RALEIGH, N.C. – The two-time defending EAGL champion is ready to begin the 2025 season with a former EAGL rivalry meet and battle of reigning league champions.  Towson University gymnastics heads to North Carolina State for a dual meet on Saturday, January 4 at 4 p.m. in Raleigh, North Carolina.  In the preseason WCGA poll, Towson stands at No. 34 while N.C. State is at No. 25.
 
The meet will be streamed online on ACC Network Extra, with Rachel Garland and Sydney Snead on the call from the James T. Valvano Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina.  Visit gopack.com for ticket information for those looking to attend the meet.
 
Each Towson, two-time defending EAGL champion, and N.C. State, defending ACC champion, finished in the top-21 of the Road to Nationals rankings last year to earn spots in the NCAA Regional Second Round: Towson to the Gainesville Regional and N.C. State to the Ann Arbor Regional.
 
Towson and N.C. State were founding members of EAGL in 1995, being league rivals from 1995-2005 and 2013-23.  N.C. State left EAGL to compete in the ACC in 2023.
 
Towson last competed against N.C. State in the 2023 EAGL Championship in Durham, New Hampshire, where Towson won the title with a 196.500 team score over N.C. State's 196.425.  The two last met in a regular season meet on Feb. 10, 2023 in Towson.  Towson won the quad meet with a score of 196.375, defeating N.C. State, which had a score of 194.775.
 
TWO-TIME DEFENDING EAGL CHAMPION….
Towson returns in 2025 as the two-time defending East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) Tournament champion, the league's first repeat champion since North Carolina won in 2010 and 2011.
 
In 2023, a 9.9 beam routine by Lauren Keener secured Towson's first-ever EAGL title with a team score of 196.500 in Durham, N.H.  The next year, Towson, the EAGL regular season champion with a 4-0 league record, won the EAGL championship at TU Arena with a team score of 197.300, the highest team score in the history of the EAGL Championship, first competed in 1996.
 
…AND FOUR-TIME NCAA TOURNAMENT PARTICIPANT FROM 2021-24
Towson has earned a spot in the last four NCAA Tournaments as part of the top-36 teams in the national qualifier scores (NQS) each year.  2024 saw Towson surpass the regional first round as the No. 21 team in the nation with a NQS of 196.935.
2021 – NCAA Morgantown Regional Second Round
2022 – NCAA Raleigh Regional First Round
2023 – NCAA Pittsburgh Regional First Round
2024 – NCAA Gainesville Regional Second Round
 
BRINGING BACK THE STAFF…….
Three-time EAGL Coach of the Year and four-time WCGA Southeast Region Coach of the Year Jay Ramirez is back for sixth season at the helm of Towson, having led Towson to a pair of league titles and four NCAA Tournament appearances.  His 2024 Towson team's NQS score of 196.935 was the highest in program history, including three 197+ team scores.
 
Ashley LeVine, the 2023 WCGA National Co-Assistant Coach of the Year and three-time WCGA Southeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year, is back for her sixth season while volunteer assistant coach Jasmine Kauffman is in her third season.
 
…..AND EIGHT 2024 ALL-EAGL HONOREES
Eight returners to Towson's roster earned a combined 10 All-EAGL selections last season, including at least one honoree on each rotation.  The returners are headlined by 2024 WCGA First Team All-American Isabella Minervini, who had a 9.960 NQS on the bars, and Retoshia Halsell, the 2024 EAGL Rookie of the Year after being First Team All-EAGL on vault and floor.
 
In addition to Minervini and Halsell, Carmella Calafati, Lauren Greene, Adriana Hoffman, Clara Hong, Lauren Keener and Felicia Poblete all are back after being All-EAGL in 2024.
 
TOWSON PICKED TO FINISH FIRST IN EAGL IN 2025
Towson was predicted to finish first in the league in the EAGL preseason coaches poll.  Towson is coming off a perfect 4-0 EAGL campaign last year.
2025 EAGL Predicted Order of Finish (first-place votes)
1. Towson (2), 21
2. George Washington (1), 20
3. New Hampshire (1), 15
4. Temple (1), 12
5. LIU, 7
 
ACROSS THE COUNTRY
The Towson roster has representatives from 15 different states across three of the four time zones across the contiguous U.S.  The Tigers connect most of the East Coast, going as far north as Massachusetts and down to Florida, also having student-athletes from California and Texas.
 
In addition, sophomore Brissa Portillo is from Lima, Peru.  Towson previously has had two Canadians in the last decade of competition.
 
NEARING PERFECTION
Among Towson's returners include several athletes who have notched a 9.9+ score on a rotation.
 
Polina Belanovski – Vault (9.925, 2/26/23)
Carmella Calafati – Floor (9.950, 2/23/24)
Retoshia Halsell – Vault (9.900, 3/23/24), Floor (9.975, 2/23/24)
Clara Hong – Bars (9.925, 2/1/23), Beam (9.900, 2/25/22)
Lauren Keener – Bars (9.900, 3/12/23), Beam (9.925, 3/15/24)
Steph Macasu – Bars (9.925, 3/5/23)
Isabella Minervini – Bars (9.975, 2/16/24), Floor (9.900, 2/1/23)
Brissa Portillo – Bars (9.900, 2/16/24)
 
1,000-POINT CLUB
Towson brings a lot of experience to the 2025 team, including Clara Hong, who has been an All-EAGL honoree in her first three years with the team.  Hong surpassed the career 1,000-point mark last year, standing at 1,015.600 in her career. 
 
A couple other Tigers are approaching this milestone, including two-time All-EAGL beam athlete Lauren Keener, who has picked up at least 261 points in each of her first three years at Towson.
 
Career Points
Clara Hong (Sr.): 1,015.600
Lauren Keener (Sr.): 819.425
Isabella Minervini (Jr.): 569.925
 
TOWSON - #34 IN THE NATION
In the 2025 Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association preseason poll, Towson stands at No. 34 in the nation.    Towson is the only EAGL team in the preseason rankings.
 
This is the second straight year where Towson is ranked in the preseason poll, being at No. 36 to begin the 2024 campaign.
 
STUDENTS FIRST
11 Towson returners earned 2024 WCGA Scholastic All-America recognition last year, with 20 Tigers in total earning that honor.  20 Tigers last season was the most amount of Towson gymnasts to earn this award in a single academic year.
 
To earn this distinction, athletes must maintain at least a 3.5 grade point average.  Last year, Towson earned a team GPA of 3.64.
 
CATANZARO ENTERS TOWSON ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME
Towson alum Kacy Catanzaro '12 earned a spot in the Towson Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2024, being inducted in October.  A former First Team All-ECAC honoree in all four events, she finished her career with 1,414 points and earned 2012 NCAA Southern Regional Gymnast of the Year. 
 
Since graduation, Catanzaro became the first woman to scale the Warped Wall on the NBC TV show American Ninja Warrior and later signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment.
 
MINERVINI NAMED TO 2024 CSC ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT® TEAM
Isabella Minervini was selected to the 2024 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District® Team.  For gymnasts to qualify, nominees must have a 3.5 or higher grade point average, be at least sophomore standing and rank top-75 in any event via Road To Nationals.  Minervini, a mass communication major, was joined by 2024 Towson graduate Grace Vaillancourt.
 
Senior Clara Hong earned CSC Academic All-District® Team distinction in 2023, being joined by Vaillancourt and Lauren Bolen.  Lauren Bolen later earned a 2023 CSC Academic All-America® selection.  Bolen was the first Towson gymnast to earn CSC Academic All-America® since Sari Lehmuskallio in 1996.