Since he succeeded his father Bob Nelligan in 2009, Brett Nelligan has led the program to new heights.

The Terps have made 13 NCAA Regional appearances during Nelligan’s tenure. Under his leadership, the Terps reached No. 8 in the country in 2020, their highest ranking ever, and have set or tied numerous individual and event scoring records.

The last two seasons have been the high point of Nelligan’s leadership.

[Maryland women’s soccer’s winning streak snapped in 2-0 loss to Old Dominion]

The Terps won session one of the Big Ten Championships for the first time in 2024 after a 21-10 campaign. All-arounder Emma Silberman also qualified for NCAA Nationals on vault that year, the first Terp to individually qualify for nationals since 2001.

Last season, Maryland’s showing of 196.825 at session two of the NCAA Pennsylvania Regional marked the highest NCAA Regional score in program history.

The Terps set an attendance record of 7,287 fans at their Jan. 18 matchup against No. 11 UCLA. This more than tripled the previous attendance record.

Maryland’s pair of postseason meets, including its matchup against No. 1 LSU in the second round, were also televised on ESPN. The 2025 postseason was the most-watched women’s gymnastics one on record, according to Forbes.

Nelligan holds a 288-213-2 record at Maryland and has coached the Terps to a top-25 appearance in 10 of the last 14 seasons.

Sixteen years after his retirement, the Terps — now coached by his son Brett — set a program attendance record this season.

A matchup in January between then-No.11 UCLA and Maryland drew more than 7,200 fans into Xfinity Center. The previous attendance record was 2,207 attendees against Michigan in 2015.

Olympic gold medalist and UCLA all-arounder Jordan Chiles was likely responsible in part for the turnout, but that level of exposure marked a milestone for Maryland.

“Obviously it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch a great talent like Jordan Chiles compete, but what I liked the most is when I walked in the arena, it was all red,” Brett Nelligan said. “Everybody came, and they were wearing red for Maryland gymnastics.”

Maryland’s home opener was the first in a series of meets that defined a potentially pivotal season. Though the Terps will likely need time to break into the upper echelon of the Big Ten, let alone the country, the program seemed to take the next step toward the national stage.

“We’re getting a lot closer as a program to where we want to be than where we were last year,” Brett Nelligan said. “I think progress is slow when you do it right.”

[After battling injury, Gianna Ruffing broke through for Maryland gymnastics]

Brett Nelligan believes media coverage of Maryland’s strong postseason showings could impact the team’s status and prestige beyond this year. Maryland’s first-round matchup against West Virginia on April 2 was one of two gymnastics meets televised on ESPN that day. In the next round, the Terps faced No. 1 LSU on ESPN.

The 2025 Women’s Gymnastics postseason was ESPN’s most-watched women’s gymnastics postseason on record, according to Forbes. Maryland finished with its highest regional score in school history.

That meet established a new standard of postseason success. But Brett Nelligan said the results also contributed to a rippling influence on the program, as underclassmen played a key role in the tournament and an incoming recruiting class ranked in the nation’s top 15 watched from afar. 

“The underclassmen got to be a part of that regional performance, so I hope that in their mind, they understand … the intensity at which we have to compete when we’re on the national stage like that,” Brett Nelligan said.

[Maryland gymnastics’ strong third rotation wasn’t enough for success at NCAA regionals]

The Terps have taken incremental steps under the coach, finishing with a 196.000 or higher in their past four regional appearances. Maryland’s gradual improvements this season resembled its overall growth. Former coach Bob Nelligan coined it as the program continuing to “turtle along.”

But the Terps’ start to the season suggested anything but a strong year.

Maryland notched its first score of more than 196.000 at its eighth meet of the season. It reached that mark multiple times in the first half of each of the past three seasons.

But as the year went on, Maryland began to eliminate falls and mistakes, posting five meet scores of at least 196.000 in its final seven competitions. The seasonlong progress culminated in two of the most significant competitions in team history.

The Terps knocked out West Virginia in the first round of the NCAA championships with a 196.250 and followed that with a 196.825 in its second round meet against No. 1 LSU, No. 16 Arkansas and No. 17 Michigan.

Yet their historic performance wasn’t enough and Maryland finished last at the quad meet.

Still, this season was a far cry from Bob Nelligan’s time with Maryland, when the team had limited resources and the sport lacked popularity.

The program’s growth is reflected in the dozens of emails alumni send to Brett Nelligan. After former gymnasts and Bob Nelligan attended the UCLA meet, they told the current coach that the crowd stunned them. Those alumni competed in empty practice gyms where the only attendees were friends the gymnasts had invited.

It was one contest against an Olympian, but that moment embodied the steps Maryland’s trying to take. And Bob Nelligan is now a proud alum — and father.

“[Brett] is doing things with the program that I always wanted to do,” Bob Nelligan said.

The staff had their eyes on Gianna Ruffing, a rising high school senior from Marlborough, Massachusetts, whose persistent ankle injuries limited her to a zero-star ranking. Despite that, Nelligan recognized her skill and character immediately.

“When camp’s over, we’re going to offer her a spot on this team,” Nelligan said.

Ruffing decided to commit to Maryland on the spot after one day at the camp if given the opportunity. Nelligan broke the news to Ruffing and her mother in the locker room after camp ended, prompting tears of joy from both.

Ruffing walked out of the locker room and announced her commitment to her new teammates, who swarmed her with hugs and excitement. Though she began to talk to Maryland in the final few months of her recruitment, she called the offer a dream come true.

Ruffing eventually recovered from injuries and earned a spot in Maryland’s floor lineup late in her sophomore year.

“I knew it was just going to take a lot of work once I got to school [my freshman year],” Ruffing said. “But I’ve put in the work and I know I can prove myself.”

Ruffing had a few shaky floor routines at her first collegiate competition, the GW Tri Meet, but Nelligan chalked them up to temporary nerves.

The sophomore quickly gained control.

[Maryland gymnastics’ strong third rotation wasn’t enough for success at NCAA regionals]

Ruffing scored 9.800 each at the Big Ten Championships and Maryland’s NCAA Regionals First Round matchup against West Virginia. Both meets featured top-five performances from the floor unit this year.

Before she broke into Maryland’s top six on floor, Ruffing was a talented yet scared gymnast brimming with ambition.

“You could see [Ruffing] wanted a little bit more from [gymnastics],” Elite Gymnastics Academy coach Tara Pasiakos said. “She wasn’t there just to do it and fill her time. She had some big goals.”

Ruffing credited Pasiakos and Elite Gymnastics Academy, a Massachusetts-based club she spent about five years competing with, for improving her mental resilience and realizing her potential as a gymnast.

“[Pasiakos] really helped me get over all my mental blocks and being scared,” Ruffing said. “My old gym, they kinda shaped me as a gymnast, and [Elite Gymnastics Academy] kinda perfected me as a gymnast.”

Lingering ankle injuries stunted certain areas of Ruffing’s physical development for years, but allowed her to strengthen other abilities. Since she couldn’t practice tumbling or vaulting, she worked on her strength, flexibility and bars routine.

Even as she battled injury, Pasiakos said Ruffing’s sight remained on her goal after club gymnastics — contributing to a Division I gymnastics program.
“You can’t predict the future, but [with] her determination, you could see that she’d end up at least somewhere,” Pasiakos said.

When Ruffing committed to Maryland after her junior year, she still had a long road to establish herself in the program.

Injury struck again and forced her to undergo ankle surgery, shortening her senior year to four meets.

Ruffing said she knew about her status as a low-ranking recruit, but didn’t pay much attention to it. She knew the injuries that deprived her gaining recruiting prestige were unavoidable, so she chose to “control the controllables.”

Rather than holding a grudge because of her low rank, Ruffing took the opposite approach.

[Front court issues, injuries riddled Maryland women’s basketball’s 2024-25 season]

“We have a saying … ‘don’t prove people wrong, prove people right,’” Nelligan said. “The people who have your back and who have believed in you for the whole time, prove them right.”

Ruffing’s recovery from surgery limited her involvement on floor her freshman year at Maryland. She spent much of that season preparing her ankles for the rigors of college gymnastics, and grew healthy enough to compete in the exhibition slot on bars, an area she specialized in entering school.

Ruffing’s recovery was accelerated by a platelet-rich plasma shot, an injection derived from a patient’s blood to stimulate healing, that she called “life-changing.”

Ruffing began to craft her floor routine after receiving the injection, starting with a pass she borrowed from Maryland’s former all-arounder Emma Silberman.

“[Silberman] had a really cool floor pass, and I was like, ‘JJ, can I try that?’” Ruffing said. “I tried it, and it clicked for me, and it was so much easier than my previous tumbling pass.”

Ruffing was healthy enough by her sophomore year to compete in exhibition on floor. The experience allowed Ruffing to build confidence and grow acclimated to the larger Xfinity Center stage, where they often compete in front of thousands of fans.

The exhibition slot also gave Ruffing a chance to build trust with coaches, which eventually helped her crack the starting lineup on floor.

Fifth-year Alexa Rothenbuescher injured her ankle at the Yale Tri Meet on March 9 and was out at the GW Tri Meet five days later, opening the door for Ruffing’s debut.

Nelligan called the decision to insert Ruffing for Maryland’s all-arounder a “no-brainer.”

“Who’s the [gymnast] that you feel you could turn to on short notice during a meet and say, ‘Hey, we need a routine from you that can give us a 9.800’?” Nelligan said. “I think everyone felt right away that it was Gianna.”

Ruffing recognized the stakes of filling in for the team’s best floor worker — and perhaps best gymnast overall — but said she was excited above all else.

Though it took two years and countless hours dedicated to recovery, the coach’s belief in the no-star recruit from Massachusetts paid off.

“She has certainly put herself in a great position to compete for lineup spots [next season] on … bars and floor,” Nelligan said. “And if she continues to work hard, I don’t think that vault and beam are out of the question, either.”

Maryland hired former Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams on Tuesday, two days after Kevin Willard left College Park to take the helm at Villanova. A mass exodus of the Terps’ roster ensued, with Derik Queen declaring for the NBA draft and a majority of other players entering the transfer portal.

In this week’s newsletter, we’ll break down the latest on men’s and women’s basketball and everything else from one of Maryland’s busiest weeks of the year.

Portal season

Williams has brought in three transfers within five days of his official hiring. Former Aggies Pharrel Payne and Solomon Washington followed their coach to Maryland.

The Terps’ other commit, former Indiana guard Myles Rice, is likely to start at point guard. He had a somewhat disappointing season for the Hoosiers after transferring from Washington State, where he earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and first team honors.

Coach Brenda Frese’s team has had far less movement, but the lone addition was a big one. 6-foot-6 Penn State transfer Gracie Merkle committed to Maryland after leading the Nittany Lions (10-19, 1-17 Big Ten) in points and rebounds per game.

Last year, guard Kaylene Smikle similarly transferred to the Terps from a last-place Rutgers squad and led the Terps in scoring in the recent season. They’ll hope Merkle is another major difference-maker and the solution to their occasional struggles against opposing bigs.

For all the details and future updates, check out our men’s and women’s basketball transfer portal trackers.

Six weeks saved Bri Godfrey

Godfrey had a dismal end to last season in the circle for Maryland softball, and things didn’t get any better in the fall season. By the winter, coach Lauren Karn and the pitcher knew major changes were needed.

Godfrey said she was a mess and didn’t feel like herself. She was in tears during her first pitching training back in Florida. She fully rebuilt her pitching motion over the next six weeks, and rewards have been reaped.

The sophomore’s ERA is more than a full run lower than last year as she’s turned into Maryland’s go-to arm.

Men’s lacrosse’s unranked loss

Just a few weeks ago coach John Tillman’s squad was undefeated with three top-five wins and the No. 1 team in the country. But No. 2 Maryland lost to unranked Rutgers on Saturday, 8-6, its second defeat in three games.

The Terps endured their worst offensive outing of the season, suffering three scoring droughts of more than 15 minutes. They trailed for the final 47 minutes and 49 seconds. Graduate student goalkeeper Logan McNaney tallied more goals allowed than saves in both of their two recent losses, something he hasn’t done in any wins.

Maryland travels to No. 3 Ohio State next weekend.

Best Bits

• After Maryland baseball lost to UMBC on Tuesday, coach Matt Swope said they “hit rock bottom.” Since then, the Terps have lost three games by a combined 26 runs.
• Despite a season-high score, Maryland gymnastics’ year ended at the NCAA regional semifinals.
• Maryland women’s lacrosse freshman Shelby Sullivan wasn’t highly recruited, but has made an immediate impact on the Terps’ scoring and draw controls.
• Recruiting versatile short-stick defensive midfielders has let Tillman find sustained success.
• Maryland softball imploded in game one of its series with Indiana, allowing 15 runs in the fourth inning en route to a 20-10 loss.

Stat of the week

Williams has won at least 100 games at Marquette, Virginia Tech and Texas A&M. If he reaches that mark at Maryland, he’d be just the third head coach to win triple-digit games at four schools, joining Steve Alford and former Maryland coach Lefty Driesell.

Quote of the week

“That doesn’t bother us at all,” University of Maryland president Darryll Pines said about Williams not staying at any school for more than six years. “Wherever he’s been, he’s won. Wherever he’s been, he has demonstrated high, high character, high integrity.”

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.

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.”

Lauren Brendlinger and Layla Hammer both lost their balance and hopped off the apparatus, resulting in the unit’s worst score in over a month and forcing Maryland to count a major deduction at the conference tournament.

On Wednesday, the beam lineup avoided falls altogether, tallying a 49.000 score in the first round of the NCAA Regionals on Wednesday. The routines guided Maryland as it defeated West Virginia 196.250 to 195.325 in University Park to advance to the second round.

“[Brendlinger] and [Hammer] took it hard after Big Tens,” coach Brett Nelligan said. “They don’t want to let their teammates down, so I feel like they came into this meet with some redemption on their mind.”

Brendlinger and Hammer rebounded with scores of over 9.700. Natalie Martin and Maddie Komoroski elevated the lineup’s score in the fifth and sixth spots with a 9.850 and 9.900, respectively.

Alexa Rothenbuescher faced the Terps’ lone major deduction after wobbling and shaking her arms, disrupting the fluidity of her first series. Maryland dropped the all-arounder’s 9.550.

Aside from beam, the Terps posted their second-best meet score of the year behind consistency across all four events.

Nelligan has implored the team all season to prioritize executing clean routines, rather than obsessing over scores. Though Wednesday marked the first meet where opponents’ scores mattered to the Terps, they remained focused.

“You want to separate yourself from the other team because it’s win to advance,” Nelligan said. “And I thought they did a really great job of not focusing on those scores, not worrying about their opponent, just focusing on us.”

[Sierra Kondo stars on bars after monthlong hiatus for Maryland gymnastics]

Maryland’s first two gymnasts on vault had minor miscues that dropped their scores below 9.800. Sophomore Logan Buckmon took a small step forward after an initially clean landing, while freshman Rayna Engelmayer slightly hopped forward.

The lineup continued its consistency, but minor errors prevented the Terps from breaking 9.800. Rhea LeBlanc underrotated and leaned forward, nearly losing her balance on her landing, leading to a 9.625 that Maryland would drop.

Martin, the team’s leader in vault national qualifying score, anchored the unit with 9.850. The sophomore performed one of two routines in the lineup with a starting value of 10, meaning her routine is more difficult but maximizes the number of possible points.

Fueled by consistency and a standout score from Martin, the Terps posted a 48.850 —  inline with their vault scores from the past month — and took a small lead over West Virginia after one rotation.

Bars has become Maryland’s highest-ranked event at 25th nationally, but the lineup has been scorching since March 1. Their lowest score since then is 48.975, and though they were missing NQS leader Sierra Kondo, they parlayed that momentum into another elite showing on Wednesday.

“Sticks are contagious” is a common, almost cliche, adage in the gymnastics world, but the Terps proved it right in the second rotation.

[Maryland gymnastics scores 195.700 to finish last in session at Big Ten Championships]

Victoria Gatzendorfer stuck her landing and scored 9.825, her best since March 1. All five gymnasts on bars followed the senior with clean landings of their own. While only Martin scored above 9.800 on vault, all six gymnasts surpassed that mark on bars.

“With the way [Gatzendorfer] got us started with that routine, you know, you just got a feeling we were going to do something special,” Nelligan said. “I mean, they were just lights out.”

The bars lineup notched its fifth consecutive event score of over 49.000, a streak now nearing an entire month.

Junior Taylor Rech has energized the floor unit from the first spot for much of the year. Rech sets the tone, and if she performs well, the rest of the lineup typically does too.

Rech posted her highest score since Feb. 21 and the rest of the unit fed off of that momentum.

The four other gymnasts scored 9.800 or above, clinching a Maryland victory before the anchor spot and allowing the Terps to rest Alexa Rothenbuescher. The floor unit scored 49.250, its best event score in nearly a month and the Terps’ highest of the day.

Maryland stays in University Park and faces the grandest stage of its season tomorrow: a quad meet in the second round of the Pennsylvania Regionals against No. 1 LSU, No. 16 Arkansas and Michigan.

Kondo didn’t miss any meets in the three previous years. She returned for the GW Tri Meet on March 14 and has reasserted herself as one of Maryland’s best bars performers.

“I was definitely struggling with feeling pressure and I was stressed out a little bit on bars,” Kondo said. “I took a step backwards and I really broke down my routine into parts.”

Kondo’s return to excellence has bolstered her team-leading national qualifying score on bars and coincided with the unit’s hottest stretch of the year.

Just eight days after she returned to the bars lineup, the Terps notched a season-high bars score at the Maryland Quad and a 49.225 at the conference championships. Kondo finished as a top-two scorer for the Terps at both meets.

“Not only is [Kondo] back like she never left, but she’s even better than before,” coach Brett Nelligan said. “[I’m] just really proud of her for staying the course and being patient with herself and letting the routine come back to her.”

[Maryland gymnastics scores 195.700 to finish last in session at Big Ten Championships]

The bars specialist returned in time for the all-senior bars lineup featured on Maryland’s senior day, something that Kondo says she’s never seen before in college gymnastics. Emotion pervaded the lineup during the Terps’ 49.325 on bars — an unforgettable rotation for Kondo.

Kondo needed to take a step back, though, before rejoining the bars unit. Her last meet before the hiatus on Feb. 14 against Washington came with an uncharacteristic mistake.

The senior’s feet collided with the lower bar during her release, forcing her to take an additional rotation on the high bar. The miscue led to her first and only major deduction this season.

She repeated the error a week later in warmups before the Terps’ meet against Iowa. Nelligan said the team took a cautious approach and decided to give her a break from bars.

While Kondo used the hiatus to correct her form, the root of the issue extended beyond her physical skills.

The coaching staff prioritized Kondo’s mental health, allowing her as much time as needed to work her way back into the lineup. Kondo said that mindset relieved the pressure she felt and expedited her return.

[Maryland gymnastics bars unit’s season-high score leads to win at Maryland Quad meet]

Nelligan gradually rebuilt Kondo’s confidence with the time off, focusing on the details of her form that may have been causing the error in her release. He slowly ramped up the pressure in practice by simulating elements of a meet, such as teammates and coaches speaking to Kondo during her routine.

The coach and Maryland gymnastics’ athletic mental health counselor Danielle Tulloch taught Kondo how to calm the nerves that contributed to her errors. Kondo began practicing visualization and breathing exercises and said she now feels a “wave of calmness” when beginning her routine.

Kondo felt comfortable enough to exhibition at the Yale Tri-Meet on March 9, scoring a 9.775. The event started a strong return the bars unit, with one final chance for success at the NCAA regionals.

“It’s almost like some things before the break were just expected of me,” Kondo said. “Now I’m just grateful, super excited every time I compete … I qualified to regionals as an individual, that’s super special to me, and I think that feeling wasn’t there before my break.”

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.

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.