Gymnastics Hosts Five-Team Meet Saturday On Senior Day
Mar 04 | Women's Gymnastics
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (March 4, 2011) – The Rutgers gymnastics team will host Cornell, Southern Connecticut State, West Chester and Yale in a five-team meet Saturday at 1 p.m. inside the Livingston Recreation Center in the final home meet of the 2011 season. The Scarlet Knights will honor their eight-member senior class, who will be competing in their final meet at the Livingston Recreation Center. Saturday will also make the final career home meet for head gymnastics coach Chrystal Chollet-Norton, who will be retiring at the conclusion of the season.
Fans can log on to scarletknights.com and watch Knightvision Broadband for live streaming video of the meet with Danny Breslauer and former Scarlet Knight gymnast Kristen Zdanowicz (1990-94) bringing you all the action from the Livingston Recreation Center.
In its most recent competition, Rutgers recorded the third-highest score in school history and its highest in more than 10 years with a 194.150 to win its tri-meet against Bridgeport (191.850) and Ursinus (182.425) last Saturday evening inside the Livingston Recreation Center. Freshman Luisa Leal-Restrepo (Cali, Colombia), who was named the East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) Gymnast of the Week on Tuesday, set a school record score in the all-around with a 39.375 to place first overall in last Saturday’s meet. The freshman also captured the bars, balance beam and floor exercise titles in the meet.
The Scarlet Knights are 14-7 on the season and are looking to secure a bid to the NCAA Regionals with the 42nd best regional qualifying score in the nation. The top 36 schools at the conclusion of the regular season will earn a berth in the NCAA Regionals. RU is three wins shy of tying the school-record of 17 victories in a season, achieved in 2004 and 2007. Leal-Restrepo ranks 11th in the nation in the floor exercise with a 9.831 average in the event. As a team, the Scarlet Knights rank first in the EAGL and 21st in the nation in the floor exercise with an average score of 48.686.
Seniors Kiah Banfield (Newbury Park, Calif.), Erica “Sunny” Gerlach (Papillion, Neb.), Ellese Gold (Englewood, Colo.), Leigh Heinbaugh (Sicklerville, N.J.), Nicole Rose (Maple Shade, N.J.), Brooke Schwamburger (Powell, Ohio), Sara Woodward (Tallahassee, Fla.) and Maddie Zwiebel (Bridgewater, N.J.) will be competing inside the Livingston Recreation Center for the final time in their careers on Saturday.
It will also mark the final career home meet for Chollet-Norton, who is in her 25th and final season as the Scarlet Knights’ head gymnastics coach. The winningest coach in Rutgers gymnastics history, Chollet-Norton owns a 247-242-1 record at the helm of the RU program. She has guided Rutgers to five NCAA Regional appearances and the 2005 USA Gymnastics National Championship.
In its last competition, Cornell scored a 190.550 to place second in the Ivy Classic to Penn. Melanie Johnson captured the bars title with a score of 9.750, while Melanie Standridge won the balance beam crown with a score of 9.800 in the meet. The Big Red is averaging a score of 190.481 for the season.
Southern Connecticut State scored a 187.775 in a loss to Towson last Friday evening. The Owls were led by junior Mallory Miller in the all-around with a score of 37.725 in the meet.
West Chester enters Saturday ranked fifth in the nation among Division II schools with an average score of 183.691. The Golden Rams defeated Wilson College last Friday with a score of 185.450. Alli Aquila scored a 37.525 to lead West Chester in the meet.
Yale is coming off a fourth-place finish in the Ivy Classic last weekend with a score of 185.550. Stephanie Goldstein competed in the all-around for Yale with a score of 37.800 in the meet. The Bulldogs are averaging a score of 182.671 this season. Yale and Rutgers met on Feb. 6 in New Haven, Conn, where the Scarlet Knights scored a 190.575 to take first-place honors against the Bulldogs and Ithaca.
Following Saturday’s meet, Rutgers will travel to the state of Maryland where the Scarlet Knights will face Towson and Yale in a tri-meet next Friday at 7 p.m. RU will compete in the EAGL Championships at George Washington University on Saturday, March 19 at 2 p.m.
