Quartet of Scarlet Knights Earn All-EAGL Honors
Mar 20 | Women's Gymnastics
RALEIGH, N.C. – Four Scarlet Knight gymnasts—senior Latara Northcutt (Snellville, Ga.), sophomore Erica Gerlach (Papillion, Neb.), and freshmen Danae Johnson (Silver Spring, Md.) and Nicole Schwartz (Somerset, N.J.), were named to the East Atlantic Gymnastic League’s second team by the league’s coaches at the annual awards banquet Friday night. Northcutt earned second-team accolades for beam, while Gerlach was recognized for her achievements on the uneven bars. Johnson and Schwartz were honored for their performance in the floor exercise and in the all-around respectively.
Northcutt, one of the most experienced members of the squad, has competed in all but one meet this season. She saved her best for last at home, posting a season-high 9.725 score on the beam against Cornell on Senior Day on Mar 7. Northcutt also posted a 38.200 score in the all-around competition—the best all-around score for any Rutgers gymnast this season—during a quad-meet against the University of Pennsylvania, William and Mary, and fellow EAGL member George Washington University on Jan 24. She was named second-team All-EAGL on the uneven bars in 2006 and 2007.
Gerlach came on strong late in her first season on the uneven bars for Rutgers, after missing all of last season with an injury. An All-EAGL Academic team member last year, she scored 9.750 on the uneven bars in a tri-meet against the University of Bridgeport and the University of Alaska on Feb 28. Gerlach participated in nine meets on the campaign and scored at least a 9.600 on the uneven bars in each of her last three meets
Johnson and Schwartz both performed like seasoned veterans in their first season of Division I gymnastics, each participating in all 11 meets. Johnson enjoyed a banner day on Feb 7 against Pittsburgh and Yale, when she recorded a season-best 9.875 in the floor exercise. She added a 9.800 in the vault against Cornell on Mar 7. Schwartz showed great versatility throughout the year, compiling her best all-around score (38.025) against the University of Bridgeport and the University of Alaska on Feb 28.
The Scarlet Knights, under the tutelage of head coach Chrystal Chollet-Norton, will compete in the EAGL Championship tomorrow at the Reynolds Coliseum on the campus of North Carolina State University.
