Gymnastics Prepares for Two Weekend Meets

Friday, March 2

Towson, MD.

7 PM

Rutgers University

Towson/George Washington

Photo by: Mel Evans

Feb 28 | Women's Gymnastics

Meet Notes Fact Book Friday Live Results Friday Video Sunday Live Results Sunday Video

Scarlet Knights to travel to Towson and George Washington

MEETS EIGHT & NINE
Rutgers at Towson • March 2, 2018 • 7 p.m.
Rutgers at George Washington • March 4, 2018 • 1 p.m.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Coming off an emotional Senior Meet at the RAC, Rutgers gymnastics will have two opportunities to compete this weekend. The Scarlet Knights will start off with a Friday tri-meet at Towson with No. 19 George Washington at 7 p.m. before heading over to Washington D.C. to square off with the Colonials and Tigers again, adding Maryland for a quad meet Sunday at 1 p.m.

Live results and a video stream will be available for both meets.

RUTGERS MEET PREVIEW
On the strength of numerous career-best performances, RU tied its best team score of the year with a 194.800 last Saturday to claim first place in a home quad meet. The balance beam lineup sparked the surge with a season-high 48.975. That included a 9.925 from senior Makenzey Shank, which tied the school record reached previously in 2004 by Lisa Abrams. Also adding a first-place 9.900 on uneven bars, Shank was award Big Ten Event Specialist of the Week for the first gymnastics weekly honor since joining the highly-competitive conference in 2015.

Sophomore Shannon Farrell added a standout performance of her own with a trifecta of personal bests, posting a 9.875 on uneven bars and a 9.800 on both balance beam and floor exercise. Over on floor exercise, freshman Belle Huang led the way with her best so far at 9.875. Huang, who has competed all-around five times, leads the Scarlet Knights with a 9.745 Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) on vault, while Farrell has worked to a 9.750 on uneven bars through seven meets.

Balance beam continues to be the highest ranked group for the Scarlet Knights, owning a 48.580 RQS for No. 41. Shank's 9.925 elevated her season number to 9.820 with five marks of 9.850 or better. Floor exercise has the highest RQS number at 48.705, as junior Jenna Rizkalla holds a 9.810 and a season-high of 9.900.

Senior Libby Groden returned to vault (9.775) and balance beam (9.825) last time out and is one of 14 national semifinalists for the AAI Award. As the sport's highest honor, coaches from across the country will vote on six finalists in March.

The Scarlet Knights also traveled to Towson last season and brought home a 194.275, scoring a 195.475 in their most recent stop at George Washington in 2016.

COACH LEVINE Q&A
On looking back at Saturday's meet: "We had so many outstanding performances. That stands out and Micki winning Big Ten Event Specialist will be remembered as the first one that we've won. Some of those great performances came under high-pressure situations. This team continues to get better and grow together as a group."

On Makenzey Shank posting two 9.9s: "Beam stands out as a pretty flawless routine. It tied our record for the best routine ever and it deserved every bit of that. She has the potential to do that any week, but this past week she put it all together. Hopefully we see more of those moving forward. I see her confidence really growing on those events in practice every day and in meets. We talk about that if you go in there confidently, the sky is the limit."

On handling pressure situations: "A lot of it is simulating different situations in the gym. Maybe putting extra pressure on the first routine of the day or in an intrasquad. There are lots of ways to put pressure on in practice. It really comes down to doing what you do in practice in meets. We talk about that and this team has done a great job of doing that. We continue to get better. There's so much progress being made from the top of the lineup to the bottom of the lineup. That's something that stands out. On top of that, they have confidence in each other. That adds to that. If someone falls, that doesn't affect what you have to do next. I think we've done a great job of doing that this year."

On preparing for two meets in a weekend: "It is about taking care of your body. In some ways it is a lighter week because we have less practices, in other ways competition is both physically and mentally tougher. For the freshmen, it will be their first time doing this. We'll see how things go on Friday and make adjustments for Sunday. That's how we'll play it. We will make sure treatments get done on Saturday and get ready from there. But this weekend presents the opportunity for us to get two away scores."

TICKETS ON SALE FOR BIG FIVE MEET
After staging the Big Ten Championships last season, Rutgers is scheduled to host a Big Five meet at the RAC on March 17. The competitive meet will also involve Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Penn State to determine positioning for the Big Ten Championships, which will be held at Illinois. Click here to purchase tickets.

Follow Rutgers Athletics on Facebook and Twitter (@RUAthletics) for all of the latest news and updates. For specific updates regarding women's gymnastics, follow the program on Twitter (@RUGymnastics), Facebook (/RUGymnastics), Instagram (@rutgersgymnastics) and Snapchat (rutgersgym).