Gymnastics | Meet R Newcomers
Dec 14 | Women's Gymnastics
Rutgers gymnastics head coach Umme Salim-Beasley welcomes seven newcomers for the 2024 season - freshmen Scarlette Ayakawa, Olivia DiNovi, Campbell Earley, Elliot Goldsmith, Isabella Nelli, Matis Rains, and Ginger Richards, along with LIU graduate transfer Katy Koopman.
The fresh faces “On the Banks” have increased excitement heading into 2024, when Rutgers will start the season receiving votes in the WCGA National Poll. The Scarlet Knights also return a bulk of the 2023 roster that won its regular season finale in a tri-meet against UPenn and No. 35 West Virginia with a new program-record score of 196.875, powered by a school-record 49.400 on beam and a school-record-tying 49.275 on vault.
This is a determined class that wants to make their mark. The entire class is full of hard workers, and they are not satisfied in doing the minimum. They ask for more and are excited about competing in college gymnastics. They’re going to figure it out pretty quickly. All of them can be described as energetic, excited, and determined.Head coach Umme Salim Beasley
Scarlette Ayakawa
Bars & Beam
Honolulu, Hawaii
Coppell High School
Prior to Rutgers: Scarlette is a Junior Olympic Nationals qualifier. She also graduated on the Honor Roll at Coppell High School.
Personal: Daughter of Miharu and Bryan…has one sibling, Auttumn.
Head Coach Umme Salim-Beasley on Ayakawa: “She comes from a reputable club that produces elite gymnasts (Texas Dreams). She has been unlucky with injuries coming in, but has quite a bit of poise on beam and a very interesting flow that the judges will like. She will be pushing to make the starting lineup as she works back to full strength.”
Olivia DiNovi
Bars & Beam
Mount Royal, N.J.
Paul VI High School
Prior to Rutgers: Olivia is a Level 10 All-Star National Qualifier on Bars. She graduated on the Honor Roll at Paul VI High School.
Personal: Daughter of Kristin and Brett
Head Coach Umme Salim-Beasley on DiNovi: “She is one of our Jersey girls and an elite level gym in Delaware. She has had coaches with an elite mindset, which has led to a lot of refinement in what she does. She’s been modifying because of some injuries, but she’s someone that we can see contributing to the bars lineup with great technique and has a routine that doesn’t have many deductions. She is quite a competitor early on as a freshman that should help her handle the pressure. She will challenge for a spot on beam, as well.”
Campbell Earley
All-Around
Austin, Texas
St. Michael's Catholic Academy
Prior to Rutgers: Campbell was a Junior Olympic National Qualifier. She was also the President of Jack and Jill of America from 2022-2023.
Personal: Daughter of Michelle and Bill…has two siblings, Beckett and Addison…Her mom and sister played rugby at Texas A&M and her dad also played rugby at a small school in Massachusetts
Head Coach Umme Salim-Beasley on Earley: “She is a very dynamic bar worker and we expect that she can get into the lineup with good form. Everything that she does is big, aggressive, and pretty. She can score well if she hits her routine, and she’s working on her consistency. We needed someone like her in our lineup and she will contribute.”
Elliot Goldsmith
All-Around
Ringgold, Ga.
Ringgold High School
Prior to Rutgers: Elliot is a Junior Olympics National Qualifier. She was also on the Academic Excellence Honor Roll and the Star Roll at Ringgold High School.
Personal: Daughter of Tisha and Mark… has 12 siblings, Nicholas, Michael, Nathan, Sean, Ren, Alex, Cooper, Mathis, Rory, Joely, Bette, and Carlin
Head Coach Umme Salim-Beasley on Goldsmith: “We recruited her for vault and floor. She is another one capable of a 10.0 start value on vault and on floor, she has a lot of power and quickness in tumbling and she’s light on her feet. It’s a fun routine and style. She has a full bar routine, as well. She has the ability to be an all-around gymnast and has the mindset to work toward that.”
Katy Koopman
Vault, Beam, & Floor
Kaneohe, Hawaii
Kalaheo High School/LIU
Prior to Rutgers: Katy is a Junior Olympic National Qualifier and graduated with Honors from Kalaheo High School in 2019. She transferred from LIU, previously at Bridgeport. She is a two-time WCGA All-America Scholar-Athlete and All-EAGL Scholastic Team.
Personal: Daughter of Kimberly and Roger
Head Coach Umme Salim-Beasley on Koopman: “She is a welcome addition to the team as a fifth-year transfer, giving us an ability to have depth on floor and vault. She has a 10.0 start value vault and difficult passes on floor. She will be stepping in to pull the scores that we would be missing from not having Hannah Joyner this year. She has experience under her belt, knows what this is like and what it takes to be successful as a college gymnast.”
Isabella Nelli
Beam & Floor
Sewell, N.J.
Washington Township
Prior to Rutgers: Isabella comes to the Banks after being the 2023 Athlete of the Year. She was also on the Honor Roll from 2019-2023 and was a part of the French, Science, Business, and National Honor Society at Washington Township.
Personal: Daughter of Susan and Domenico…has one sibling, Arianna
Head Coach Umme Salim-Beasley on Nelli: “Another Jersey girl looking for that opportunity to compete near home. She trained at the same gym as Brayden Battavio, so it's great having that familiarity with some of the team already. She's a super hard worker with a lot of poise in what she does. Beam is a strength, she's a positive team member, and enthusiastic all the time.”
Matis Rains
Bars & Beam
Atlanta, Ga.
Flower Mound High School
Prior to Rutgers: Matis was a Junior Olympic National Qualifier. She was also on the Honor Roll from 2019 to 2023 at Flower Mound High School.
Personal: Daughter of Beverly and Brian…Mom was on the Western Michigan University Gymnastics team and Dad was a University of Tennessee Football Player…Has two siblings, Jackson and Olivia
Head Coach Umme Salim-Beasley on Rains: “She is our highest ranked recruit coming in. She has Junior Olympics elite background, and her elegance is unmatched in the NCAA. Her gymnastics is similar to Nastia Liukin, and comes from the same gym. The training there translated to her style. The judges are going to love her style, she’s a competitor with no deductions in her routine. She's looking at bars and beam right now and will score very well, quite capable of 10’s on either event. She’s going to be a star in college gymnastics because of unparalleled elegance and work ethic.”
Ginger Richards
Bars & Beam
Falls Church, Va.
Bishop High School
Prior to Rutgers: Ginger is a Junior Olympic National Qualifier.
Personal: Daughter of Daughter of Jennifer and Kevin…has one sibling, Chloe
Head Coach Umme Salim-Beasley on Richards: “She should be contributing on beam and bars. She's from a well-known Virginia club that has produced elite gymnasts. You can see that with how she trains. She is a standout beam worker, very pretty on beam with great splits and unique dismount on bars and beam, which is refreshing. She sports a lot of skills that judges will have to pay attention to. It's not a cookie cutter routine. She should be known for her non-traditional gymnastics.”
