Rutgers Gymnastics Falls To New Hampshire In Season Opener
Jan 09 | Women's Gymnastics
DURHAM, N.H. (Jan. 9, 2011) – The Rutgers women’s gymnastics team came up short in its season opener with a 194.500 – 191.875 setback to New Hampshire inside Lundholm Gymnasium on the campus of UNH Sunday afternoon.
The Scarlet Knights posted a team score that would’ve ranked as the second-highest score recorded as compared to last season’s results. The team score was more than a point higher than last year’s season average of 189.528.
A pair of freshmen led Rutgers in the vault as Alexis Gunzelman (Tabernacle, N.J.) and Alyssa Straub (Nazareth, Pa.) tied for fifth overall in the event with identical scores of 9.700 in their first collegiate meet. Senior Kiah Banfield (Newbury Park, Calif.) was right behind with a score of 9.625 in the vault to place ninth. New Hampshire’s Chelsea Steinberg scored a 9.800 in the event to place first overall.
Sophomore Danielle D’Elia (Colts Neck, N.J.), who made her Scarlet Knight debut after transferring to RU from Central Michigan, paced Rutgers on the bars with a score of 9.725 to place fifth overall in the event. Freshman Alexandria Ivol (Woolwich Twp, N.J.) placed seventh with a score of 9.650 in her collegiate debut. Danielle Reibold and Austyn Fobes of UNH scored a 9.825 to win the bars title.
A trio of Scarlet Knights tied for fourth on the balance beam with sophomores Emma-Rose Trentacosti (Ridgefield Park, N.J.) and Jenna Zito (Rockaway, N.J.) and freshman Luisa Maria Leal (Cali, Colombia) each posting a 9.600 in the event. Senior Leigh Heinbaugh (Sicklerville, N.J.) scored a 9.550 to place eighth overall. Reibold won the event with a score of 9.800.
Banfield and Zito paced RU in the floor exercise with identical scores of 9.725 to tie for sixth overall. Sophomore Nicole Romano (Livingston, N.J.) and Leal tied for eighth with identical scores of 9.650. Fobes captured the floor exercise with a score of 9.875.
Zito and Leal each competed in the all-around for RU with Zito posting a score of 38.425 to place second and Leal recording a score of 38.000 to place third overall. Steinberg’s 38.950 took top honors.
Four freshmen – Gunzelman, Ivol, Leal and Straub – made their collegiate debuts while D’Elia made her RU debut in Sunday’s season opener.
Sunday marked the 11th straight year Rutgers and New Hampshire opened their respective seasons against each other.
The Scarlet Knights return to action next Sunday, Jan. 16 when they travel to Washington, D.C. for the George Washington Invitational. Action is set to get underway at 2 p.m.
