From our friend at GW Athletics...
Second Straight Year Colonials Boast Top Rookie; Kistler Named Co-Assistant Coach of Year
George Washington gymnastics freshman Jillian Winstanley was named the East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) Rookie of the Year and Barry Kistler was named the conference's Co-Assistant Coach of the Year at the conclusion of Sunday's EAGL Championship at SECU Arena.
Winstanley is the second student-athlete in program history to earn a major end-of-season EAGL award, following sophomore Chelsea Raineri's Rookie of the Year award last season.
Winstanley helped lead the Colonials to the 2015 EAGL Championship by finishing second in the all-around (39.225) in addition to winning the uneven bars championship with a score of 9.875. She also scored 9.90 on vault (T-2nd), 9.725 on balance beam (23rd) and 9.725 on floor exercise (T-19th).
During the regular season, Winstanley scored at least 9.90 on vault in four meets, including a season-high score of 9.925 which is tied for third-highest routine in program history.
At last weekend's Senior Meet, Winstanley tallied a season-high, all-around score of 39.50, which ties her with GW Athletic Hall of Famer Devin McCalla for the second-best all-around score in program history.
She also scored at least 39.00 in the all-around in nine meets during the regular season and entered the EAGL Championship ranked first in EAGL in the all-around (39.265 RQS), second on vault (9.890), tied for third on balance beam (9.840) and fifth on uneven bars (9.830).
Kistler earns a share of the Assistant Coach of the Year award for the second time in his career.
Now in his 17th season as an assistant coach to head coach Margie Foster-Cunningham, Kistler oversaw GW's vault lineup achieve historic success in 2015. The vault lineup set a program record mark of 49.50 at last week's Senior Meet. Additionally, GW gymnasts have scored 9.90 or better in a total of 16 vault routines during the regular season.
Kistler has also played a pivotal role in the Colonials setting new program records on floor exercise (49.45) and overall team score (196.875) while contributing to GW's successful recruiting.
A 1997 graduate of Radford University, Kistler has been a part of four Atlantic 10 Championships and three 20+ win seasons at GW.
