Katy Dodds
When Katy Dodds fell to the ground with a torn Achilles tendon on Jan. 26, an already ailing Terrapins gymnastics team faced another setback. With their top senior shelved for the remainder of the season, the Terps scrambled to fill both of Dodds’ lineup spots and leadership void.
Untested underclassmen were thrust into competition on vault, bars and floor, and then-junior Stephanie Giameo emerged to deliver the same reliability expected from Dodds.
Friday’s Red vs. Black intrasquad scrimmage, the Terps’ first public outing of the season, marks Dodds’ return for a final, redshirt season.
“My Achilles is doing really well,” Dodds said. “I haven’t had any issues with it. I’m fully back in the gym. I’ve got all my skills back, so it’s going really well.”
In addition to Dodds, the Terps had to go without then-sophomore Haley Jones and then-freshman Leah Slobodin, both of whom were sidelined with long-term injuries last season. The Terps’ inability to stay healthy defined what coach Brett Nelligan called an exhausting year.
“[Last year] served as motivation,” Nelligan said. “Last year wasn’t fun. We didn’t enjoy it. We were constantly injured. We were constantly fighting our way out of the bottom of the rankings, whereas the previous year, we were the leaders, and I think everyone liked that better, and that’s what we plan on getting back to.”
Though injuries might have derailed the team’s expectations in last year’s campaign, Nelligan said the depth issues that pushed young competitors into the lineups increased the team’s maturity level for this season.
“Sarah [Faller], who got extensive experience last year, Emily Brauckmuller got some competition time last year as a freshman, so it’s almost like a blessing in disguise,” Nelligan said. “All those injuries, we really got to return some people that wouldn’t have come back. We also got experience from our younger kids, so you can already see [the improvement] in practice and our preliminary intrasquads that weren’t open to the public.”
Focused on a team goal of having at least 10 people capable of competing in each event, the Terps expect their diverse roster to pay dividends as they enter the Big Ten after almost two decades in the East Atlantic Gymnastics League. The combined leadership of Dodds and Giameo is expected to help blend the Terps’ mix of seniority and youth.
“It’s easy for us,” Giameo said of her relationship with Dodds. “We work together well with the whole team. I think a lot of other people are going to be able to step up this year also and really make an impact for the team.”
As the Terps step onto the mats in the Xfinity Center Pavilion on Friday night in their annual Red vs. Black intrasquad, they will mark the start a new season, one they hope will be filled with better health than the year prior.
“This season was very unexpected for me, so it’s like a huge gift that I get to come back [healthy] and compete in the Big Ten,” Dodds said. “This year, I’m just trying to have fun with the girls. … I’m the oldest one on the team, so I’m just trying to show them with experience and the way I practice and carry myself.”