Maryland gymnastics faced a seemingly insurmountable challenge at the NCAA regional semifinals.

The Terps were up against No. 1 LSU, No. 16 Arkansas and No. 17 Michigan, all teams with higher national qualifying scores. After notching its third-highest regional score in program history against West Virginia, Maryland needed a top-two finish to advance to the Pennsylvania Regional Final.

“Just the way we competed, so tough, so aggressive,” coach Brett Nelligan said. “You’re going to get three of the best teams in the nation and nobody backed down, nobody blinked an eye.”

The Terps ended the second rotation in third place, narrowly ahead of only the Wolverines and directly behind the Razorbacks. They needed season-best performances from bars and vault in the final two rotations, along with unusual miscues from Arkansas, to have a chance at a top-two finish.

Maryland couldn’t achieve that as its season ended on Thursday.

After notching scores of more than 49.000 on beam and floor, the Terps’ third rotation was on vault. Vault became their second-best event by the end of the season, but the unit struggled to exceed 49.000 in the month prior and hadn’t posted a standout performance since March 1.

[Maryland gymnastics suffers last-place finish at NCAA regional semifinals with a 196.825]

Senior Rhea LeBlanc, third in vault NQS, was out of the lineup after under rotating and injuring her ankle against West Virginia. Freshman Maggie Murphy replaced LeBlanc in just her third collegiate meet.

“[LeBlanc] did her first warm-up vault and was like, ‘I don’t think this is a good idea,’” Nelligan said. “So [Murphy] found out probably an hour and a half before she competed.”

Maryland’s slim hope to leap ahead of Arkansas ahead of the third rotation came from the Razorbacks competing on beam, the event where falls are most common. But Arkansas is ranked 14th nationally on beam and had only scored below 49.000 in three of its 12 meets entering Thursday.

The first three gymnasts in the Terps’ lineup produced solid scores. They had a chance to narrow the gap when Arkansas graduate student Mati Waligora fell on beam.

The fourth slot of each lineup went Maryland’s way. Junior Taylor Rech scored a career-high 9.900 on vault for the Terps, while Arkansas junior Cally Swaney posted a 9.675 — her lowest beam score since Jan. 11.

[Maryland gymnastics defeats West Virginia in first of NCAA Regionals, 196.250 to 195.325]

Murphy followed Rech with a 9.875, markedly higher than her previous two vault scores.

“[Rech] did such an amazing vault, and I was like, ‘You know what? I wanna do that same thing,’” Murphy said. “I’m not gonna think too much about trying to stick [the landing] or anything like that, I’m gonna let it happen.”

But Maryland’s chance at catching Arkansas was short-lived. While Martin delivered a solid 9.850, freshman all-arounder Joscelyn Roberson scored a 9.925 on beam for the Razorbacks.

The Terps cut into their overall deficit, but the first half of the rotation put them at too large of a disadvantage as Arkansas still maintained a lead of 0.450 entering the meet’s final rotation. Maryland’s final lineup resulted in a last-place finish.

The Terps’ third rotation, which featured their second-best lineup, was reflective of the entire meet. They scored 196.825, a season-high meet score and an NCAA regionals program record, but fell short of the nation’s elite.