Maryland gymnastics had a standout performance in every event except vault this year. Then on Friday, three gymnasts turned in their best day of the season.
The Terps posted their second-best score of the year in a 195.725-194.650 win at Washington. A season-high 49.125 on vault and all-arounder Alexa Rothenbuescher’s return to form with a season-best 39.150 powered Maryland’s victory.
On vault, the newcomers set the tone early and finished strong.
Sophomore Logan Buckmon and freshman Rayna Engelmayer, who have a combined six meets of experience, scored 9.850 and 9.825, respectively. Both scores mark season-highs for the pair.
“When Logan stuck that vault, I mean, she just raised all the energy level for the whole vault lineup,” coach Brett Nelligan said. “And then to see Rayna carry it on is exactly what you wanna see.”
Engelmayer once again replaced Layla Hammer, who remains week-to-week with a high ankle sprain she suffered on vault at the Rutgers Quad. The freshman posted a top-three finish in only her second week competing for Maryland.
The rest of the lineup followed suit, all scoring at least 9.7, but sophomore Natalie Martin had the team’s best outing.
A near-perfect routine and the smoothest landing of the night earned the Big Ten Gymnast to Watch a 9.925, her highest of the season in any of her three events.
The strong second rotation came after a respectable start on bars.
[After 2 injury-shortened years, Maryland gymnastics’ Hailey Merchant is excelling on bars]
The Terps started rotation one with two strong routines. Both senior Victoria Gatzendorfer and freshman Sarah Saville executed their bars dismounts well, keeping their hips flat and legs tight.
They nailed their landings en route to a 9.775 for Gatzendorfer, her second-highest bar score this season, and a 9.800 for Saville. The freshman remains the Terps’ second-leading scorer on the event, but needed a bounce-back performance after scoring below 9.750 at the last two meets.
Sierra Kondo, Maryland’s most consistent performer on bars, posted her first sub-9 score of the year. A mishap on her release forced an extra rotation and dropped her score to 8.500. Kondo previously averaged a team-leading 9.840 on bars.
The rest of the lineup looked unshaken despite knowing the bars specialist’s score would be dropped.
“That shows that we can get scores from a multitude of different routines,” Nelligan said. “And that makes us really versatile and hopefully dangerous in the postseason.”
After taking a week off from bars following two subpar showings, Rothenbuescher scored 9.775, her best outing on the event since Jan. 18 against then-No. 11 UCLA.
Rhea LeBlanc stuck her landing, finishing the rotation with a season-high 9.850. The strong finish lifted the Terps to 48.850.
Maryland finished on floor, the only event it’s ranked in the top 30. Junior Taylor Rech has been one of the keys to the Terps’ consistency and posted her third straight score of at least 9.8 against Washington.
[Maryland gymnastics narrowly falls to No. 22 Penn State, 195.500-195.250]
Martin and Rothenbuescher have been just as crucial, and the pair scored 9.825 and 9.875, respectively.
Rothenbuescher, the team’s only graduate student and reigning All-Big Ten Second Team member, has posted 9.8 or more in all but two meets this year. Martin, meanwhile, has scored at least 9.8 in all six meets this season.
Maryland totaled 48.975 on floor for the third time in 2025, continuing its streak of consistency and further securing its place in the top 25 on the event.
Engelmayer’s inexperience showed for the first time on beam when she fell and posted a 9.000.
This mistake could have made the rest of the lineup overly cautious, but the beam unit stuck to the theme they set for the night: toughness.
“Stick with the gameplan of being tough and aggressive,” Nelligan said. “If there’s a fall and you try to change or do something differently, that’s how you can kinda get out of line.”
The team avoided any other major deductions, scoring 48.775. It marked the Terps’ first time scoring 48 or more on beam in consecutive weeks this season, a milestone the team hopes can stabilize its weakest event.
Rothenbuescher secured her strongest all-around performance of the year with a 9.800.
Maryland returns to College Park next Friday to take on a top-30 Iowa team, hoping to build off one of its strongest performances of the year.
