Umme Salim-Beasleywas hired as the eighth head coach in Rutgers gymnastics history on May 11, 2018. Now in her sixth season leading the Scarlet Knights in 2023-24, Salim-Beasley was previously on the RU staff as an assistant from 2012-15 before spending three seasons rewriting the record books as the Temple head coach.
College Gym News ranked Salim-Beasleythe top coach of the "1-4 years as a head coach" category in 2022 among the four major gymnastics conferences (Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC), stating,“Umme Salim-Beasley stands out in this group for showing the greatest improvement by every metric.”
Salim-Beasley led the Scarlet Knights to a record-breaking year in 2023, concluding theregular season inspectacular fashion bywinning a tri-meet against UPenn and No. 35 West Virginia with a new program-record score of 196.875. The new school standard waspowered by a program-record 49.400 on beam and a school-record-tying 49.275 on vault. Emily Leese led the vault effort with a career-high and school-record-tying 9.925. The Scarlet Knights notched multiple 196+ scores for the first time in program history and posted four of the top five scores in school history during the 2023 season. The team also recorded 11 top-10 apparatus scores in 2023, including school-record marks on vault, beam, and floor. RU sent three gymnasts (Hannah Joyner, Emily Leese, and Stephanie Zannella) to the NCAA Regional Championships for the third straight year, extending the Rutgers regional representation steak to 13 consecutive years dating back to 2011. Joyner concluded her historic collegiate career with a fourth consecutive mention on the All-Big Ten First Team after scoringthe top three all-around scores in school history in 2023, including the new record of 39.575.
The Scarlet Knights either set or reset five of the top ten team scores in program history in 2022. Salim-Beasley’s squad produced the highest score in program history of 196.400 in the last meet of the regular season, breaking the old record set in 2014. RU also scored its highest total ever at the Big Ten Championship in March since joining the conference eight years ago. Rutgers earned the program’s first national ranking since 2014 when they were ranked No. 24 in late February. The team also reset the program record on the vault while posting the second highest team score on the floor and third highest on the beam.
The program’s third year under Salim-Beasley’s leadership in 2021 once again saw numerous records reset by the Scarlet Knights. The team produced itshighest ever finish and score at the Big Ten Championships, two NCAA Regional qualifiers, a National qualifier, and two First Team All-Big Ten honorees. Rutgers posted the highest road score (195.975), the second highest beam score (49.275), the third best team score (195.975), the fourth best home and ninth best overall score (195.525) in program history. The Scarlet Knights also recorded the program's first conference victory over Nebraska during the regular season. Individually, Hannah Joyner matched the school record on beam with a 9.950
At the 2021 Big Ten Championships, Rutgers landed atop the standings following the first session of the championships. The program soared to a school record score of 195.675 to win Session I, a total that would secure the highest-ever overall finish for the program at the championship. Hannah Joyner placed third in the all-around and third on beam among all Big Ten competitors, while Belle Huang finished fourth in the all-around and third on beam as well. Joyner and Huang both advanced to NCAA Regionals, as Joyner moved on to Nationals to become the third gymnast in Rutgers history to reach the highest stage and first to do so on beam.
In the classroom, Rutgers produced 14 Academic All-Big Ten recipients, nine Big Ten Distinguished Scholars and 19 WCGA Scholar All-Americans. Six Scarlet Knights were inducted into Chi Alpha Sigma, the National Collegiate Athlete Honor Society.Following the 2020-21 year, the program earned a perfect Graduation Success Rate (GSR), marking a perfect rate in every NCAA report to date for 17 consecutive years.
In just her second season at the helm, Rutgers set new standards for the program. The Scarlet Knights capped a shortened year with a 5-0 record across in its final weekend. After dominating a home tri-meet on March 6, RU recorded the highest road score in program history with a 195.900 at New Hampshire. The mark helped Rutgers defeat its highest ranked opponent ever in No. 15 Auburn, also marking the first win over an SEC foe.
The program also set top three scores on three events, including a new standard on vault at 49.225. The season-highs of 49.250 on beam and 49.150 on bars rank second and third on the charts, respectively. Additionally, Erin McLachlan reset the school’s beam record with a 9.950.
Rutgers produced two All-Big Ten selections in a single season for the first time, with Hannah Joyner earning a First Team nod and Kaitlyn Hall garnering Second Team honors. In the classroom, 12 student-athletes were named WCGA Scholastic All-Americans, eight were tabbed Academic All-Big Ten, and three were honored as Big Ten Distinguished Scholars.
Rutgersexceeded expectations and set a foundation in year one under Salim-Beasley and her staff, earning the distinction as the most improved team in the nation with a first-year head coach. RU finished as the fifth-most improved in the national rankings overall.The Scarlet Knights scored as high as 196.050 in 2019, earned two Big Ten wins over ranked opponents and saw Belle Huang score a 9.900 at NCAA Regionals to tie the individual program record at the meet. The teamrecorded a 194 or better in the last nine meets and in 10 of the last 11, including the victory over No. 25 Penn State to reach 196 for the second time in school history. Huang became the second gymnast to garner All-Big Ten honors.
Salim-Beasley, who leads the unit, saw marked improvement on uneven bars. Shannon Farrell highlighted the efforts with a 9.925, the best number by a Scarlet Knight on the event since 2003. Overall, RU had 12 routines of 9.900 or better across the four events.
Academically, the gymnastics program had 14-of-16 eligible earnAcademic All-Big Tenstatus with at least a 3.0 GPA, with five notching Big Ten Distinguished Scholar status with a 3.7 GPA or better. In addition, Eriel Santagado collected theFemale Chancellor's Scholar-Athlete Awardat the annual athletic department banquet.
Each of the top 10 team scores in Temple history came under Salim-Beasley's watch. The Owls reset the school record twice in 2018 with marks of 196.050 and 195.800 to post a program-high RQS of 195.015. Earning ECAC Coach of the Year, Salim-Beasley sent two specialists to NCAA Regionals, making it the first time the program sent multiple representatives. A total of 11 gymnasts earned spots on the All-ECAC Teams, including seven on the All-Academic Team.
Salim-Beasley and her squad finished the 2017 season ranking first in the ECAC with the highest RQS in school history at the time at 194.155. She was a finalist for the Philadelphia Coaches Association Head Coach of the Year and wasnamed Northeast Region Co-Coach of the Year. Salim-Beasley also helped lead her team to the best ECAC Championships total in program history with a 193.675. The 2017 Championship performance included the highest ECAC bar total in school history with a 48.825 and the second-highest beam total at a conference championship with a 48.450.
Overall, the Owls tallied 36 total individual scores of 9.800 or above, an improvement from 14 in 2016 and just nine in 2015. Those scores helped Salim-Beasley's squad to 22 individual event titles that included the program's first ever ECAC uneven bars champion in Alexa Phillip.
In her first season with the Owls, Salim-Beasley guided the team to a season-high score of 192.525 at the ECAC Championships to cap off the season. At the meet, four Owls brought home a collective six conference medals, including a gold from Briana Odom. Salim-Beasley also coached Odom to a second-place all-around finish with the programs' second-highest score of 39.050. That would be topped by Tori Edwards in 2018 after registering a 39.125.
During her four years at Rutgers, Salim-Beasley served as the recruiting coordinator and worked with the uneven bars, among other day-to-day duties for the program. Salim-Beasley helped the Scarlet Knights to a NCAA Regional berth in 2014 and its best EAGL finish in school history, winning EAGL Assistant Coach of the Year in the process. Uneven bars were a big part of the success, as four gymnasts earned all-conference in the event.
In addition, Salim-Beasley guided one of her student-athletes, Alexis Gunzelman, to the top regional qualifying score (RQS) in the conference on bars (9.845) on the way to the first NCAA National all-around appearance by a Scarlet Knight in program history. Gunzelman posted a 9.800 at the national meet, her eighth consecutive meet with at least that score to end the season.
As recruiting coordinator, Salim-Beasley expanded the Scarlet Knights' base nationally to attract top talent from outside the area. Traditionally recruiting in New Jersey and the surrounding states, the Scarlet Knights were able to pull in gymnasts from Florida, South Carolina, Arizona and Massachusetts.
Salim-Beasleycompeted collegiately at West Virginia University from 1995 to 1998, earning a 10.0 on uneven bars on March 14, 1998 in a meet against Rutgers. She scored as high as 39.475 all-around in 1997.
Salim-Beasley was named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year as a freshman for the Mountaineers, and earned spots on the All-EAGL First Team in all-around, bars and beam her sophom*ore and junior seasons. She finished off her career by being named the EAGL Gymnast of the Year and Most Outstanding Senior Gymnast in her final season in Morgantown in addition to winning the EAGL all-around, bar and beam titles that year. Her accomplishments also ranked her as the fifth-best gymnast in the country and as a finalist for the AAI Award in 1998.
A native of Pasadena, Maryland, she was a two-time national qualifier at Hill's Gymnastic Training Center in Gaithersburg, Maryland, before earning a full scholarship to West Virginia.
After graduating from West Virginia with a degree in early childhood education, Salim-Beasley went into coaching, starting as an assistant coach at Penn in 1999. During her one season with the Quakers, the team won the Ivy League Championships in addition to an undefeated regular season, breaking team records in every event.
Salim-Beasley returned to Morgantown as a volunteer assistant coach during the 2006-07 season.
For three years, she coached the Severna Park High School gymnastics team to two county championships, including an undefeated regular season in her first year. Additionally, she coached two different gymnasts to all-around championships.
Salim-Beasley was also a teacher at Eagle Cove School in Pasadena, Maryland, for four years. She is married to former WVU football All-American and NFL veteran, Aaron Beasley, and the couple have three daughters: Amirah, Dahlia and Layla.
The Salim-BeasleyFile
Hometown:Pasadena, Maryland
Alma Mater:West Virginia, 1998
Husband:Aaron Beasley
Daughters:Amirah, Dahlia, Layla
