Saturday, March 24
Champaign, Ill.
3 PM
Rutgers University
at
Big Ten Championships
Photo by: Rich Graessle
Gymnastics Prepares for Big Ten Championships
Mar 21 | Women's Gymnastics
Big Ten Network to broadcast both sessions from Illinois
MEET 12 • BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
March 24, 2018 • 3 p.m. ET • BTN
State Farm Center • Champaign, Ill.
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers gymnastics has competed in 11 previous meets this season, all leading up to the Big Ten Championships set for Saturday on podium at the State Farm Center on the campus of Illinois. The Scarlet Knights will participate in the first session of the day at 3 p.m. ET and will begin on balance beam. Big Ten Network will have the live broadcast with Dean Linke and Alina Weinstein on the call.
"We are ready to go out there a put a show on for ourselves," head coach Louis Levine said. "It is our last meet, the Big Ten Championships. It is new life for everyone. We want to go out and show what we can do."
This will be RU's fourth appearance at the meet, including staging the action last season at the RAC. It was the first time in the history of Big Ten Championships, which dates back to 1982, that the competition took place on podium. A program-record 4,081 fans witnessed the Scarlet Knights top Maryland with a 194.700. Both Makenzey Shank (balance beam) and Claire Jones (vault) earned spot on the All-Championships Team. In 2016, Riahanah Ali became the first gymnast from Rutgers to earn All-Championships honors following her performance on floor exercise at Nebraska.
Top Rutgers Scores at Big Ten Championships
Team: 194.775 (2016)
All-Around: 38.950 – Libby Groden (2016 & 2017)
Vault: 9.875 – Claire Jones (2017)
Uneven Bars: 9.875 – Makenzey Shank (2016)
Balance Beam: 9.850 – Makenzey Shank (2017)
Floor Exercise: 9.875 – Riahanah Ali (2016), Claire Jones (2015), Libby Groden (2015)
Most recently, Rutgers hosted a Big Five meet at the RAC last Saturday. The crowd of 3,189 was the largest for a Big Five meet since the league expanded in 2015. The Scarlet Knights started with a 49.025 on floor exercise to reach 49-territory for the third time this season on the event. Also a highlight, the uneven bars lineup put together five consecutive scores of 9.700 or better to total a season-high 48.775.
"We had a huge crowd that shows what this place in capable of in terms of support," Levine said. "On top of that, we were right there with everybody. We had an unfortunate last event, but were right there in the middle of the pack heading into the last rotation. That should give us some confidence heading into the last meet here. If we just do what we're capable of, we can compete. What we're looking to do is just go out there and do our best. Put our best foot forward and see what happens from there."
The floor exercise group has the best Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) of the four events this season at 48.885. Junior Jenna Rizkalla leads the way with a 9.850 RQS, collecting at least a 9.800 her last six outings and a high of 9.900 on Jan. 27. Ali matched Rizkalla at 9.825 last week.
Balance beam owns the highest ranking of No. 43 with a 48.795 RQS, reaching as high as 48.975. Shank tied the school record on Feb. 24 by performing to a 9.925. The mark has not been achieved since 2004, as she holds a 9.855 RQS for the highest of any event for a Scarlet Knight. Sophomore Shannon Farrell is the uneven bars leader at 9.790 after swinging to a 9.700 or better each time this season. Freshman Toni Williams also has been at 9.700 or better on vault with a 9.780 RQS.
Groden returned to the all-around competition for the first time since Feb. 3 last week and totaled a season-high 38.950 in her final home meet. The AAI Award semifinalist has 46 career meets of experience with 38 all-around marks. Freshman Belle Huang has completed the circuited eight times as a rookie with a high of 39.050 on March 11 at Temple.
The opening session of the Big Ten Championships will also include Michigan State, Nebraska and Penn State. The Scarlet Knights will move to floor exercise after starting on balance beam, finishing on vault and uneven bars. The remaining six league members will take the podium at 8 p.m., with the highest team score regardless of session claiming the title.
The Winter Academic All-Big Ten selections were released on Wednesday and nine from Rutgers gymnastics were selected. To be eligible, student-athletes must be letterwinners who are in at least their second academic year at their institution and carry a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or higher.
Rutgers Winter Academic All-Big Ten
Riahanah Ali** - Psychology
Jenna Crisalli** - Communication
Chloe DeVries* - Criminal Justice
Libby Groden*** - Visual Arts
Emma Karas* - Human Resource Management
Erin McLachlan* - Journalism And Media Studies
Polina Poliakova* - Psychology
Eriel Santagado** - Evolutionary Anthropology
Makenzey Shank** - Journalism And Media Studies
* - denotes number of selections
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).
March 24, 2018 • 3 p.m. ET • BTN
State Farm Center • Champaign, Ill.
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers gymnastics has competed in 11 previous meets this season, all leading up to the Big Ten Championships set for Saturday on podium at the State Farm Center on the campus of Illinois. The Scarlet Knights will participate in the first session of the day at 3 p.m. ET and will begin on balance beam. Big Ten Network will have the live broadcast with Dean Linke and Alina Weinstein on the call.
"We are ready to go out there a put a show on for ourselves," head coach Louis Levine said. "It is our last meet, the Big Ten Championships. It is new life for everyone. We want to go out and show what we can do."
This will be RU's fourth appearance at the meet, including staging the action last season at the RAC. It was the first time in the history of Big Ten Championships, which dates back to 1982, that the competition took place on podium. A program-record 4,081 fans witnessed the Scarlet Knights top Maryland with a 194.700. Both Makenzey Shank (balance beam) and Claire Jones (vault) earned spot on the All-Championships Team. In 2016, Riahanah Ali became the first gymnast from Rutgers to earn All-Championships honors following her performance on floor exercise at Nebraska.
Top Rutgers Scores at Big Ten Championships
Team: 194.775 (2016)
All-Around: 38.950 – Libby Groden (2016 & 2017)
Vault: 9.875 – Claire Jones (2017)
Uneven Bars: 9.875 – Makenzey Shank (2016)
Balance Beam: 9.850 – Makenzey Shank (2017)
Floor Exercise: 9.875 – Riahanah Ali (2016), Claire Jones (2015), Libby Groden (2015)
Most recently, Rutgers hosted a Big Five meet at the RAC last Saturday. The crowd of 3,189 was the largest for a Big Five meet since the league expanded in 2015. The Scarlet Knights started with a 49.025 on floor exercise to reach 49-territory for the third time this season on the event. Also a highlight, the uneven bars lineup put together five consecutive scores of 9.700 or better to total a season-high 48.775.
"We had a huge crowd that shows what this place in capable of in terms of support," Levine said. "On top of that, we were right there with everybody. We had an unfortunate last event, but were right there in the middle of the pack heading into the last rotation. That should give us some confidence heading into the last meet here. If we just do what we're capable of, we can compete. What we're looking to do is just go out there and do our best. Put our best foot forward and see what happens from there."
The floor exercise group has the best Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) of the four events this season at 48.885. Junior Jenna Rizkalla leads the way with a 9.850 RQS, collecting at least a 9.800 her last six outings and a high of 9.900 on Jan. 27. Ali matched Rizkalla at 9.825 last week.
Balance beam owns the highest ranking of No. 43 with a 48.795 RQS, reaching as high as 48.975. Shank tied the school record on Feb. 24 by performing to a 9.925. The mark has not been achieved since 2004, as she holds a 9.855 RQS for the highest of any event for a Scarlet Knight. Sophomore Shannon Farrell is the uneven bars leader at 9.790 after swinging to a 9.700 or better each time this season. Freshman Toni Williams also has been at 9.700 or better on vault with a 9.780 RQS.
Groden returned to the all-around competition for the first time since Feb. 3 last week and totaled a season-high 38.950 in her final home meet. The AAI Award semifinalist has 46 career meets of experience with 38 all-around marks. Freshman Belle Huang has completed the circuited eight times as a rookie with a high of 39.050 on March 11 at Temple.
The opening session of the Big Ten Championships will also include Michigan State, Nebraska and Penn State. The Scarlet Knights will move to floor exercise after starting on balance beam, finishing on vault and uneven bars. The remaining six league members will take the podium at 8 p.m., with the highest team score regardless of session claiming the title.
The Winter Academic All-Big Ten selections were released on Wednesday and nine from Rutgers gymnastics were selected. To be eligible, student-athletes must be letterwinners who are in at least their second academic year at their institution and carry a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or higher.
Rutgers Winter Academic All-Big Ten
Riahanah Ali** - Psychology
Jenna Crisalli** - Communication
Chloe DeVries* - Criminal Justice
Libby Groden*** - Visual Arts
Emma Karas* - Human Resource Management
Erin McLachlan* - Journalism And Media Studies
Polina Poliakova* - Psychology
Eriel Santagado** - Evolutionary Anthropology
Makenzey Shank** - Journalism And Media Studies
* - denotes number of selections
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).
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/ Women's Gymnastics
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