Rutgers Women's Gymnastics Opens Season With Victories Over Temple and Brockport In Rutgers Tri
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Very few Rutgers teams represented the school in the NCAA Tournament last season. Despite a lot of hope going into last year, Men's Basketball could not string together enough wins to make the tournament. Neither Baseball nor Soccer would see the Scarlet Knights in the NCAA tournament last year. However, one of the teams that did make an NCAA tournament last year, representing Rutgers, was the women's gymnastics team.
Despite the noise that came from their previous head coach being fired due to a scandal, the Rutgers gymnastics team was able to snap their decade long NCAA tournament drought. They would fall to Clemson in the tournament, but the team was trending in the right direction
After defeating their first two opponents of the 2026 season, it appears that they have picked up right where they left off.
To start the season, Rutgers squared off against Temple and Brockport in the Rutgers Tri. All three teams competed at once, and the team with the highest score would be the winner. The Knights not only got the highest score, they also set the highest score in program history for a season-opening meet, as they tallied 195.4 total points. The Owls came in second with a score of 191.35, while Brockport came in third with a score of 189.1
Senior Gabrielle Dildy had the most points for the Knights, as she tallied 39.325 across events. She posted 9.800s on beam and vault, a career-high 9.825 on bars, and a 9.900 on floor, leading all performers on floor and tying for first on bars. Her performance earned her the all-around crown for the event.
The four events in which the teams competed during the meet were Vault, Bars, Beam, and Floor. Rutgers saw one of their gymnasts win each of these events, as Dildy won the Bars and the Floor, while Delaney Adrian, and Emily Leese took first in the Vault and Beam events. Leese, who missed last season due to injury, had a triumphant return as she posted a 9.900 to win the vualt.
Rutgers Women's Gymnastics will be back in action on Sunday as they are set to head out to Muncie, Indiana, for the Ball State Tri. This competition has a similar setup to the Rutgers tri and will see the Knights face off against Ball State and Western Michigan. The start time for this event is set for 1 pm.
