Maryland gymnastics trailed second-place Arkansas by 0.450 entering the final rotation, and its chance at an NCAA regional finals berth was fading. The Terps needed a lineup of near-perfect routines and an uncharacteristically sloppy performance from the 16th-best team in the nation.
With their season on the line, they got neither.
Maryland’s bars lineup turned in a great performance, as it has for the past month, but 49.200 wasn’t enough to make up the ground between the Terps and the Razorbacks. Arkansas cemented a second-place finish with a 49.475 on floor, eliminating Maryland.
Maryland fell to No. 1 LSU, No. 16 Arkansas and No. 17 Michigan at the NCAA regional semifinals in University Park on Thursday despite scoring a season-high 196.825 and at least 49 in all four events for the first time this year.
“We try to avoid scores, but in this day and age … [there are] scores on every scoreboard,” coach Brett Nelligan said. “They knew we had a shot and just the way we competed … this is what you get, the highest regional score in program history.”
The Terps trailed LSU and Arkansas by a sizable margin entering the meet’s third rotation, and their window appeared to open when the Razorbacks suffered a fall and a sub-9.7 score on beam.
[Maryland gymnastics defeats West Virginia in first of NCAA Regionals, 196.250 to 195.325]
But the back half of Arkansas’ lineup, anchored by freshman all-arounder Joscelyn Roberson, shored up these mistakes and regained it control of second place.
Maryland’s (16-12) vault unit did what it could with a 49.225, a top-five performance of the season.
Freshman Maggie Murphy, in only her third collegiate meet, stuck her landing and posted a 9.875. The score was good for the second-highest in the lineup, only behind Taylor Rech’s season-best 9.900, and blew past her previous two marks.
“Mentally, I was always ready no matter what,” Murphy said. “If I had to go in or even if I was just there for warming up … always being prepared and knowing that [competing in the lineup] could be a possibility has been really good.”
Maryland’s floor lineup has undergone several tweaks — both in order and personnel — since Rothenbuescher injured her ankle at the Yale Tri Meet on March 9.
Sophomore Gianna Ruffing, Martin and Brendlinger have rotated in and out of the event, but the Terps have remained steady on floor.
“Shifting [the lineup] around can make everyone uneasy, but I’m just proud of the way the team handled it,” Nelligan said. “Everybody bought into what we needed to do to win night one, but also put ourselves in the best position to be aggressive on night two.”
Clean passes and six scores of more than 9.800 produced a 49.325 on floor, matching Maryland’s second-best event score this season.
The Terps got a mostly steady performance from a usually inconsistent beam unit to start the meet.
Lauren Brendlinger continued to distance herself from the pair of falls she had on beam at the Big Ten Championships. The sophomore circled her arms to maintain her balance on her landing, but kept her feet still and stuck the landing for a 9.775.
[Maryland women’s lacrosse uses second-half comeback to defeat Arizona State, 18-14]
The pair of gymnasts who followed Brendlinger made mistakes, however. Fellow sophomore Layla Hammer, who also fell at the conference championships, lost her balance and hopped off the apparatus after her first series.
Fifth-year Alexa Rothenbuescher was forced to repeat her first series, just as she did Wednesday against West Virginia, after she failed to fluidly complete it on her first attempt.
Retrying a series forces judges to deduct from a gymnast’s starting value, reducing Rothenbuescher’s maximum points from 10.000. But Maryland’s all-arounder recovered with a clean landing.
Junior Maddie Komoroski has anchored the beam lineup all season, but three-event gymnast Natalie Martin has nearly matched her recently.
The Terps saw the best of both today.
With the highest stakes of the season, Martin posted a season-high 9.900 and Komoroski scored 9.950, matching the Terps’ best individual event score this year. These outings elevated the rotation from subpar to a 49.075.
Despite the season coming to a close, Nelligan is sure that Maryland’s performance wasn’t in vain.
“I really want to credit this senior class because what they did tonight will echo through … multiple seasons of Maryland gymnastics,” Nelligan said. “They taught this team, the juniors, the sophomores, the freshmen and our recruits … what Maryland gymnastics is all about and the direction that we’re going.”
