Gymnastics Heads To No. 21 NC State For Saturday Quad

PHILADELPHIA - Coming off their second-best team score of the season, the Temple Owls will travel to NC State on Saturday, March 2 to tangle with the No. 21 Wolfpack, Iowa State and Northern Illinois. The meet is set to begin at 4 p.m. in Reynolds Coliseum and will be available on ESPN+.

LAST TIME OUT
During week eight, the Owls scored a 195.525, coming in second place at the Towson Tri Meet as they finished in second place behind Towson (197.425), but defeated Long Island (193.425). Temple added two season-high scores on bars (48.950) and floor (49.250), marking the fourth-highest score in school history. It was the second time this season in the same meet the Owls earned season-highs in the respective events.

ROAD TO THE NATIONALS
The Owls best event this season has been on floor where they are ranked 52nd in the RoadtoNationals rankings with a 49.000. The other rankings include 53rd on bars (48.610), and 58th on vault (48.675) and beam (48.370).

VAULT
The Owls used nine gymnasts thus far this season on vault, with freshmen Hailey Best, Hannah Weklar, Amelia Budd, and junior Madison Dorunda seeing action on the apparatus for the first time in their careers. Fellow junior Summer Ruskey returned to the Owls' vault lineup for the first time since 2022.

The last time out at Towson, the Owls came .025 short of scoring a season-high as they scored a 49.050, tying for the ninth-best score in school history. Included was a career-best a 9.875 from senior Renee Schugman. Junior Summer Ruskey and Amelia Budd also hit on 9.8 scores with a 9.825 and 9.800 respectively.

Notably, senior Renee Schugman has been the most consistent TU performer on vault, averaging 9.732. She's earned a 9.7 or better in five of the seven meets she's competed.

BARS
At Towson, the Owls scored a season-high 48.950 on bars. Four of the six Owls' gymnasts scored 9.7 or better. Junior Sarah Stallings and senior Cyrena Whalen led the way for Temple with a 9.875. Sophomore Reese DeHaan and freshman Hannah Weklar earned their season high on the apparaturs. For DeHaan, it was the second straight meet she scored 9.750, and third this season, while Weklar in her second time out, scored a career-best 9.800.

Thus far through in eight meets, the junior Stallings has won a team-best four times on bars. Stallings started out the season with three-straight 9.8s or better and five overall. In her career, the Raleigh, N.C. native has earned 21 scores of 9.8-plus and nine bars event championships. The Raleigh, N.C. junior is ranked No. 4 in RoadtoNationals EAGL NQS rankings with a 9.835.

BEAM
Junior Madison Dorunda led the Owls on beam at Towson, scoring a 9.850, her fourth 9.8 or better this season. Senior Brooke Donabedian scored her third straight 9.8 or better with a 9.800, and fourth 9.8 score this year.

Dorunda is currently ranked 4th in the EAGL and 16th in the northeast region with a 9.805 NQS.

This past weekend at Towson , senior ReneeSchugman scored a 9.775. After eight meets in 2024, Schugman continues to be the Owls' most consistent gymnast on beam, averaging, 9.78. Schugman has scored 9.8 in four of the eight meets, including picking up a win at West Virginia earlier in the season.

FLOOR
With their season best score of 49.250 at Towson, five of the six Owls scored a 9.8 or better, including 9.9s from Brooke Donabedian (9.9) and Payton Monk (9.9-career high).

The Owls have used the eight gymnasts on the floor this season, including the freshman Monk and the senior Donabedian have been the only two floor team members to score at least a 9.700 each time out this season. Monk has scored at least a 9.800 in six of the eight meets this season.

Donabedian has also been a consistent performer in the event with six scores in at least the 9.8 range. The Maple Valley, Wash. native has added four events wins and four times this season she's scored a 9.900 and now 13 times in her career.

Donabedian and Monk rank within the top 10 of the RoadtoNationals EAGL NQS rankings, No. 2 (9.880) and No. 8 (9.840), respectively.

SCOUTING NC STATE
NC State is 6-4 overall, including a AAC-leading 6-0 record leading into Saturday's quad meet.

On Monday, the Wolfpacks' Emily Shepard was named ACC Gymnast of the Week for a fifth-consecutive week after she claimed her fifth all-around title, helping the Wolfpack defeat Pitt, 196.850-195.200. Shepard scored a 39.500, highlighted by a first-place finish on bars with a 9.950. Shepard additionally landed a second place finish on vault with a 9.850 and four-way tie for second place on floor with a 9.875.

SCOUTING NIU
Northern Illinois comes into Saturday's meet with a record of 7-8-1 and 1-4 in the Mid-American Conference

Freshman gymnast Dawsyn Sallee earned MAC Specialist of the Week following her performance in NIU's quad meet victory on Sunday where the Wolves defeated Illinois State (194.350), Wisconsin-Eau Claire (190.550), and Alaska Anchorage (191.200). The Wolves came short of scoring season with their 195.800.

Sallee competed on vault and floor exercise in the Huskies' home meet and as she earned team high scores in both events. Sallee scored a 9.850 on vault and then recorded a 9.925 on floor to pace the Huskies as they set a new team record on floor exercise with a 49.475.

SCOUTING IOWA STATE
With two meets in four days, the Cyclones went 2-2, ending Monday's string with a dual meet victory over No. 36 Southern Utah, 195.950-195.425. On Thursday Iowa State (195.950) took part of the Utah State Quad Meet, falling short for a third-place finish behind No. 33 Boise State (197.025), Utah State (196.275), but ahead of Texas Woman's (195.425). Thus far in 2024, Iowa State is 5-8 overall and 2-2 in the Big 12 Conference.

Last week, Iowa State's Noelle Adams secured her third Big 12 Newcomer of the Week after setting career highs on both the floor and beam, crossing the 9.900 threshold for the first time this season.

In the Utah State tri-meet, Adams claimed the highest score from any Cyclone this season, no matter the event, on floor as she recorded a 9.950. Her floor score of 9.950 tied for the seventh-highest floor score in school history. In Monday night's meet at No. 36 Southern Utah, Adams broke her personal best on beam, earning a winning score of 9.925.

UP NEXT
Temple gymnastics will return to McGonigle Hall on March 7 and March 10 with their final two home meets of the season. On March 7, Temple will host NC State, Maryland, and Penn at 1 p.m. and just three days later, LIU, West Chester, and William and Mary comes to town.

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.

Temple University Athletics

Gymnastics Heads To No. 21 NC State For Saturday Quad

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Players Mentioned

Hailey Best

Amelia Budd

Reese DeHaan

Brooke Donabedian

Madison Dorunda

Summer Ruskey

Renee Schugman

Sarah Stallings

Hannah Weklar

Cyrena Whalen

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