All around Nikola Chung competes on the bars when the Terps tied for first with George Washington and defeated William & Mary and Towson in Xfinity Center on Feb. 20, 2014.
The Terrapins gymnastics team appeared as if it would fall to George Washington for the second time this season Friday night when the scores were initially tallied.
But the judges reevaluated senior Ebony Walters’ floor routine and increased the score from 9.275 to 9.425. The .15-point swing gave the Terps just enough to tie the Colonials with a score of 194.925 in a quad meet at Xfinity Center.
Towson took third place with a score of 194.450 and William and Mary placed fourth with a score of 190.550 in the Terps’ second quad meet of the season. Coach Brett Nelligan said the judges changed Walters’ score after deciding she grazed her hand on the floor rather than put her weight on it.
But, despite the score change, it was Terps performance on the floor that prevented them from winning the event outright.
“We’ve never done anything like that,” Nelligan said. “Four kids made mistakes on floor. The thing that hurts the most is not that we didn’t win and tied, but that we have the chance to put up a really big number this week.”
Trailing by one-tenth of a point, 147.00-146.900, heading into the final rotation, the Terps faltered, posting an uncharacteristic 48.025. The Terps entered the meet ranked 24th in the nation on floor, having topped a team score of 49.000 in half of their meets.
The Terps, who began the meet on the vault and then moved to the bars, led through two rotations. George Washington pulled ahead after the third rotation with a team vault score of 49.475, highlighted by a 9.950 from Cami Drouin-Allaire.
George Washington was the first to slip-up, as sophomore Alex DeMoura posted a 7.800 after failing to finish her routine due to injury. DeMoura’s mistake, coupled with lower scores from other competitors, gave the Colonials a team score of 47.925 and the Terps an opening they were not able to completely close.
“We’ve got to finish a complete meet,” Nelligan said. “We’ve only done that twice this year, but every time we finish a complete meet, we’re great. If we can put it all together on all four events at the same time on the same night, I don’t really think there’s anyone on our schedule that can stand in our way.
Individually, junior Kathy Tang won the bars with a score of 9.8, and senior Stephanie Giameo did the same on the beam, posting a 9.875.
Senior Dani Kram posted a personal best 9.8 on the beam and sophomore Sarah Faller posted personal bests of 9.775 and 9.750 on the bars and beam, respectively.
“I’m learning a lot about competing in general,” Faller said. “I really like to have fun out there and the more I have fun the better I do. Tonight was a really special night— it being our Pink Meet—we really wanted to come in here and compete with our hearts, and that also rubs off on my gymnastics.”
On Sunday, the Terps will head to West Virginia for their second quad-meet in as many days. The quick turnaround gives the team the opportunity to make a jump in the rankings by potentially replacing two scores in one weekend, according to Nelligan.
In Morgantown, WV, Nelligan will continue to strive for an overall team score of 196.00, a mark his team has yet to eclipse.
“We’re definitely a 196 team,” Tang said. “We’re just waiting for that perfect moment. I’m excited for that day because I know it’s coming soon.”
