Last year, the Maryland gymnastics team returned to the heights it’s used to under coach Brett Nelligan and exceeded expectations by earning its highest NCAA regional score in history.

In 2019, the Terps hope to take another step forward to establish themselves as one of the top teams in the nation. And considering the team last year used almost exclusively underclassmen, there’s plenty of reason for optimism in College Park.

“If we can pick up from where we left off last year,” Nelligan said, “there really is no ceiling for this group.”

Maryland’s return to the NCAA tournament was so impressive that Nelligan earned Big Ten Coach of the Year despite finishing in the middle of the pack in the conference. The Terps hadn’t been to a regional since 2015, and with their dearth of upperclassmen, needing one more season to get back to the postseason would’ve been understandable.

Instead, thanks largely to Audrey Barber earning first-team All-Big Ten as a freshman and Alecia Farina earning second-team All-Big Ten as a sophomore, the Terps posted some of the highest scores in program history.

Barber and Farina both return this season, and along with junior Kirsten Peterman, they make up the team’s selections for the conference’s gymnasts to watch list.

The Terps are also adding freshmen Alexsis Rubio and Sanya Glauber along with West Virginia transfer Tiara Wright, who missed last season due to injury. Glauber said the group of newcomers are a natural fit with the team.

“We all live together,” Glauber said. “Having to be with one another in and out of the gym definitely helps [our] relationship and makes us a lot closer than a lot of other teams.”

The Terps’ first meet is on January 13th, when they will host Penn, Cortland, and West Chester University at Xfinity Center. With matchups against No. 22 Illinois and No. 9 Michigan looming, Maryland is looking to start the season with a strong performance.

“We’ve seen a lot of teams go out there and not have their best performance [in their first meet],” Farina said. “So it would really do a lot for us if we went out there and got a 195.0 or 196.0 because it would put us ahead of everybody else.”

There is an increased optimism and a sense of growth across the program following last season, and the team is looking forward to showing its preseason improvement in its first meet.

“We got such a talented group here,” Nelligan said. “We just need to get on the floor in competition format, and we’ll be ready to go.”