Maryland gymnastics’ performance Saturday shows the potential the team displayed frequently last season.
After an up-and-down start to the year, the Terps used an all-around effort to set a season-high team score, 195.275, against Rutgers. With most key contributors from last year’s team returning, Maryland had expected to enter the 2018-19 slate with momentum and few bumps in the road. But the team didn’t have as smooth of a start as it had hoped.
The campaign started with the Terps scoring a rusty 193.450 in their first meet against SUNY Cortland, Penn and West Chester.
In the following meet against Illinois, Maryland improved with a 194.950 score. That success was supposed to continue against No. 10 Michigan on Jan. 26, but mistakes plagued the Terps to a 193.525 score.
“We struggled to just be ourselves last week,” coach Brett Nelligan said.
Against Rutgers on Saturday, though, the young squad’s talent and potential was evident, as the Terps earned season highs on vault and floor. It was a balanced performance, as the team got strong production from multiple gymnasts.
[Read more: Maryland gymnastics uses balanced effort to beat Rutgers, 195.275-194.600]
Sophomore Audrey Barber and junior Alecia Farina each came through with above a 9.8 on vault and bars. Sophomore Collea Burgess built on her strong start to the season, earning a season-high 9.8 on vault.
Junior Tiara Wright added a new wrinkle to her bar routine, helping the Terps overcome a fall during their bar rotation. And perhaps most impressively, senior Alex Robinson scored a career-best 9.8 on floor in her first competitive appearance since her freshman year.
Despite some early-season blips, the young squad has been relatively well-rounded — something it shares with last year’s team, which consistently received 9.8s from multiple gymnasts. With a strong returning core and an impressive crop of young talent, it was unsurprising to see the Terps put up their first 195 of the season.
“This meet was the first chance for us to show everyone that we have so much potential,” Farina said.
[Read more: Maryland gymnastics sees promise in its underclassmen]
While the Terps are a talent-laden group, the team has often leaned on its trio of All-Big Ten talent — Barber and junior Kirsten Peterman were placed on the preseason All-Big Ten watchlist while Farina earned second-team All-Big Ten honors last year.
Farina has scored at least a 9.825 on bars in three of the past four meets and posted her best showing against the Scarlet Knights. Barber has also hit an early stride, earning a 9.8 in both bars and floor during each of the past three meets and powering the Terps’ win over Rutgers.
“It is always very important for me to be able to help my team in any way possible,” Barber said.
Despite some struggles in previous meets, Peterman notched 9.7s or higher in all of her events Saturday for the first time this season. Along with the rest of her team, she’ll try to use the performance as motivation to continue on an upward trajectory — especially as Maryland enters a crucial portion of its season, with matchups against No. 20 Ohio State and No. 18 Minnesota on the horizon.
The Terps hope their strong outing against Rutgers will dispel the jitters from their first few meets and put them back on track to qualify for the NCAA regionals.
“Settling down, doing what we do every day in the gym — this is what we needed,” Nelligan said. “I feel like this is really the starting point for our season.”
