Coach Brett Nelligan introduced an all-senior bars lineup for Maryland gymnastics on senior day, a fitting honor. The six seniors returned their coaches’ trust, scoring a season-high 49.325 on the bars.

The Terps scored 196.175 in its final regular season contest, to defeat Towson, George Washington and Yale at the Maryland Quad Meet. Maryland’s bars group led the way, but they controlled the rest of the event as well, scoring over 196 for just the third time this season.

“We’ve been through it all together,” Nelligan said. “This class, this team and this coaching staff will be bonded forever.”

Sophomore Logan Buckmon took a small step back during her landing, dropping her score to a 9.700. Despite her lowest score since Feb. 2, the vault specialist remains a dependable staple in the first spot with over a month of avoiding major deductions.

Scores steadily improved after Buckmon’s routine, peaking with sophomore Natalie Martin’s 9.850 in the anchor spot. Martin stuck the cleanest landing of the rotation to maintain her season-long streak of scoring at least 9.800 on vault and strengthen her team-high national qualifying score.

Nelligan said that his team shouldn’t be focused on eliminating falls at this point of the season. Players should work on correcting small details in their landings to gradually improve scores.

[Maryland gymnastics finishes third with 195.50 score at George Washington Quad Meet]

Maryland avoided falls and delivered mostly clean landings on Sunday, leading to a 48.900.

Tasha Brozowski replaced freshman Sarah Saville, the usual starter in the second spot on bars, to form an all-senior lineup on Maryland’s senior day. The groups combined 25 seasons of experience paid off.

The seniors combined to score a 49.325 bars score, matching the Terps second-best event score this season. All five of Maryland’s counted scores were at least a 9.800, a fitting performance for the final home contest.

“I just want [the seniors] to have a night that they’ll never forget,” Nelligan said. “They’ll be able to tell their kids someday what they did on their last night in Xfinity Center.”

Hailey Merchant scored a career-high 9.925, tied for Maryland’s second-best individual score this season. Sierra Kondo, returning for just her second meet since she took a month-long hiatus to correct her form, posted her first score of at least 9.900 since Jan. 18.

“It was just so surreal, so exciting, just to be with my girls one last time at Xfinity [Center],” Merchant said. “There was just so much love out there on the floor.”

[Eliminating mistakes, improved confidence power Maryland gymnastics’ second-half surge]

Bars propelled Maryland on Sunday but the beam unit returned to excellence as well. After an uncharacteristic fall on beam Friday at George Washington, junior Madeline Komoroski scored a 9.900 in the anchor spot.

Komoroski reached that mark for the fourth time this season, and with her return to excellence came a rebound for the entire beam lineup.

“[Komoroski’s] really good at kinda letting any mistakes go,” Nelligan said. “Friday night wasn’t the routine she wanted, but she’s really great at putting that behind her and then refocusing on the next event or the next meet.”

The unit made no major mistakes – the lowest score in the lineup was 9.750 – and posted its fourth beam score of more than 49,000 this year.

Entering their fourth rotation, Maryland was on pace for a 196.000 meet score, a mark it reached three consecutive times during its midseason breakout. Two hiccups on the floor prevented Maryland from recording its season-high score, but a strong start in the routine led to the Terps breaking 196.000.  

Maryland regained momentum with one of its top performances as it heads into the middle session of the Big Ten Championships next weekend.