NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale gymnastics team will honor its former head coaches with the Barbara and Don Tonry Invitational Feb. 13 at Lee Amphitheater. The Tonrys, a legendary husband and wife team, are synonymous with the sport of gymnastics at Yale.
 
"Barbara and Don have been synonymous with Yale Gymnastics for over half a century. Adding Barbara's name to Don's is a great way to honor this legendary duo," said Victoria M. "Vicky" Chun, Thomas A. Beckett Director of Athletics. "I am thankful to have worked with Barb and it is evident both her and Don's impact will be lasting on our program as a whole and in this current and future generation of student-athletes."
 
The annual meet had been named the Don Tonry Invitational since 2015. Don Tonry, who passed away in 2013, was a longtime Yale gymnastics coach who served as an instructor and inspirational mentor to generations of student-athletes. He also was a 1960 U.S. Olympian and was inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1980.
 
In the early 1970s Don Tonry transformed the Yale Gymnastics Club into a varsity men's team that competed until 1980 and won three Ivy League championships. He also served as Yale's associate athletic director of physical education and directed the first sports camp for Yale.
 
Barbara Tonry, who passed away last summer, dedicated her life to Yale, the women's gymnastics program and its student-athletes for nearly 50 years. To honor her along with her husband, the annual meet has been renamed the Barbara and Don Tonry Invitational.
 
Barbara Tonry had been the head coach of the Yale women's gymnastics program since its inception in 1973. She was the longest-tenured coach in NCAA gymnastics and served under six different Yale University Presidents. She was inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1986.
 
Yale won the first Ivy League Women's Gymnastics Championship in 1977 under Tonry. Her teams went on to capture 16 Ivy Championships, including the Bulldogs' most recent title in 2019. 
 
In 2017 and 2018, Tonry led the Bulldogs to back-to-back Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) championships – the first in school history. In 2017 she was named ECAC Coach of the Year and in 2018 she earned the country's highest distinction as USA Gymnastics Collegiate National Head Coach of the Year.
 
In addition to the team's accomplishments, Yale gymnasts also achieved impressive individual success under Tonry. She coached 23 ECAC champions, 20 Ivy all-around champions and nearly 100 Ivy individual event champions. A dozen of her student-athletes earned Academic All-Ivy League honors.
 
Andrew Leis, who served as an assistant coach under Barbara Tonry and was named interim head coach after she passed away last summer, has seen the Tonrys' impact firsthand.
 
"Barbara and Don Tonry were not only icons at Yale University, but were also legendary in the entire gymnastics community," said Leis. "When I think of Barb I think of generations of amazing women and all the countless lives she impacted. She paved the way for so many student-athletes to accomplish their dream of competing for a school as prestigious as Yale University. She left a lasting impact in the halls of Payne Whitney Gymnasium that will never be forgotten. Barb and Don were, and always will be, Yale Gymnastics. Every time we step into the gym and onto the competition floor this year YGT will be doing so to honor her and her incredible legacy."

The Tonry Invitational takes place on Sunday, Feb. 13 at 1:00 p.m. and includes Bridgeport, Southern Connecticut State, Springfield College and Yale.