Maryland gymnastics was on pace to score at least 196 for the fourth time this season. Then, it had one of its worst showings on beam this year in the final rotation — a pair of falls from Lauren Brendlinger and Layla Hammer deterred the lineup.
The last unit dropped the Terps to a fourth place finish on Saturday in Ann Arbor in the second session of the Big Ten Championships, scoring 195.700 in competition with Penn State, Illinois and Iowa.
“I use the analogy for them, in basketball, you can do everything right [and] sometimes the ball just doesn’t go in,” coach Brett Nelligan said. “And today was one of those days on beam where the ball just didn’t go in.”
Nelligan has emphasized Taylor Rech’s importance in the first spot of the floor lineup given her high-tempo routine. The junior provided a spark to start the day.
Rech began Maryland’s first rotation with a 9.800. Sophomore Gianna Ruffing, competing in only her third collegiate meet, followed in the second spot. Ruffing and Brendlinger are recent lineup tweaks amid fifth-year Alexa Rothenbuescher’s nagging injury.
The Terps’ best floor performer by national qualifying score was held out from the event for the second time in three weeks after reaggravating a lower leg injury she suffered at the Yale Tri Meet on March 22. The all-arounder’s injury limited her to only compete on bars.
[Maryland gymnastics bars unit’s season-high score leads to win at Maryland Quad meet]
Maryland’s young duo were unshaken in Rothenbuescher’s absence. Ruffing posted her own 9.800, continuing a steady improvement, and Brendlinger scored her second-best floor performance this season with a 9.850.
“[Ruffing’s] really settling in,” Nelligan said. “She’s really confident in herself and confident in all the work that she’s done.”
All six gymnasts scored at least 9.800 en route to a 49.175 and first place in the meet after one rotation.
The vault unit also featured a standout performance from the first spot, but unlike on the floor, the two following gymnasts weren’t strong.
Sophomore specialist Logan Buckmon stuck a landing for her fourth score of 9.800 or more this season. Freshmen Rayna Engelmayer and Maggie Murphy, a pair of injury replacements, took lengthy hops backward on their landings. Both scores were deducted to below 9.700.
The more experienced back half of the lineup stabilized the unit, and sophomore Natalie Martin — Maryland’s leader in NQS on vault — excelled in the anchor spot with a 9.875 to boost the Terps’ score to 48.825. But the overall performance dropped them to last place after the second rotation.
[Maryland gymnastics finishes third with 195.50 score at George Washington Quad Meet]
Sarah Saville returned to the bars lineup after Tasha Brozowski replaced her last meet to form an all-senior bars lineup on Maryland’s senior day. The freshman, tied for the second-best bars NQS on the team, scored 9.850 to begin one of the Terps’ best stretches with the rotation this season.
The four ensuing gymnasts all posted at least a 9.800, including senior Sierra Kondo in only her third meet back after a month-long hiatus. She scored 9.875, tied with senior Hailey Merchant as the best in the lineup.
The Terps, who notched a season-high on bars in their last meet, posted another strong score with a 49.225.
“We’re in a good place on bars right now,” Nelligan said. “They’re really finding their handstands, they’re really finding their landings.”
Maryland had a disastrous start on beam with the falls, its first in over a month to derail an otherwise great meet on the final rotation. Scores gradually improved and peaked with junior Madeline Komoroski’s meet-high 9.925 in the anchor spot. The second half of the lineup salvaged the rotation, but the beam unit still scored their lowest since March 1.
Maryland was positioned for at least a third-place finish at the meet, and a top-three overall score at the Big Ten Championships after two sessions, until its 48.475 result in its final rotation.
The Terps will likely close their season at the NCAA Regionals, beginning on April 2. Maryland currently ranks 30th nationally by NQS, good for one of the final spots in the tournament.
