Terrapins gymnastics sophomore Abbie Epperson suffered a fall on vault in the first rotation of the Sunday’s meet against Iowa, leaving her lying in pain off to the side of the mat. After misjudging the landing, Epperson held her knee, which she jammed upon impact, and the fans at Xfinity Center went silent.
A few trainers looked at Epperson, but she eventually got to her feet and posted a career-high mark on her floor exercise later on. The Terps, like Epperson, recovered from their slow start to post a season-high score, but they ultimately fell to Iowa, 196.275–195.5, in their first home meet of the season.
“Our mentality was ‘We’re going to push, push, push all the way through the night and put the pressure on Iowa to make a mistake,'” coach Brett Nelligan said. “But give them credit, they didn’t, and they came out with the win.”
Coming into Sunday’s home opener, Epperson had competed in every event for the Terps in 2016. But Nelligan had his worries after seeing the sophomore fall.
“I didn’t think we would have her available,” Nelligan said. “But she’s a tough kid.”
The Terps dealt with Epperson on an event-by-event basis, simply asking whether she wanted to compete on the next apparatus. Epperson’s answer was always yes, and she not only continued her streak of performing in the All-Around but also put up scores of 9.85 on bars and floor.
After trailing the Hawkeyes (4-3, 3-0 Big Ten) by 49.000–48.575 after vault, the Terps (2-3, 0-2) scored a 49.1 on bars, just missing their season-high score of 49.125. That score helped cut into the Iowa lead.
The Terps moved to beam for the third rotation — an event on which Nelligan was hoping to see gymnasts Shynelle Agaran and Dominiquea Trotter, both of whom have missed all of 2016 with concussions, make their debuts. Trotter was medically cleared for the meet, but Nelligan elected to ease her back into competition with an exhibition performance. Agaran has yet to be medically cleared.
Despite not being at full strength, the Terps still made strides on the beam and earned a season-high score of 48.8. While Epperson fell during her routine, the stumble didn’t hurt the Terps thanks to strong performances from the other five gymnasts.
Iowa was able to secure the win with a strong performance on beam, its final event, but the Terps excelled, too. They hit every floor routine and set another season high with a 49.025 mark.
Freshman Macey Roberts led the charge, posting a career high of 9.9. Her score tied the event’s highest floor mark with Iowa’s Mollie Drenth, who also took home the All-Around championship.
“Roberts was the real cap-off,” Nelligan said. “She shined tonight. I think she has a big future here.”
Sophomore Evelyn Nee also improved on early-season performances with a career-high 9.875 on bars in addition to hitting her routine on her first career vault.
Strong showings from contributors such as Nee and Roberts buoyed the Terps’ score on an off night for Epperson. Now, the Terps will work on putting it all together.
“You can see that there is tons of room for improvement. This wasn’t a perfect meet,” Nelligan said. “But we still put up 195.5. That’s what we were really impressed with.”
