Four Maryland gymnasts will compete as individuals at NCAA Regionals this weekend, the selection committee announced last week. The Terps will compete at the Gainesville, Florida, site on Saturday.
Freshman Kirsten Peterman was selected for all-around, while senior Sarah Faller will perform vault and beam. Senior Emily Brauckmuller and freshman Alecia Farina earned spots on floor, and Farina is an alternate for bars.
Peterman is one of four individual all-around competitors at the Gainesville Regional. Two of the six teams competing in the regional will advance to the NCAA National Championships on April 14 and 15, and the top two all-around scorers not on those squads will also receive nationals berths.
Each event also features two individual specialist spots, and the winners on Saturday will extend their seasons.
The four Terps advanced to the regional based on their season-long Regional Qualifying Score (RQS). The gymnast’s top six scores on an event during the season — three of which must be from away meets — are averaged. From there, the top score is discarded and the remaining five are averaged to determine their event RQS. Each regional accepts two individuals per event.
Maryland, meanwhile, failed to qualify to regionals as a team after posting their third-worst score of the season at the Big Ten Championships on March 18. The top 36 teams advanced to this postseason stage, and Maryland finished at No. 37 by 0.1.
