Going into the Terrapins gymnastics team’s final rotation yesterday on the Comcast Center main floor, West Virginia nursed a 146.800-146.750 lead and seemed poised to hand coach Brett Nelligan’s squad its first home loss of the season.
So Nelligan pulled his team aside, and told his gymnasts to compete with their hearts. He also stressed the importance of protecting their house, of securing the win before a home crowd.
The Terps responded to the pep talk with an exceptional performance on floor.
The No. 18 Terps tied their season high on floor with a 49.425, giving them a 196.175-195.775 edge over a competitive West Virginia squad. Rutgers rounded out the tri-meet with a score of 195.050.
“We won’t give up,” senior Ally Krikorian said. “We will literally fight until the last person competes, go for every tenth, every stick that we possibly can.”
After injuring her left ankle on beam Feb. 8, Krikorian spent the week in a protective boot. With the victory within grasp, however, the Costa Mesa, Calif., native didn’t let her injury keep her sidelined. She followed up Walters’ career-high 9.90 with a 9.90 of her own.
“She’s the toughest kid I know,” Nelligan said of Krikorian. “We didn’t know if she could go at all.”
Then junior Katy Dodds stepped onto the mat with the meet on the line. She secured her second consecutive 9.950 on floor, securing the Terps victory in the process.
“We knew we needed to go all-out on that last event,” Dodds said. “It was an amazing experience out there.”
The Terps started the night on their strongest event, vault. Perhaps feeling the effects of the injured Kathy Tang, Nelligan’s squad tallied a 49.100. Dodds delivered a season-worst 9.875 on the apparatus.
Still, the Terps maintained a 49.100-49.00 lead over West Virginia heading into the second rotation. Rutgers began the night in last, and would remain there for the remainder of the contest.
The Terps fell behind following a 48.675 tally on bars during the second rotation. Nelligan’s squad would be forced to play catch up — something they haven’t grown accustomed to this season.
The Terps then moved to beam. Despite Walters’ 9.825, her first of two career highs on the night, the team’s effort was not enough to move ahead of West Virginia.
They trailed much of the meet, but the Terps delivered a balanced performance, paving the way for the final rotation comeback. Nelligan’s squad didn’t count a fall for the first time in four meets, helping them break the coveted 196-point mark for the first time this season.
“There’s been so many meets this season where if we hit everything, we would have gone 196,” Dodds said. “We knew it was right there.”
Despite an early season loss at North Carolina, the conference-leading Terps have rarely been tested this season. Last night, they proved they can battle back from a deficit.
“They had a million reasons not to succeed,” Nelligan said, “but only needed one to win.”
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