Gymnastics Back on the Road For Two Meets This Weekend

PHILADELPHIA - Temple will be back on the road for the next two meets as they travel to Raleigh, N.C. for a dual against the Wolfpack on Friday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. inside Reynolds Coliseum. Then, two days later, the Owls will face the same Wolfpack in Washington, D.C. in a tri-meet with the George Washington Colonials at 7 p.m. at the Charles E. Smith Center. Friday's dual meet with the Wolfpack will be available through the ACCN and Sunday can be streamed through the GWU website.

ONE TOUCH WARMUP
Temple improved to 7-4 on the season after coming from behind in the fourth rotation to defeat Yale at home in McGonigle Hall, 193.825-193.075.

Senior Ariana Castrence and sophomore Brooke Donabedian picked up the team's 15th and 16th event wins last Friday. Castrence picked up her first event win of the season overall with a win on the vault as she scored a season-high 9.825. Donabedian anchored the floor team with a career-high 9.9.

Later that night versus Yale, Castrence tied with fellow Owl, freshman Sarah Stallings for second place overall on the beam.
Freshman Hannah Stallings streak of six straight meets of competing in the all-around came to an end versus Yale. Stallings passed the baton to Castrence, who competed in her first all-around of the season. A season ago, the Waldorf, Md. native competed six all-arounds to end the regular season, averaging a 39.146 with a school-record 39.350 versus George Washington and Towson on March 5.

Temple and N.C. State have competed against one another seven times since their first-ever meeting in 1985. The Wolfpack holds the advantage 5-2, but the Owls and Wolfpack split last season, but the Owls got the better of the Pack at the EAGL Championships on their way to winning their first championship. Against GWU all-time, the Colonials hold a 49-11 advantage, with the first meeting taking place in 1984.

The Owls have an NQS of 194.845, good for No. 41 in the country. N.C. State comes in No. 29 with an NQS of 195.375, while GWU has marked a 194.370, just two places behind the Owls.

LAST TIME ON THE FLOOR
Vault
Ariana Castrence anchored the vault team with its second-best score of the season, as she picked up a 9.825, her first event win this season on the apparatus. Freshman Hannah Stallings finished in third place with a 9.775, while teammate Julianna Roland finished in fifth place with a 9.725.

Bars
Sisters Hannah and Sarah Stallings were two of three Cherry and White gymnasts to score a 9.7 or better. Sarah led TU with a 9.8, tying her career-high, set on Jan. 23 at Iowa State, while Hannah added her sixth straight 9.7 or better this season. Caitlin Gray also had a strong outing on the bars, matching her score from a week ago with a 9.725. It was the fourth time the senior achieved a 9.7 or better on bars this season.

Beam
Five of the six Owl gymnasts scored at least a 9.700 on the beam and were led by freshman Hannah Stallings and the anchor, Castrence, who both scored a 9.8. Stallings tallied her fifth 9.8 or better on the beam this season, while Castrence added her four such mark. In addition, sophomore Renee Schugman and freshman Summer Ruskey added back-to-back 9.775's, while Ruskey put together her best score of the season.

Floor
The Cherry and White squad took the top five spots on the floor, led by sophomore Brooke Donabedian, adding her first overall event win of the season. Five of the six Owl gymnasts scored at least a 9.775 on the floor, highlighted by Donabedian's 9.9. The Maple Valley, Wash. native, tied the season-high on the floor for Temple while being the eighth gymnast in school to achieve that mark. Along with Donabedian, two other floor performers scored at least a 9.8, including the sophomore Schugman (9.800) and graduate student Tori Edwards (9.850). It was the third straight 9.8 or better score for Schugman on the floor, while Edwards tied her season-high. In addition, Ruskey made her first appearance of the season on the floor as she recorded a 9.775.

OWL ABOUT TEMPLE
Temple starts the first NQS rankings as the fifth-best team in the EAGL as they have averaged 194.845.

The strongest event by far this season for the Temple Owls has been the floor exercise, where they have averaged an EAGL-best, 48.995. On Feb. 4 at the Towson Quad Meet, the Cherry and White tied the school record on the floor with a 49.375. The Owls have four gymnasts ranked within the top 20 of the conference, including sophomore Brooke Donabedian, averaging a 9.850 and ranked second. Graduate student Tori Edwards jumped into the top five after being ranked 11th last week. This week she came in ranked fifth with a 9.825 average, scoring at least a 9.850 in four meets. Fellow Owl vet Faith Leary has a 9.800 average and is ranked 13th, but did not compete during the Temple Pink last Friday. On the season, Leary has recorded 9.875's three times and scored a 9.7 or better in the six matches she's competed in. Hannah Stallings is 21st in the EAGL with a 9.770. Together as a team, the Owls have knocked out 36 9.7's or better scores this season.

Speaking of Stallings, the freshman is ranked fifth in the EAGL with a 38.875 in the all-around. The Raleigh, N.C. native had her streak of five straight all-around competition wins broken on Feb. 12 in Chapel Hill, where she finished third overall with a 39.000. Stallings 39.250 on Jan. 30 at the LIU Dual Meet tied her for the fifth-best score in school history, tying her with teammate Ariana Castrence's mark from 2020. She also tied Castrence's mark in her third meet of the season with the third-highest score in school history with a 39.275. On Jan. 23, Stallings also became one of three gymnasts in program history to record the highest score (9.9) in a vault routine.

Over on the vault, the team ranks third in the EAGL with a 48.863. Last week, Castrence won the 13th win of her career and gave Temple its third event win of the season on the apparatus with a 9.825. On Feb. 4 at the Towson Quad Meet, the Cherry and White tied the school record on the vault with a 49.150. Senior Julianna Roland has been the most consistent on the TU squad, with a 9.800 average. Roland is fifth in the conference and is one of three gymnasts in school history who has achieved the school record 9.9 mark, including doing it twice this season.

Temple has made strides over the past couple of weeks on the beam. 10 of the last 12 routines for the Cherry and White have resulted in at least a 9.700 score. The team is ranked fourth in the EAGL with a 48.735. Compared to the Feb. 4 Towson Quad Meet when Temple had just two scores of 9.7 or better, the Owls came out of this weekend with two 9.8's or better. Castrence and Hannah Stallings would end last Friday's Pink Meet in a second-place tie with a 9.8's. Over the last two weeks, the Owls have garnered five 9.8's or better.

The Owls have struggled the most on the bars this season as they are last in the conference after coming off a 47.275 during the home dual meet versus Yale, their lowest outing of the season. This season, senior Ariana Castrence has been the Owls' leader, competing in all seven meets, ranking 20th in the league with a 9.725.

SCOUTING NC STATE
The Wolfpack come into the weekend ranked second overall in the EAGL with a 195.395, and No. 29 in the nation.

NC State earned its second-highest score of the season in a dual meet against North Carolina, posting a 196.350.

Lauren Rutherford garnered an individual title on bars with a career-best 9.875. The freshman additionally tied for second place on floor with Emily Shepard.

Shepard was named EAGL Co-Specialist of the Week on Wednesday with LIU's Mara Titarsolej after she tied for second on all three of her events, with scores of at least 9.825.

SCOUTING GEORGE WASHINGTON
George Washington checks in at NO. 39 and ranks fifth in the EAGL with a 195.340 NQS.

The Colonials competed on back-to-back days, Sunday and Monday. They finished in second place on Sunday in Pittsburgh in a tri-meet behind Pitt and ahead of New Hampshire. The next night, down the road at West Virginia, GWU, again, would finish in second place behind the host and ahead of William & Mary.

Deja Chambliss ranks first in the EAGL on vault (9.875 NQS) and floor (9.880 NQS). She additionally ranks fourth in the conference in the all-around with an NQS of 39.045. Rachel Katz is tied for fifth in the league on vault with an NQS of 9.800.

For complete coverage of Temple gymnastics, follow the Owls on social media @TUWG (Twitter), facebook.com/TempleWGymnastics (Facebook), @templegymnastics (Instagram), or visit the official home of Temple University Athletics at owlsports.com and on TikTok @templeowls.

Gymnastics Back on the Road For Two Meets This Weekend

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Players Mentioned

Ariana Castrence

Brooke Donabedian

Tori Edwards

Caitlin Gray

Faith Leary

Julianna Roland

Summer Ruskey

Renee Schugman

Hannah Stallings

Sarah Stallings

Temple University Athletics