as conference members George Washington and New Hampshire are attending the meet. Cornell is set to compete as well.
 
Up In Philly
Last Friday Towson headed to Philadelphia for a dual meet with Temple. The Tigers fell to the Owls, 195.325-195.900, facing their first conference loss of the season.
 
The Black & Gold were in striking distance from Temple throughout most of the meet, trailing by no more then .200 during the first three rotations. The Owls pulled away for their final rotation of floor after putting up a 49.175, their highest event score of the meet.
 
Towson improved from the season opener team score by .100 and from the beam score by 1.05.
 
The Tigers picked up four podium finishes from Isabella Minervini, Elise Tisler, Clara Hong and Jenna Weitz. Minervini won bars with a career-high mark of 9.900. Tisler placed second on vault after matching her career high 9.850 on vault. Hong and Weitz tied for second on beam after both posting 9.825.
 
Scouting the Big Red
Cornell opened the 2024 season with a fifth place finish at George Washington's Lindsey Ferris Invitational, posting it's best season-opening score in eight years of 192.850. The Big Red had six individual top-10 finishes with a majority of them coming from gymnasts in the beam lineup. Cornell put up a 49.025 team score on beam, which is currently the team's highest event score.
 
The Big Red picked up their first victory of the season at the home opener, winning the dual meet against Bridgeport with a final score of 190.825.

Following the meet, junior Sydney Beers was named Gymnastics East Conference (GEC) Gymnast of the Week on January 23 after winning the all-around with a career-high 39.15. Beers holds the teams top scores on vault (9.8), bars (9.7) and floor (9.9) while junior Kate Michelini has the top beam score of 9.8750.
 
Towson - Cornell By the Numbers
-Series Record: Towson leads, 8-2
-Home Record: 5-1
-Away Record: 2-1
-Neutral Record: 1-0
-Last Meeting: February 29, 2020
-Towson: 193.750, Cornell: 190.750
 
Scouting the Revolutionaries
George Washington is coming off of a third place finish at the Next Level Podium Challenge, scoring a 193.475.
 
The Revolutionaries have found the most success on floor this season, posting a season high of 49.250 at their home quint meet. All six gymnasts in the floor lineup posted a 9.800 or better.
 
So far, two  gymnasts have earned EAGL weekly awards this season. Junior Sarah Zois was named Co-Gymnast of the Week on January 17 while senior Kendall Whitman picked up the same award the following week (January 24). 
 
Whitman holds the teams top scores on vault (9.9) and floor (9.925) while Zois has the top beam score at 9.9. Anneliese Silverman is tied with Delaney DeHaan for the teams top bars score (9.775).
 
Towson - George Washington By the Numbers
-Series Record: GW leads, 10-24
-Home Record: 8-8
-Away Record: 0-12
-Conference Record: 5-1
-Neutral Record: 2-4
-Last Meeting: March 12, 2023
-Towson: 196.525, George Washington: 195.450
 
Scouting the Wildcats
New Hampshire is on a 2 meet win streak, capturing 4 straight wins total after the two most recent meets. This past Sunday the Wildcats captured a quad meet victory against LIU, Yale and SCSU after posting a season high 195.400.
 
The team's strength has come from floor, with a season high of 49.075. Grad student Kylie Gorgenyi holds the teams top vault (9.875) and bars (9.875). Serena Mullin has the top beam score at 9.825 while Maya MacDonald, Gorgenyi and Poulina Minaev posted 9.875's for the top floor spot. Mullin was named EAGL Co-Specialist of the Week for week one while Minaev earned Co-Rookie of the week for week two.
 
Towson - New Hampshire By the Numbers
-Series Record: New Hampshire leads, 3-14
-Home Record: 0-5
-Away Record: 1-5
-Conference Record: 1-1
-Neutral Record: 2-4
-Last Meeting: January 20, 2023
-Towson: 195.075, New Hampshire: 195.275
 
How to Say It: TOWSON
-TOWSON is pronounced TOW like towel + Son.
-IT IS NOT: TOE-son, Townson, Towsond, Townsend, Townsen, Towzen. One N, no Z.
-We are Towson University, no longer Towson State University (and haven't been since July 1, 1997).
-Our mascot is Doc The Tiger, named after Donald "Doc" Minnegan, long-time soccer coach and athletics department administrator.
-Towson became the "Tigers" in 1962 after John Schuerholz (yes, the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame General Manager) pushed for the name change from the "Towson College Knights".
 
Promotional Schedule
-At the end of December, the Tigers announced the themes for the four home meets this season.
-January 26: Chelli Calloway Invitational/Pink Meet (LIU, George Washington, Cornell, New Hampshire)
-Pink/breast cancer themed giveaway items: 250 rally towels and 100 tshirts
-February 23: George McGinty Alumni/Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Meet (Temple)
-March 10: Pride Meet (Maryland)
-Pride themed giveaway items: 250 tshirts
-March 15: Own Your Roar/Dog Toy Toss/Senior Night Meet
-Giveaway item: 200 GohTigers themed fanny packs
-Fans are also encouraged to bring dog toys to donate to Maryland SPCA at the conclusion of the meet
 
Student Athletes
-Towson gymnastics earned a team cumulative GPA of 3.643, the highest of all sports teams at Towson
-Six athletes earned perfect 4.0 GPAs; Grace Vaillancourt, Brissa Portillo, Clara Hong, Lauren Greene, Elise Tisler and Steph Macasu.
-17 gymnasts were on the Dean's List for earning 3.5 or higher and six were on Athletic Director Honor Roll.
 
Road To Nationals
-Towson finished the 2023 regular season ranked 31st, which is the fourth highest ranking in program history
-After week three (1/1-1/22) Oklahoma remains ranked first with an average of 198.025 and high of 198.325.
-Towson is currently ranked 37th. By event the Tigers are ranked 21st for vault, 32nd for bars and 31st for floor.
-New Hampshire is ranked 39th, George Washington is ranked 50th and Cornell is ranked 63rd.
-Three of Towson's future opponents are ranked in the top 30 (Denver - 12, Maryland - 21, Kent State - 27).
 
Next Time on Tiger Gymnastics
Towson competes in a quad meet with George Washington, UPenn and William & Mary on February 2 at the Showplace Arena in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.