March 10, 1999

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The University of Maryland women's gymnastics team remains ranked at No. 9 in the country after its ninth meet of the season by GymInfo, the official NCAA rankings. Maryland is still the highest-ranked team from the East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) and the second-highest ranked team from the Southeast Region behind No. 1 Georgia.

The Terps, however, did jump in the rankings on beam and floor. On beam, Maryland is ranked No. 5, up from its No. 7 ranking last week, and on floor, it is ranked No. 18, jumping seven spots from last week's No. 25 ranking. They are also ranked No. 14 on vault and No. 17 on bars. Maryland is also ranked No. 2 in the Southeast Region and No. 1 in the EAGL for the second straight week.

In the Terps' last meet on Saturday, March 6 at the Wolfpack Invitational, they finished in first place out of six teams with an all-time high team score of 195.425, breaking the old mark of 195.200, set one week prior. They also recorded a season-high score of 49.175 on bars. EAGL rival No. 24 NC State came in second with a score of 195.375 and Southeast Region rival James Madison took third with a score of 190.325. Rounding out the field were William & Mary (189.825), Southeast Region rival Radford (189.650) and Pennsylvania (187.850). The win over NC State marked the first regular season win for the Terps over the Wolfpack since the 1997 season and also marked the first regular season win over NC State in Raleigh, N.C. since the 1989 season.

Individually, freshmen Gillian Cote (Fredericksburg, Va./James Monroe) and Laura Moon (Scottsdale, Ariz./Saguaro) remain the Terps' two highest ranked competitors.

Cote is ranked seventh in nation for all-around, up two spots from last week, and is the highest nationally ranked EAGL gymnast and the third-highest nationally ranked Southeast Region gymnast in the all-around competition. Cote is also broke into the national beam rankings at No. 20. In the Southeast Region, Cote is ranked third for all-around, No. 12 on vault, ninth on bars, fourth on beam and fifth on floor. In the EAGL, she is ranked first for all-around, fifth on vault, seventh on bars, first on beam and third on floor.

Moon is ranked No. 10 in the nation for all-around, up one spot from last week, and is the third highest nationally ranked gymnast from the EAGL and the fifth highest from the Southeast Region. Moon also remains nationally ranked on beam at No. 23. In the Southeast Region, Moon is ranked fifth for all-around, No. 13 on vault, No. 12 on bars, No. 6 on beam and No. 18 on floor. In the EAGL, Moon is third for all-around, sixth on vault, eighth on bars, third on beam and No. 11 on floor.

Maryland is the only EAGL team to have two gymnasts ranked in the nation's top 25 and along with Georgia, is the only Southeast Region team to have two gymnasts ranked in the nation's top 25. The Terps are also only one of six top 25 teams to have two gymnasts ranked in the individual top 25.

Freshman Kit Johnson (Virginia Beach, Va./Salem) also broke into the national rankings. Johnson is currently ranked No. 22 on beam, the highest she has been ranked since Jan. 26 when she was No. 24 in the country. In the Southeast Region, Johnson is ranked fifth on beam and in the EAGL, is ranked second behind only Cote.

The Terps (17-7, 4-3 EAGL) will be in action again on Sat., March 13 at 7 p.m. when they compete in their last regular season home meet against Rhode Island and Southeast Region rivals No. 15 Florida and George Washington.