The Maryland gymnastics team found itself in a familiar situation Saturday in its quad meet at Rutgers. The Terps were competing on the road after posting a season-high score a week earlier.
This time, however, Maryland didn’t suffer a setback as it did against Iowa on Jan. 29.
In the quad meet against the Scarlet Knights, Yale and Penn, the Terps finished with a 195.050 — their second-best score of the season — to collect three wins. It was their first victory since they defeated Alaska at a home quad meet on Jan. 14.
“Last week was a great start to the rest of the season,” said senior Emily Brauckmuller, who won floor with a 9.875. “We’re going to keep the momentum going for the rest of the year.”
Still, the Terps endured some setbacks in the week entering their trip to Piscataway, New Jersey.
Half of the roster dealt with sickness, coach Brett Nelligan said, making it difficult to hold productive practices. His faith in his team didn’t waver, though, and he was proud of their preparation despite the circumstances.
“Everything happens for a reason,” Nelligan told his team to conclude Thursday’s practice.
When junior Evelyn Nee, who had been suffering from flu-like symptoms, couldn’t complete her bar routine and scored a 7.325 the first rotation Saturday, the Terps started in a .05 deficit behind Rutgers.
“We came together, and we said to ourselves, ‘We’re a strong team,'” freshman Kirsten Peterman said. “‘We can’t let this get in the way of this meet. We have to go out there and fight.'”
Nelligan and the Terps wanted to take a steady mental approach to ensure the unfamiliar surroundings didn’t have a negative effect.
“It just feels chaotic, hectic, it tends to make you speed up,” Nelligan said. “You don’t want to do that in gymnastics.”
Peterman finished with a 38.750 all-around total as the team’s first four-event competitor this season. Peterman, whose top mark was a 9.725 on bars, relished her chance to contribute to the Terps’ best road outing of the season.
“That win — it wasn’t pretty, but it was gritty,” Nelligan said. “We needed to be a really tough team to come into this environment and leave with three wins, and that’s what we did. It makes for a great bus ride.”
