The Terrapins gymnastics team lines up for pregame introductions.
The Terrapins gymnastics team’s competition on Saturday afternoon began just as any this season. They stretched, warmed up on all of their events and then ran through the pre-meet introductions.
But with five teams in attendance at the Big Five meet in Lincoln, Nebraska, each squad had to sit out one rotation throughout the day. The Terps were first to take the bye, which meant at least a half an hour of waiting in the locker room before they could perform.
Though Coach Brett Nelligan said the switch from their usual schedule didn’t deter his team’s performance, the slight differences throughout the day mirrored the Terps’ slide from their recent scoring trends, as the Terps placed fifth with a 194.875 total.
“It’s not the outcome that we wanted or the scores that we wanted, but this was our first time coming to a Big Five qualifier,” Nelligan said. “It was a tough arena, tough environment, tough scoring, and I thought they handled themselves really well, and it’s something that will benefit us going forward in the future.”
After the Terps emerged from their locker room for the second time, they opened the competition on floor with a 48.500. Seniors Stephanie Giameo and Ebony Walters posted matching 9.75 scores to lead the lineup.
One week removed from a season-high 49.125 mark on the event, Nelligan attributed tight scoring and small errors to the Terps’ dip in production. Despite the unexpected start, his team turned their attention to rebounding on vault in the next rotation.
“[Nelligan] told us not to worry about the scores and just to worry about us because we know how to do it and take one routine and one skill at a time,” freshman Dominiquea Trotter said.
The Terps posted a 48.950 total on vault behind a 9.85 from senior Shannon Skochko and 9.80 marks from freshman Abbie Epperson and junior Kathy Tang.
But on the day, the Terps were unable to fully recapture their momentum from last weekend’s season-high 196.00 efforts.
Though freshman Evelyn Nee (8.85) faltered in her uneven bars routine, the latter half of the team’s lineup, anchored by Karen Tang’s 9.80, ensured the mistake didn’t count in the final 48.675 tally.
A similar situation occurred in the Terps’ final rotation on the balance beam after senior Dani Kram fell off on her flight series. Sophomore Leah Slobodin (9.85) and Giameo (9.80) capped off the Terps’ competition with solid contributions en route to a 48.750 score.
“I knew that we just had to finish strong one routine at a time on beam,” Giameo said. “I’m proud of this team because we didn’t let those small mistakes get to us. We were very resilient with staying strong and never giving up.”
No. 13 Illinois (196.050), No. 9 Nebraska (196.000) and Ohio State (195.250) earned berths to the evening session of the Big Ten Championships next Saturday in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as the top three finishers Saturday.
Michigan State (195.250) tied with the Buckeyes for third, but based on a tie-breaking procedure that includes all six scores in the final total, they will join the Terps in the earlier session next weekend.
And though the Terps did not achieve their goal of placing in the top three on Saturday, Nelligan is confident about his squad’s prospects in contending for the Big Ten Championship next weekend where, with only four teams in the Terps’ session, they’ll be able to treat it like a “more natural, normal quad meet” with no byes or added distractions.
“Now that we’re in that morning session, our goal is simple – win that session,” Nelligan said. “If we’re going to be in that morning session with the four teams, we only have one thing on our mind, and that’s coming out with first place out of those four teams.”
