Six Rutgers Gymnasts To Compete In USA Gymnastics Championship
Mar 26 | Women's Gymnastics
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Six Rutgers gymnasts – Kristy Behr (Northport, N.Y.), Kiah Banfield (Newbury Park, Calif.), Danae Johnson (Silver Spring, Md.), Alyssa Lewandowski (Linden, N.J.), Nicole Schwartz (Somerset, N.J.) and Maddie Zwiebel (Bridgewater, N.J.) – will compete in the USA Gymnastics Championships April 9-11 at Moore Fieldhouse on the campus of Southern Connecticut State.
Johnson will compete in the floor exercise after averaging more than 9.500 in the event during her first season of collegiate competition. She posted a career-best score of 9.875 on Feb. 7 to place first in the event against Pittsburgh and Yale.
Schwartz, also in her first season of collegiate action, will compete in the all-around in the USA Gymnastics Championships. She has averaged nearly 38.000 points in the all-around after taking over as Rutgers’ all-around competitor in the last seven meets.
Behr has competed in the bars in every meet this season. She is averaging nearly 9.300 and registered a season-high score of 9.725 on Feb. 28 to finish third in the event in a tri-meet with the Scarlet Knights, Alaska-Anchorage and Bridgeport.
Zwiebel will compete on the balance beam in the USA Gymnastics Championships. She has competed in the event in every meet this season, averaging nearly 9.400. Her best performance of the season came with a 9.575 on Jan. 31 in a quad meet with Maryland, West Virginia and George Washington.
Lewandowski and Banfield will represent Rutgers in the vault at the competition. Banfield has competed in the event in every meet this season, while Lewandowski has competed in the event in all but one meet in 2009. Banfield, a sophomore, is averaging nearly 9.600 in the event with a season-high score of 9.675 on Feb. 7 to place fifth in the event in a tri-meet with Pittsburgh and Yale. Lewandowski, a junior, is also averaging nearly 9.600 in the vault and posted a season-best score of 9.800 on March 14 to place second overall against a competitive five-team field that included Towson, Bridgeport, William & Mary and Southern Connecticut State.
Rutgers is one of 13 schools eligible to compete in the USA Gymnastics Championships in New Haven, Conn., joining Southern Connecticut State, Yale, U.S. Air Force Academy, Cornell, Brown, Temple, Centenary College, William & Mary, West Chester, Seattle Pacific, Texas Women’s University and Bridgeport.
