At every home gymnastics meet, each Terrapin that sticks their landing gets to throw a “Terps Gymnastics” t-shirt into the stands after the event is complete. After the Terps completed balance beam Saturday night, four Terps were privileged enough toss a shirt into the crowd.
An event in which they struggled in throughout the whole season, balance beam was finally performed fall-free by the Terps Saturday night. And to put into perspective how well they did in the other three events, balance beam was still their lowest event score of the night. The near perfection all meet long helped the Terps achieve a season-high 193.075 score, and first overall win of a meet since opening night.
“This is a sport that you can’t expect perfection in,” coach Bob Nelligan said. “We just decided not to put the pressure on them, and just let them do what they train in the gym.”
The Terps (8-6) had four of the best five scores on vault, led by junior Angela Ferg earning tops in the event with her career-high mark. Senior Rachel Martinez continued her dominance, winning uneven parallel bars and floor exercise, and finished second all-around.
Her teammate Rachel Colon trailed her, finishing third all-around. Colon, a redshirt junior who transferred from Michigan two years ago, has helped Martinez carry the load this season, and has really turned it on as of late. She finished third overall in the last two meets, and has undoubtedly been the second most consistent scorer all season.
“[Colon] realizes its now her time to do certain things,” Nelligan said. “It’s almost like a passing; the seniors are getting ready to leave and she’s stepping up.”
Freshman Kim Loew fought through injury Saturday night to put up solid scores in the three events she participated in. With a groin injury acting up, Nelligan didn’t know if he’d be able to use the freshman. But just as Colon did last week after being sidelined during practice during injury, Loew battled through the pain and put on an impressive display.
“It shows you how tough she is,” Nelligan said of Loew. “She really pulled it out tonight.”
The Terps gained vengeance by beating Pittsburgh after picking up a tough loss in the Keystone State against the Panthers last weekend. By also defeating Rutgers, the Terps picked up two crucial in-conference wins, heading down the homestretch of the season. The wins gave the Terps a 5-1 home record, where they will square off against Temple Sunday.
Contact reporter Mark Selig at mseligdbk@gmail.com.
