TOWSON, Md. - When the Tiger gymnastics team concludes its regular season on Saturday night, March 20, in the Towson Center, it will be a very special evening for the program.
While the Tigers' meet against Brown University and Southern Connecticut will be the final home appearance for seniors Alise McDonald and Jackie Schweitzer, it will also be Alumni Night.
Most significantly, it will be the final home meet for Towson Coach Dick Filbert and his wife, Assistant Coach Lynda Filbert. Dick Filbert is retiring after 28 seasons and nearly 500 victories as the Tigers' head coach. Lynda Filbert is retiring after 22 seasons as the Tigers' Assistant Coach.
During his tenure as the Tigers' head coach, Filbert has led Towson to 491 victories, 28 winning seasons, 13 conference championships and 13 NCAA Southeast regional berths. He has coached two All-Americans and led the Tigers to a ninth place finish at Nationals in 1990.
Many of their former gymnasts will be attending the meet to honor the two Tiger coaches.
McDonald and Schweitzer will be honored in pre-meet ceremonies.
One of the top vaulters in school history, McDonald enters her final home meet with 1,632.80 points. She is the eighth-leading scorer in program history. The ECAC vault champion in 2008, she led the Tigers to their fifth straight ECAC title last year with a first place finish on floor exercise. Her career high 9.85 on floor enabled Towson to overcome Cornell and win the championship.
An all-around performer as a junior and senior, McDonald has been named first team All-ECAC on vault three times. She was also a first team All-ECAC choice on floor and all-around in 2009.
Honored as the ECAC Gymnast of the Week twice this season, she is the top-ranked vaulter in the ECAC with a 9.781 average. She has finished first on vault six times this season. She also ranks among the top performers on floor in the ECAC with a 9.71 average. Her career high 9.925 vault score ranks fourth on Towson's all-time list.
Schweitzer has been a two-year captain for the Tigers. After competing as an all-around as a freshman and sophomore, an ankle injury has limited her to competing on bars and beam the last two seasons.
She enters her final home meet with 1,580.30 points, ninth on Towson's career scoring list.
As a freshman, she was the Tigers' top all-around performer and earned first team All-ECAC notice on bars, beam, floor and all-around. As a sophomore, she was a first team All-ECAC honoree on bars. In 2009, she won the ECAC title on bars while earning first team All-ECAC notice on bars and beam.
As a senior, she is the top-ranked performer on bars in the ECAC with a 9.672 average. She has finished first on bars in six meets. One of the Tigers' most consistent performers on beam, she has a 9.48 average with three first place finishes.
Last week, she was honored as the ECAC Division I Gymnastics Specialist of the Week.
In the Tigers' regular season finale, they will be trying to improve upon their 18-4 record while posting their fifth consecutive team score over the 193.000-mark.
After Saturday night's meet, the Tigers will close out their regular season next Saturday afternoon when they seek their sixth consecutive ECAC championship at the ECAC Championship Meet at Temple University.
