WASHINGTON – The Towson University gymnastics team will compete in its final two regular season meets in the D.C. area, looking for an East Athletic Gymnastics League (EAGL) regular season title.  The Tigers will be at George Washington on Friday, March 14 at 6 p.m. and at Maryland on Sunday, March 16 at 1 p.m.
 
Each competition will be a quad-meet.  Towson will take on George Washington, Maryland and N.C. State on Friday and GW, Maryland and Yale on Sunday.  Friday's meet is an EAGL meet vs. GW.  With each Towson and GW at 3-0 in EAGL meets, the winner of the two on Friday will be the EAGL regular season champion.
 
The meet at GW will be broadcast live on ESPN+, available via subscription.  The meet at Maryland broadcast will be announced later.
 
This weekend will include stellar competition.  Towson stands at No. 35 in the Road to Nationals rankings and will take on three others teams ranked in the top-36: N.C. State is No. 19, Maryland is at No. 30 while George Washington is at No. 36.  Yale comes in at No. 55.
 
Towson is riding a six-meet winning streak, coming off a tri-meet victory over Alaska Anchorage and West Chester on Sunday with a 195.450 team score.  GW had a team score of 195.250 at home on Sunday in a tri-meet defeat to Clemson and Penn State.  Maryland's last competition was a tri-meet win at Yale and vs. LIU with a 196.150 team score, with Yale taking second on a 195.125 team score.  N.C. State competed in a dual meet at Texas Woman's University on Sunday, winning with a 196.675 team score.
 
The Tigers will take on GW in each of the next three meets, including the 2025 EAGL Championship, after already competing three competitions this year.  GW leads 2-1, with Towson winning the last one on March 4 196.400-195.800.  Towson is taking on Maryland for the first and second time this season.  The Tigers had a dual meet at N.C. State on Jan. 4, with the Wolfpack taking the meet 195.825-194.425.  Towson has defeated Yale twice, including last time out 195.400-193.675 in New Haven.
 
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.
 
Highest Scores (Date)
Polina Belanovski – Vault (9.925, 2/26/23)
Carmella Calafati – Floor (9.950, 2/23/24)
Isabella DeCroo - Vault (9.925, 3/4/25)
Chelsey Dennis - Bars (9.900, 2/8/25)
Callie Gardner - Vault (9.900, 1/31/25)
Retoshia Halsell – Vault (9.900, 3/23/24), Floor (9.975, 2/23/24)
Adriana Hoffman - Floor (9.900, 2/21/25)
Clara Hong – Bars (9.925, 2/1/23), Beam (9.900, 3/4/25)
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 1,338.775 in her career.  Lauren Keener, a two-time All-EAGL honoree on beam, surpassed the 1,000-point mark on March 4, 2025.
 
Career Points
Clara Hong (Sr.): 1,338.775
Lauren Keener (Sr.): 1,033.575
Isabella Minervini (Jr.): 950.725
 
TOP-10 PERFORMANCES IN HISTORY
Towson's gymnasts have earned scores in 2025 that currently stand in the top-10 all-time in program history.
Isabella Minervini
--All-Around: 39.300, 10th all-time (Feb. 21, Mar. 9)
--Bars: 9.925 (Feb. 16)
Isabella DeCroo
--Vault: 9.925, t-6th all-time (Mar. 4)
Adriana Hoffman
--Floor: 9.900, t-9th all-time (Feb. 21)
Clara Hong
--Beam: 9.900, t-10th all-time (Jan. 17, Mar. 2)
Lauren Keener
--Beam: 9.900, t-10th all-time (Jan. 31, Mar. 4)
 
MOST WINS IN NCAA
With 23 victories in meets this year, Towson has the most meet wins in the NCAA.  This includes a 10-1 record in the month of February and seven first-place finishes in meets this season.
 
UNDEFEATED AT HOME
Towson defended home turf well this season, being undefeated in all four home meets in 2025.
Feb. 8 - defeated Illinois St., Bowling Green, W&M
Feb. 21 - defeated Ball St.
Mar. 4 - defeated West Virginia, GW, Penn
Mar. 9 - defeated Alaska Anchorage, West Chester
 
AN ALL-AROUND COMPETITOR EMERGES
Isabella Minervini has been serving as Towson's all-around competitor in six meets, earning four first place and two second place finishes.   This includes a 39.300 total on Feb. 21 as well as on Mar. 9, 10th all-time in Towson history.  Before Minervini, Towson's last all-around competitor was in 2022.
 
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.
 
TOWSON VS. GEORGE WASHINGTON BY THE NUMBERS (since 2009)
--Series Record: 14-29                          Last Meeting: Mar. 9, 2025
--Home Record: 12-8                             Towson 196.400
--Away Record: 0-14                             George Washington 195.800
--Neutral Record: 2-7
 
TOWSON VS. MARYLAND BY THE NUMBERS (since 2013)
--Series Record: 1-16                            Last Meeting: Apr. 5, 2024 - Gainesville, Fla.
--Home Record: 0-4                               Towson 195.050
--Away Record: 0-4                               Maryland 196.350
--Neutral Record: 1-8        
 
TOWSON VS. N.C. STATE BY THE NUMBERS (since 2013)
--Series Record: 2-15                            Last Meeting: Jan. 14, 2025 - Raleigh, N.C.
--Home Record: 1-5                               Towson 194.425
--Away Record: 0-5                               N.C. State 195.825
--Neutral Record: 1-4        
 
TOWSON VS. YALE BY THE NUMBERS (since 2009)
--Series Record: 11-0                            Last Meeting: Feb. 16, 2025 - New Haven, Conn.
--Home Record: 4-0                               Towson 195.400
--Away Record: 1-0                               Yale 193.675
--Neutral Record: 7-0                                      
-TowsonTigers.com-