Coach Brett Nelligan celebrates at a meet.
The Terrapins gymnastics team entered its 2013 season staring down more than a decade and a half of futility.
The Terps hadn’t won a single conference championship during 16 years in the East Atlantic Gymnastics League, and a likely move to the ACC next season meant the program was running out of chances.
“I want to be able to look back at this season and say that I gave it all that I could,” senior captain Ally Krikorian said in December. “We all want to win conference more than anything.”
But the Terps fell short once again. After finishing the regular season atop the EAGL standings, coach Brett Nelligan’s team wilted at the EAGL Championships in Chapel Hill, N.C., on March 23. It secured a 195.100, narrowly finishing behind N.C. State for the conference crown.
The Terps were tight, Nelligan later said. A squad on the brink of a historic feat struggled under pressure.
It rebounded with the program’s highest regionals score in 12 years but failed to qualify for nationals when it placed fourth against an elite field in Gainesville, Fla., on Saturday.
Still, the Terps made significant strides this season. They went undefeated at home, featured two All-Americans — junior Katy Dodds and sophomore Stephanie Giameo — and Nelligan was named conference Coach of the Year.
“Usually I can list off the accolades,” Nelligan said. “This year, there are too many to count.”
Dodds, who missed most of the preseason with a torn Achilles, set a positive tone for the season when she secured a program-record 9.975 on vault in the team’s opening meet against preseason conference favorite N.C. State.
Freshman Kathy Tang’s early emergence was also reason for excitement. The Agawam, Mass., native earned EAGL Rookie of the Week honors twice and Co-Gymnast of the Week once, helping the Terps boast an average score of 195.650 through their first three meets.
“Everyone knew pretty early she was a dominant gymnast in the EAGL,” Nelligan said of Tang. “She could make an impact on the national level.”
But Tang dropped to the ground with a left ankle injury while competing on floor at North Carolina on Feb. 2. Though the initial diagnosis was unclear, coaches expected her to miss the rest of the season.
“Our lineups were set, and it caused us to change things up,” Nelligan said. “At the time, it was our biggest obstacle. We didn’t know who was going to replace her.”
Rallying around the injured Tang, the Terps eclipsed the 196-point mark twice in their next four meets. They hadn’t notched a score that high in nine years.
“This team was really determined and relentless,” Nelligan said. “They made a commitment to fight until the last minute of every meet.”
With the end of the Terps’ season rapidly approaching, Tang returned in the regular-season finale on March 17 and notched a 9.725 on bars.
Her presence alone couldn’t overcome the costly miscues that handed the Terps their 17th season without a conference championship. Still, Nelligan said the team felt it was the best squad in the EAGL throughout the season.
The Terps have now increased their spot in the national rankings each year since Nelligan took over four years ago. After finishing the season ranked No. 22 nationally, the Terps are inching closer to securing a spot among the country’s elite programs.
So they aren’t lamenting another missed opportunity at an EAGL title. They’re already aiming higher.
“The next jump will be even harder,” Nelligan said. “Our overall goal is to keep moving until we are regularly in the top 10 and get closer to winning a national championship.”
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