The Maryland gymnastics team’s best-ever finish at Big Fives last weekend earned it a spot in Saturday’s Big Ten championships evening session.
However, the Terps couldn’t repeat their success at the main event, finishing in eighth place with a 195.25, their lowest score in their past five meets. Still, the Terps qualified for NCAA regionals for the first time in three years.
Maryland lost crucial points during beam, with only one gymnast, freshman Audrey Barber, scoring a 9.8. Freshman Karrie Thomas’ season-low 9.05 meant Maryland had to count Kirsten Peterman’s 9.325, leading to a 48.175 event score.
No Maryland gymnast scored a 9.9 on any event, and the Terps broke 49 on just two of the four rotations.
“They’re doing all of the big stuff right, but giving away little tenths all over the place,” coach Brett Nelligan said in a Big Ten Network interview.
Despite the disappointing performance, the team will prepare for regionals this upcoming week.
“We’ve come so far, and we are right on the edge of where we need to be,” Nelligan said. “We need to calm our nerves down.”
Michigan scored a 197.2 to win its 24th championship.
Although Maryland suffered from some major setbacks, Nelligan said he looks forward to this week’s work at the gym and the young team’s performance at regionals.
