PISCATAWAY, N.J. – For the first time in Rutgers gymnastics history, the Scarlet Knights have a pair of 196-plus team scores to boast in a single season. Competing against Maryland in a Big Ten dual on Saturday at Jersey Mike's Arena, Rutgers broke the program floor record with a 49.425,
Hannah Joyner broke her own All-Around school record with a 39.575, and the Scarlet Knights scored their third highest team mark in program history with a 196.325.
It was a true team effort on a historic day with eight student-athletes combining for 10 scores tying or setting career-highs, including a pair of 9.95's for Joyner on floor and
Avery Balser on bars. Four of those were on the meet finale floor exercise, where junior captain
Stephanie Zannella led off and set the tone with a career-high 9.850. Sophomore
Maya Jones chipped in a solid 9.775 before the final three Scarlet Knights put the bow on a record-setting floor day.
Junior
Emily Wood set her career-high at 9.925, followed by Joyner's career-high tying 9.950, and junior
Emily Leese anchoring with a career-high 9.925 to set the new program floor standard of 49.425. It is the second apparatus record set by the 2023 Scarlet Knights, joining the 49.375 balance beam record from Jan. 21.
Earlier in the meet, Rutgers posted its third highest bars score in program history at 49.275 behind four career-high or tying performances, led off by senior Jordan Zieden-Weber's career-high 9.800. Junior
Gianna Ortiz matched her best score at 9.775 and sophomore
Elia Aird turned in an important 9.825 before the 9.9-plus fireworks started on the bars.
Joyner notched her career-high 9.925 on bars, then one week after scoring her first 9.9, junior
Avery Balser took the next step with a stunning 9.950, tying for the second-highest score in program history.
Elsewhere in the gym, freshman
Gabrielle Dildy posted a career-high 9.750 on vault in her second collegiate appearance, and Leese turned in a career-best 9.825 in the second week of being in the starting beam lineup.
In the dual with Maryland, Joyner tied for the vault title and won the floor and all-around crowns outright. Balser scored the win on bars. The Terrapins edged Rutgers in the dual with a score of 196.875.
KNIGHT NOTES
- Rutgers' 49.425 on floor is a new school record, surpassing the 49.375 from March 7, 2015.
- Two of Rutgers top three scores of all time have been set this season, and all three have been set since the start of the 2022 season.
- The 49.275 on bars is the program's third-highest score in program history, the highest during head coach Umme Salim-Beasley's five-year tenure, and the highest bars score since Feb. 26, 2000 (49.300).
- One week after her first 9.9, Avery Balser upped the ante and scored a 9.95 on bars for the second-highest score in program history and the highest bars score since the 2000 season, 23 years ago.
- Hannah Joyner recorded her career-high 9.925 on bars and tied her career-high 9.950 on floor, marking her third 9.9 or higher on bars, eighth on floor, and program-record extending 32nd overall 9.9 or higher in her career.
- Junior Emily Wood scored a career-high 9.925 on floor.
- Junior captain Stephanie Zannella led off the floor exercise debuting a new routine with a career-high 9.850.
- Emily Leese, in her second week in the starting beam lineup, recorded a new career-high 9.775.
- In her second collegiate appearance, freshman Gabrielle Dildy posted a career-high 9.750 on vault.
- Senior Jordan Zieden-Weber led off bars with a career-high tying 9.800.
TOP INDIVIDUAL PERFORMERS
Vault: Hannah Joyner, 9.825 (T-1st)
Bars: Avery Balser, 9.950 (1st)
Beam: Hannah Joyner, 9.875 (3rd)
Floor: Hannah Joyner, 9.950 (1st)
All-Around: Hannah Joyner, 39.575 (1st)
UP NEXT
The Scarlet Knights hit the road on Sat., Feb. 18 at Iowa in a Big Ten dual meet starting at 5 p.m.
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