TOWSON, Md. – Coming off their top performance of the season, Coach Vicki Chliszczyk and the Towson University gymnastics team will travel to North Carolina State University on Friday, February 24 to face the 19th-ranked Wolfpack, Kent State University and William and Mary in a quad meet that is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Reynolds Coliseum.

The Tigers, who are 11-3 on the season, finished first at the Shelli Calloway Memorial Towson Invitational last Saturday with a seasonal high 194.100 score. The Tigers’ 194.100 team score was their highest score in a meet in nearly four years.

The Tigers, who won the Invitational for the ninth year in a row, were led by senior Lindsay Poplaski, who won the all-around competition with a career high 38.875 score. Poplaski is averaging 38.563 in the all-around, the top mark on the team.

Seniors Kacy Catanzaro and Avis Hixon have also been performing well. Catanzaro is averaging 38.45 in the all-around and had a career high 39.05 score two weeks ago. She has been named as the ECAC Gymnast of the Week twice. Hixon has also been performing well on vault and floor.

The Tigers are hoping that junior Britney Russell can return to the floor lineup this week. Back problems have kept her off the floor exercise for the last few weeks. With a 9.81 average on floor, she is ranked first in the ECAC. Russell has competed on vault and beam, however.

“This is going to be a huge meet for us,” says Coach Chliszczyk, the Tigers’ second-year coach. “We are hoping that the momentum we generated last week will be helpful when we visit NC State.”

Ranked 19th in the nation with a 194.957 average, NC State had a seasonal high 196.775 team score at Missouri last week. The Wolfpack is coached by Mark Stevenson, one of the top gymnastics coaches in the nation. He is in his 32nd season as the head coach of the Wolfpack, a regular Top 20 team.

Sophomore Stephanie Ouellette is the Wolfpack’s top all-around performer with a 38.95 average. She also averages 9.76 on vault and 9.79 on floor exercise. A product of Docksiders’ Club, she is the daughter of Towson Volunteer Assistant Coach Bob Ouellette.  Senior Brooke Barr has also been a standout on vault and floor for the Wolfpack, averaging 9.85 on vault and 9.82 on floor.

The Tigers, who used to be members of the East Atlantic Gymnastics League with NC State, will be competing against the Wolfpack for the first time since the 2009 season. Towson and NC State were EAGL rivals from 1996 to 2004.

After their trip to NC State, the Tigers return to the Towson Center on Friday, March 2 when they host William & Mary and Yale at 7 p.m.