The Meets: 
Towson at Pittsburgh, vs. Ball State, Temple
When: Friday, Feb. 27 – 7 p.m.
Where: Fitzgerald Field House – Pittsburgh, Pa.
Online Broadcast: ESPN+
 
Towson vs. N.C. State, Ursinus, West Virginia
When: Sunday, Mar. 1 – 2 p.m.
Where: SECU Arena – Towson, Md.
Tickets: https://www.gofevo.com/group/26TUgymsingles
Promotion: Pride Night
Giveaway: Pride Jersey Giveaway – First 150 Fans
Online Broadcast: YouTube Live
 
TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University gymnastics team is set for a pair of quad-meets this week, first with a trip to Pittsburgh on Friday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m., then returning home to SECU Arena for a competition on Sunday, March 1 at 2 p.m.
 
On Friday, Towson will take on Pittsburgh, Ball State and Temple, then on Sunday, Towson hosts N.C. State, Ursinus and West Virginia.
 
Tickets for the Sunday meet are available here: https://www.gofevo.com/group/26TUgymsingles.  The first 150 fans will receive a pride jersey giveaway.
 
Friday's meet will be on ESPN+ while the Sunday home meet will be broadcast on YouTube Live.
 
Towson is coming off its best meet of the season, earning a 195.900 team score in a quad meet victory at George Washington this past Sunday.  The Tigers have earned first place in three of their last four meets.
 
The two meets combine for four programs ranked in the top-40 of the Road to Nationals rankings: N.C. State (#22), Ball State (#37), Towson (#t38) and Pittsburgh (#t38).  West Virginia is at #48, Temple is at #51 while Ursinus is #76.
 
Each meet features two matchups with EAGL connections.  For Friday, Temple is a current EAGL member while host Pittsburgh was a member of EAGL from 1995-2023.  On Sunday, Towson faces two former EAGL institutions: N.C. State was in EAGL from 1995-2023 while West Virginia was from 1995-2012.
 
From here until the EAGL Tournament on March 22, Towson will be competing in quad meets. 
 
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.
 
MINERVINI - #23 NATIONALLY ON BARS
Isabella Minervini continues her impressive performance on the uneven bars, currently ranking 23rd overall in the Road to Nationals rankings with a 9.885 national qualifying score (NQS).  She has twice earned a 9.950 this season, tying for third in Towson history.
 
She also ranks 28th nationally in the all-around with a 39.180 NQS and 61st nationally on floor with an 9.865 NQS.
 
BRINGING BACK 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.
 
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), Beam (9.900, 1/23/26), Floor (9.900, 2/1/23)
Brissa Portillo – Bars (9.900, 2/16/24)
Celia Trotter - Beam (9.00, 1/23/26)
 
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.): 1,404.800
Polina Belanovski (Sr.): 873.775
Isabella DeCroo (Gr.): 782.200
---Illinois State (2022-24): 392.100
---Towson (2025-26): 390.100
 
FRIDAY
TOWSON VS. BALL STATE BY THE NUMBERS (since 2016)
--Series Record: 4-2               Last Meeting: Feb. 21, 2025 - Towson, Md. - Towson 196.075, Ball State 194.500
 
TOWSON VS. PITTSBURGH BY THE NUMBERS (since 2014)
--Series Record: 10-8             Last Meeting: Mar. 3, 2024 - Morgantown, W.Va. - Towson 196.325, Pittsburgh 195.225
 
TOWSON VS. TEMPLE BY THE NUMBERS (since 2013)
--Series Record: 15-8             Last Meeting: Mar. 22, 2025 - Philadelphia, Pa. - Towson 195.675, Temple 195.775
 
SUNDAY
TOWSON VS. N.C. STATE BY THE NUMBERS (since 2013)
--Series Record: 1-16             Last Meeting: Mar. 14, 2025 - Washington, D.C. - Towson 195.800, N.C. State 196.675
 
TOWSON VS. URSINUS BY THE NUMBERS (since 2010)
--Series Record: 11-0             Last Meeting: Feb. 13, 2026 - West Chester, Pa. - Towson 195.325, Ursinus 191.950
 
TOWSON VS. WEST VIRGINIA BY THE NUMBERS (since 2010)
--Series Record: 6-11             Last Meeting: Mar. 4, 2025 - Towson, Md. - Towson 196.400, West Virginia 196.125
 
THREE TOWSON ATHLETES EARN EAGL WEEKLY AWARDS
            Towson's top team score of the season in D.C. resulted in three EAGL weekly awards.
--Isabella Minervini: EAGL Co-Gymnast of the Week
--Isabella DeCroo: EAGL Specialist of the Week
--Jocelyn Lannon: EAGL Rookie Specialist of the Week
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 DeCroo
--Vault: 9.925, t-6th all-time (Mar. 4, 2025)
Adriana Hoffman
--Floor: 9.900, t-9th all-time (Feb. 21, 2025)
Isabella Minervini
--All-Around: 39.450, 4th all-time (Jan. 23, 2025)
--Bars: 9.925, t-9th all-time (Feb. 16, 2025)
--Beam: 9.900, t-10th all-time (Jan. 23, 2025)
Celia Trotter
--Beam: 9.900, t-10th all-time (Jan. 23, 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 Before Minervini, Towson's last all-around competitor was in 2022.  In the first four meets, she has finished first in the all-around each time.
 
Polina Belanovski also is an all-around competitor this season, finishing top-3 in the first three 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.
 
DAN O'CONNELL (1953-2026)
Dan O'Connell, who worked in the Towson media relations office for 35 years from 1979-2014, passed away in January 2026.  He was the longtime SID for Towson gymnastics among other sports at Towson plus worked with statistics in the NFL, CFL, MLB and several colleges in the area.  He was a Towson Athletics Hall of Fame inductee in 2021.