EAGL History [ 1996 - 2011 ]
WVU and NC State were two of six teams that went to NCAA regional meets in 1999. New Hampshire and Pitt went to the Region 5 Championship at Penn State while Maryland and Towson joined West Virginia and NC State at the Region 6 Meet. At the 1999 USA Gymnastics NIT Meet, Towson edged Rutgers for the prestigious championship. It was Towson’s second NIT title in four years. When the season ended, the EAGL had three teams in the top 20 (West Virginia, NC State, Maryland). NC State ended West Virginia’s run of three consecutive championships as the Wolfpack had a school and EAGL championship record score of 196.05, edging host Maryland which had a 195.475 score. New Hampshire was third with a 194.8 and North Carolina took fourth place at 194.675. Sophomore Brooke Wilson of North Carolina was the Outstanding Individual Performer at the EAGL meet. She took first place in the all-around with a 39.325 score and set a meet record on beam with a 9.95, taking first place in the event. Senior Liane Williams of Towson, honored as the EAGL Senior Gymnast of the Year, was a double winner as she won the vault with a 9.875 and tied for first on floor with a 9.9. Langendorf and Charles led NC State to its first EAGL title. Langendorf tied for first on bars with Dawn Campbell of Rutgers with a 9.9 score. Charles was fourth in the all-around with a 39.175. Kelli Brown also had a strong meet, tying for second place in vault with a 9.85 and tying for third on bars with a 9.875. Maryland finished as EAGL runner-up with a 195.475 as Coach Bob Nelligan was named as the EAGL Coach of the Year. Freshman Laura Moon was second in the all-around (39.275) while Terp freshman Gillian Cote, the EAGL rookie of the year, was ninth in the all-around. Junior Danielle “Freddie” Alba of Pitt, the EAGL Gymnast of the Year, took third in all-around with a 39.175 score. For the second straight year, six teams advanced to NCAA regionals from the EAGL meet. 1998 season The 1998 EAGL meet was held at Rutgers and six of the eight teams qualified for the NCAA Regionals. West Virginia, North Carolina State and Maryland all qualified for the Southeast Regional while New Hampshire, Pitt and Rutgers made it to the Northeast Regional. West Virginia won the meet for the third year in a row with a 195.5 score. New Hampshire edged N.C. State for second place as the Wildcats posted a 193.85 score to the 193.825 earned by the Wolfpack. Maryland finished fourth in the meet with a 192.675, edging Towson as the Tigers posted a 192.45 score, barely missing a 12th straight NCAA regional berth. Senior Umme Salim of West Virginia led the Mountaineers to the championship. The EAGL Gymnast of the Year, she was first in the all-around with a 39.45 while also winning the bars (9.95) and beam (9.925). 1997 season North Carolina State hosted the 1997 EAGL meet and West Virginia claimed its second straight title. The 11th-ranked Mountaineers had a 196.0 team score to edge the Wolfpack (195.1) for the title. New Hampshire was third (193.1), while Pitt was fourth with a 192.85. North Carolina (192.325) finished fifth, ahead of Towson (192.1), Maryland (191.755) and Rutgers (190.05). Towson’s Erin Shanley became the first EAGL gymnast to successfully defend a title as she earned a 9.925 on bars to tie Pitt’s Samantha Salyers for first in the event. Shanley also won the vault with a 9.9, while UNH’s Cara Lepper and WVU’s Danielle Lilly tied for first on the beam with a 9.9. Kristin Quackenbush won the EAGL floor title with a 9.95 effort, a score that clinched the championship for WVU. Quackenbush tied Stephanie Wall for the all-around title in a very tight competition. One-tenth of a point separated the top five all-arounds. Quackenbush and Wall each had a 39.1, while Shanley was third with a 39.05. WVU’s Umme Salim was fourth with a 39.025 and Kim Yenco of Towson took fifth with a career best 39.0. The EAGL was well-represented at the NCAA Regionals for the second
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Umme Salim year in a row as West Virginia, North Carolina State and Towson advanced to the Southeast regionals while New Hampshire and Pitt qualified for the Northeast regionals. Quackenbush was honored as the EAGL Gymnast of the Year as well as the Outstanding Senior Gymnast. North Carolina’s Molly Gardner was named as the EAGL Scholar-Athlete. Maryland’s Rachel Dolbin was named the EAGL’s top rookie, while Dick Filbert of Towson was named as the EAGL Coach of the Year. Shanley was the most-decorated Towson gymnast, earning first team all-EAGL in vault, bars, floor exercise and all-around in addition to second team all-EAGL on beam. She was a unanimous pick on floor and all-around. Heather Hanson of Towson was a first team pick on beam. North Carolina State became the first EAGL team to represent the league at the NCAA national championship meet. The Wolfpack had a 195.125 to finish third at the regional meet at Georgia, qualifying for nationals. In its first trip to Nationals, State had a 194.125 score and finished 11th in the nation. 1996 season The crowning jewel of the inaugural EAGL season was the league championship meet, hosted by West Virginia. In a competition that came down to the last rotation, West Virginia tallied 194.6 points to edge Towson’s 193.725. North Carolina State was third with a 192.30, followed closely by Maryland (192.15), New Hampshire (191.7), North Carolina (189.3), Pitt (189.15) and Rutgers (188.0). The meet also produced the second-largest crowd (1,648) to watch a gymnastics meet in the WVU Coliseum. West Virginia’s Quackenbush won the all-around title with a 39.275 score while Towson’s Erin Shanley, Maryland’s Megyn Byrnes and Karla Hairston of WVU tied for second at 38.925. In the individual events, Shanley was a double winner, tying for first on bars (9.9) and floor (9.8). Quackenbush won the vault outright with a 9.925. On bars, EAGL co-Rookie of the Year Cara Lepper of UNH matched Shanley’s 9.9 to tie for first. Co-Rookie of the Year Liane Williams of Towson and Jessica Nonnemacher of WVU tied for first on the balance beam with 9.825 marks. On the floor, Meredith Behson of Rutgers and Christi Newton of N.C. State tied Shanley for first. Newton was named as the first EAGL Gymnast of the Year as well as Outstanding Senior Gymnast in a vote of league coaches. West Virginia’s Linda Burdette was named as the EAGL Coach of the Year. In the postseason, Towson won the USA Gymnastics National Invitational Tournament title with a school-record 194.525 to edge powerful Iowa for the title. West Virginia’s Kristin Quackenbush tied for third in vault at the NCAA championships, becoming WVU’s and the EAGL’s inaugural All-American.
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