Main:Towson University

## History

In the fall, 1966, George McGinty was named the Tigers' coach and charged with the responsibility of building a women's collegiate gymnastics program. He held the position until his retirement in 1981. Over his 14-year stint the Tigers made five appearances in the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women's post-season Championship Meet, winning the 1969 Division II national title. Towson followed that performance with two fourth places, a sixth and a 12th in subsequent AIAW appearances. As of March 2019 that title remains the only national championship for women in the history of Towson athletics. It was also the first national title for any Towson program .

Towson began competition in the ECAC conference in the 1987 season, their first as a DI team. Towson was then a founding member of the EAGL conference in 1995 but left to rejoin the ECAC in 2005. They returned to the EAGL in 2013.

The Towson Gymnastics program has had a long and successful history, which continues to present day. Since becoming an NCAA Division I program during the 1986-87 academic year, the Tigers have won 14 Eastern College Athletic Association (ECAC) championships and reached the NCAA Regionals 13 times, including a string of nine straight bids. Towson’s best finish at NCAAs came in 1990 when the Tigers reached the finals and placed ninth in the nation. Towson has also won a U.S. Gymnastics NIT title in 1996 and USA Gymnastics Championship in 2007.

While competing in the East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL), the five Tigers have won 12 individual championship titles, three gymnasts of the year, two outstanding senior gymnasts, two scholar-athletes of the year and a coach of the year awards. Towson has had two NCAA Division I All-Americans (Gabi Weller, 2000; Erin Shanley, 1997) and two Southeast Regional Gymnasts of the Year (Kacy Catanzaro, 2012; Kristen Presutti, 2003). Catanzaro gained national fame for her history-making performance on the reality television show, “American Ninja Warrior.”

Over the years, three Tiger gymnasts have received perfect 10.0 scores: Gabi Weller on the bars vs. Pitt and New Hampshire in 2000, Heather Hanson on the floor at the same meet in 2000 and Kristen Presutti has two: on the vault at William & Mary in 2002 and on the floor at Maryland in 2003.

### Head Coaches

* George McGinty: 1968-1981
* Dwight Normile: 1982
* Dick Filbert: 1984-2010
* Vicki Chliszczyk: 2011-2019
* Jay Ramirez: 2020-present

### ECAC Championships

* 1987
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1995
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010

### ECAC Individual Champions

* Karen Bianchino
	+ 1987: VT, FX
	+ 1988: FX
* Lori Salindong
	+ 1988: AA, VT
	+ 1990: BB
* Anne Sugden
	+ 1988: UB
	+ 1991: BB
* Tandy Knight
	+ 1988: BB
	+ 1989: AA, BB
* Wendy Weaver
	+ 1989: UB
* Gabby Linarducci
	+ 1991: AA, FX, UB
	+ 1992: BB
	+ 1993: FX
* Kim O’Keefe
	+ 1991: UB
* Sari Lehmuskallio
	+ 1995: BB
* Christina Ghani
	+ 2005: FX, AA
	+ 2006: AA
	+ 2007: VT
* Christine Logan
	+ 2005: VT
* Stacie Hogan
	+ 2007: FX
* Decelia Willacy
	+ 2007: AA
* Alise McDonald
	+ 2008: VT
	+ 2009: FX
	+ 2010: AA, VT
* Annukka Almenoksa
	+ 2008: AA, BB
* Jackie Schweitzer
	+ 2009: UB
* Kacy Catanzaro
	+ 2012: VT, UB

### EAGL Individual Champions

* Erin Shanley
	+ 1996: VT, UB
	+ 1997: VT, UB
* Liane Williams
	+ 1996: BB
	+ 1999: VT, FX
* Gabi Weller
	+ 2000: AA, VT
* Jennifer Clarke
	+ 2002: BB
* Julija Kovaliova
	+ 2003: UB
	+ 2004: UB
* Aysia Sharif
	+ 2016: FX
* Mary Elle Arduino
	+ 2018: BB
	+ 2019: BB

## Current (2019-20) Roster

### Coaches

* Jay Ramirez - Head Coach
* Ashley Sauer - Assistant Coach
* Kristen Presutti Callihan - Volunteer Assistant Coach

## Commits

### 2020-21

* Sarah Girot - DeVeau's - L10
* Simona Kerekes - Brestyan's - L10
* Amanda Pedicelli - Club Equilibrix - Canadian elite
* Cassidy Stuart - Southeastern - L10
* Alexandria Tonkin - Milton Springers - L10
* Grace Vaillancourt - Gym Street USA - L10
* Allison Zuhlke - Salto - L10

## References

1. ↑ https://towsontigers.com/documents/2014/12/10//GYM\_2015\_Full\_MG.pdf?id=2956
2. ↑ https://towsontigers.com/news/2019/3/18/general-remembering-george-c-mcginty-sept-22-1933-march-14-2019.aspx
3. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA\_Women%27s\_Gymnastics\_Championships
4. ↑ https://towsontigers.com/roster.aspx?path=wgym
5. ↑ https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19iyybup4k1tCHQncuaa6yBqGiIbVj3IIUOPoKr7kHyY/edit#gid=692520029
6. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/B3pC0RMgM3e/
7. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/B3VCIZ9gAfs/
8. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/B3YRTEbFj2t/