Maryland gymnastics faced a grand stage to kick off the year. The Terps competed with an Auburn program that’s shined in recent years, burgeoning Arizona State and Penn State programs and a solid Temple squad at the Lone Star Collegiate Invitational.

The Terps placed third with a 195.400 total Saturday behind Auburn and Penn State. They were powered by a respectable showing on floor but held back by a last-place performance on vault.

Maryland was ranked No. 24 in the Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association Preseason Coaches Poll, but Penn State, Arizona State and Auburn were all voted higher, at No. 21, No. 20 and No. 17, respectively.

Maryland began on floor in the meet’s first rotation, not the team’s strongest suit, but the event fifth-year Alexa Rothenbuescher excels at.

Though one of four seniors last season, Rothenbuescher is the lone graduate student on the roster. The Fairfax, Virginia, native starred in 2024 with a 9.904 average on floor, the highest on the team in any event.

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Rothenbuescher competed in every event except beam, but is stepping into the role of all-around gymnast for Maryland this year, the first since Emma Silberman in 2021.

Silberman made history in her fifth year, competing in the NCAA championships in vault, the first Terp to advance to nationals since 2001.

Maryland’s newest all-arounder posted a stellar 9.900 on floor, in line with her 2024 season average.

Junior Madeline Komoroski averaged 9.867 on floor last year, the second-highest on the team, but scored a bit below that with a 9.725. In her Maryland debut, sophomore Lauren Brendlinger scored a 9.800, good for fourth-best in the first rotation.

The Terps finished third with a 49.100 total on floor. Maryland exceeded that score in all but three meets last season.

The second rotation saw Maryland on vault. The Terps finished as a top-25 team on vault last season after a sudden second-half leap in total scores.

But Maryland has a new look there this season, with three of its top-five scorers on vault last year out of the starting lineup or lost to graduation. Sophomores Layla Hammer and Logan Buckmon filled in, and the unit’s inexperience showed.

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Hammer scored a 9.675 and Buckmon scored a 9.600 en route to a meet-low 48.550 total. Even Terps’ budding star sophomore Natalie Martin, named a Big Ten Gymnast to Watch for the season, posted a 9.800, below her average.

Maryland rested in rotation three before moving on to bars in the fourth rotation.

In her debut, freshman Sarah Saville paced the team on bars with a 9.825. Senior Hailey Merchant, who averaged a team-low 9.388 on bars last season, scored 9.800, second-best for Maryland.

The Terps totaled 48.900 for the event, narrowly trailing Penn State (48.950) for third-best.

To round out the meet, the Terps took the beam, their lowest-ranked event last season.
Komoroski, the squad’s leading scorer on beam in 2024, picked up where she left off, posting a 9.875. That was Maryland’s second-highest score of the meet, trailing only Rothenbuescher’s 9.900 on floor.

Saturday marked Rothenbuescher’s first meet competing on beam and she got off to a slow start, scoring a team-low 9.575.

Hammer and senior Victoria Gatzendorfer both posted 9.800, up from their 2024 averages of 9.692 and 9.617, respectively. The Terps totaled 48.850 on beam, third-best at the meet and the team’s third-best event of the day.

Though it’s early in the season, Maryland’s meet total would’ve placed it No. 12 nationally as of Jan. 6, according to Road to Nationals.