When Terrapins gymnastics freshman Shynelle Agaran made her debut in Friday’s meet against Arkansas, she wasn’t herself, coach Brett Nelligan insisted.
Agaran failed to catch her jaeger release move on bars and fell less than 10 seconds into her first career routine. She also went on to nearly fall off the balance beam early — the event in which she won the national championship as a Junior Olympian in 2014.
Against Penn State, Agaran found redemption, holding onto the bars and barely wobbling on beam. So even though Monday’s meet is recorded as the second of Agaran’s career, the team sees it as a more accurate example of her talent than the Razorbacks meet.
“That’s really her,” coach Brett Nelligan said. “It’s inside her; we know that. She’s just gotta let it come out.”
Agaran earned a 9.85 on beam and a 9.675 on the bars against the Nittany Lions. Both scores are significant increases over her debut scores of 9.575 and 8.95, respectively.
The Coral Springs, Florida, native was expected to feature in the Terps’ lineup from the beginning of the campaign, but she suffered a concussion just a couple of weeks before the season-opening meet in Pittsburgh.
The injury marked another setback in a string of difficulties Agaran endured during the preseason.
“She had the concussion and a sickness; she went to the hospital,” Nelligan said, “on top of being away from home.”
The rules surrounding concussions meant Agaran couldn’t travel with the team, let alone compete or train. Not being around the team at away meets, Agaran said, made the already difficult rehabilitation process even tougher.
Being held out of training meant Agaran took longer to round into competition form. She didn’t get her first taste of collegiate experience until the Michigan tri-meet on Feb. 8, more than a month after sustaining the concussion.
In Michigan, Agaran competed on beam in an exhibition routine before getting moved into the lineup for the Arkansas meet. During warm-ups, Nelligan said Agaran uncharacteristically missed the jaeger a few times. It carried over to the competition.
Nelligan thought the freshman showed a lot of promise, though, and he predicted a better performance her second time out.
“The meet will start to slow down for her next week,” Nelligan said Friday, “and she’ll get her confidence.”
He was right. Once again, Agaran’s warm-ups translated into the meet, but this time in a positive way. Agaran said she felt more confident during the meet and “straight” while warming up for beam.
Agaran’s 9.85 mark on beam matched the Terps’ best score of the night on any event and is the third-best beam performance of the season for the team. Though her score on bars wasn’t as spectacular, catching the jaeger and hitting the routine was a big moment for Agaran, one that garnered a large cheer from her teammates.
“It was relieving, and it was really exciting,” sophomore Evelyn Nee said. “I know that she can make [the jaeger], and so it was just great to see her do what she can do.”
As Nelligan expected, having one meet of experience made a huge difference for his freshman gymnast. It’s not just showing in her performance. The veteran coach said the naturally quiet Agaran is beginning to show more confidence after the trying start to her season.
“She was disappointed in herself last week because she knows she’s capable,” Nelligan said. “[But] she’s back to being herself, and when she’s herself she’s a great gymnast.”
