TUCSON, Ariz. – The Towson University gymnastics team returns to the gym after a two-week hiatus, heading to the Grand Canyon State for a dual meet vs. Arizona on Friday, Jan. 23 at 8 p.m. ET (6 p.m. MT).
 
The meet will be broadcast on ESPN+, available via subscription.
 
Towson, from the East Atlantic Gymnastics League, stands at #43 in the latest Road to Nationals rankings while Arizona, in the Big 12 Conference, is at #44.
 
Towson's last meet came on Jan. 9, a dual meet victory over West Chester with a 195.325 team score.  Through two meets, Towson has an average team score of 194.438.  Arizona, having a 193.350 team score in its last meet in Denton, Texas, having an average team score of 194.388.
 
This is the first all-time meeting between Towson and Arizona since 2013.  Each Towson and Arizona were in the top-12 of the 1990 NCAA championship in Oregon, with Towson finishing ninth and Arizona tying for 10th.
 
Following this meet, the next two contests for Towson wll each be EAGL competitions, at New Hampshire on Feb. 1 and vs. LIU on Feb. 7.
 
TWO-TIME DEFENDING EAGL REGULAR SEASON CHAMPION….
Towson returns in 2026 as the two-time defending East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) regular season champion, having swept all EAGL regular season meets over the past two seasons for an 8-0 league record.
 
Towson won the EAGL Tournaments in 2023 and 2024, becoming the first league repeat champion since North Carolina in 2010-11.  Towson finished fourth in the 2025 EAGL Tournament in Philadelphia.
 
FOUR-TIME NCAA TOURNAMENT PARTICIPANT FROM 2021-24
Towson earned a spot in four consecutive NCAA Tournaments from 2021-24 as part of the top-36 teams in the national qualifier scores (NQS) each year.
2021 – NCAA Morgantown Regional Second Round
2022 – NCAA Raleigh Regional First Round
2023 – NCAA Pittsburgh Regional First Round
2024 – NCAA Gainesville Regional Second Round
 
Despite the team missing the NCAA Tournament in 2025, Isabella Minervini and Clara Hong qualified as NCAA Tournament competitors in the all-around and beam respectively.
 
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 seventh season at the helm of Towson, having led Towson to a pair of league tournament 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 seventh season.
 
…..AND SEVEN 2025 ALL-EAGL HONOREES
Seven returners to Towson's roster earned a combined 15 All-EAGL selections last season. The returners are headlined by Isabella Minervini, who was a 2025 All-EAGL honoree in all four rotations and all-around, being First Team on all-around, bars and vault, and Ava Harper, the 2025 EAGL Rookie Specialist of the Year and First Team All-EAGL on vault.  Polina Belanovski was  a three-time All-EAGL recipient last year, First Team on vault and Second Team on bars and floor.
 
In addition to the above trio, Isabella DeCroo, Lauren Greene, Adriana Hoffman and Celia Trotter all were All-EAGL in 2025.
 
WELCOME TO TOWSON!
Towson welcomed in eight new athletes for 2026, including six freshmen and two transfers.  The transfers are Hayden Gough, a 2024 NCGA National Champion on bars while with Wisconsin-Whitewater, and Faye Rodio, an Alabama transfer who was a Level 10 gymnast in high school.
 
TOWSON PICKED TO FINISH SECOND IN EAGL IN 2026
Towson, the two-time reigning EAGL regular season champion, was predicted to finish second in the league in the EAGL preseason coaches poll.  Towson is coming off a perfect 4-0 EAGL campaign last year.  Reigning EAGL Championship winner George Washington is predicting to finish first.
2026 EAGL Predicted Order of Finish (first-place votes)
1. George Washington (2), 22
2. Towson (1), 18
3. New Hampshire (1), 14
4. Temple (1), 13
5. LIU, 8
 
ACROSS THE COUNTRY
The Towson roster has representatives from 11 different states.  The Tigers connect most of the East Coast, going as far north as Massachusetts and down to Florida, also having student-athletes from Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.  In addition, sophomore Brissa Portillo is from Lima, Peru.  Towson has also 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), Floor (9.900, 1/9/26)
Carmella Calafati – Floor (9.950, 2/23/24)
Isabella DeCroo - Vault (9.925, 3/4/25)
Adriana Hoffman - Floor (9.900, 2/21/25)
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 2026 team, including Isabella Minervini, who surpassed the career 1,000-point mark on March 16, 2025.  Several other Tigers are approaching the career 1,000-point mark.
 
Career Points
Isabella Minervini (Sr.): 1,170.175
Polina Belanovski (Sr.): 710.425
Isabella DeCroo (Gr.): 675.175
---Illinois State (2022-24): 392.100
---Towson (2025-26): 283.075
 
TOWSON VS. ARIZONA BY THE NUMBERS (since 2013)
--Series Record: 0-0                           Last Meeting: N/A
--Home Record: 0-0                           
--Away Record: 0-0                            
--Neutral Record: 0-0
 
TROTTER EARNS EAGL SPECIALIST OF THE WEEK
Trotter's first-place finish on the balance beam on Jan. 9 vs. West Chester earned her EAGL Specialist of the Week recognition.  The senior earned a 9.850, her highest score on the beam since Jan. 17, 2025.  It was her first victory on the beam since Feb. 21, 2025.
 
TOP-10 PERFORMANCES IN HISTORY
Towson's gymnasts earned scores in 2025 that currently stand in the top-10 all-time in program history.
Polina Belanovski
--Floor: 9.900, t-9th all-time (Jan. 9, 2026)
Isabella Minervini
--All-Around: 39.425, 4th all-time (Mar. 22, 2025)
--Bars: 9.925, t-9th all-time (Feb. 16, 2025)
Isabella DeCroo
--Vault: 9.925, t-6th all-time (Mar. 4, 2025)
Adriana Hoffman
--Floor: 9.900, t-9th all-time (Feb. 21, 2025)
 
AN ALL-AROUND COMPETITOR EMERGES
Isabella Minervini served as Towson's all-around competitor in 10 meets in 2025, earning six first place and two second place finishes.   This includes a 39.425 score to be the EAGL all-around champion, 4th all-time in Towson history, plus a 39.300 total on Feb. 21 as well as on Mar. 9.  Before Minervini, Towson's last all-around competitor was in 2022.  In the first two meets, she has finished first in the all-around.
 
Polina Belanovski also is an all-around competitor this season, finishing second in the first two meets.
 
WILLACY ENTERS TOWSON ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME
Decelia Willacy '08 was inducted into the Towson Athletics Hall of Fame in 2025.  At time of induction, she was third on the program's all-time scoring list with 1,865 points.  The 2008 ECAC Gymnast of the Year was an All-ECAC honoree in all events, including all-around, and helped the Tigers win the 2007 USA Gymnastics National Championship and four ECAC titles.  Willacy is the 19th gymnast to be inducted into the Towson Athletics Hall of Fame.
 
STUDENT-ATHLETES
Towson had one of the top years in the classroom in the nation in 2024-25, earning the 11th-highest grade point average in the country at 3.76. 
 
In addition, 20 of the team's 24 student-athletes were honored as WCGA Scholastic All-Americans, having a 3.5 or higher cumulative GPA.  It is the second-straight year with at least 20 Towson gymnasts earned WCGA Scholastic status in the same season.
 
Isabella Minervini, one of the 20 WCGA Scholastic All-Americans, also was a College Sports Communicators Academic All-District® At-Large Team honoree for the second straight year.  It her second-straight selection, being qualified with a 3.5 GPA or higher and ranking top-75 nationally in an event.