January 27, 1999

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The University of Maryland women's gymnastics team is ranked number 22 in the nation after its second meet of the season by GymInfo., the official NCAA national rankings. In two meets, the Terps are undefeated with a 6-0 record, including five wins at the George Washington Invitational where they captured the team title. Maryland is also ranked eighth in the nation on balance beam with a 48.200 average and is tied for 11th in the nation, with Utah State, on vault with a 48.400 average. Overall, the Terps also ranked third in the Southeast Region and first in the East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL).

Individually, freshman Kit Johnson (Virginia Beach, Va./Salem) is tied for 24th in the nation on balance beam with a 9.762 average. Johnson is also ranked sixth in the Southeast Region on vault and fourth on balance beam. In the last meet, Johnson recorded a 9.8 on vault, the second highest score in school history, and finished first on both vault and beam.

Freshman Gillian Cote (Fredericksburg, Va./James Monroe) is ranked in the top 10 on vault, floor, balance beam and in the all-around in the Southeast Region and in the top five in the EAGL. Cote, in the first meet of her career, broke the Maryland all-time record on beam with a score of 9.950 and recorded the second highest vault score in school history (9.800).

Junior co-captains Christine Holcombe (McMurray, Pa./Peters Township) and Rachel Dolbin (Pottsville, Pa./Pottsville) are also ranked among the region's and conference's elite. Holcombe is ranked 22nd in the Southeast Region on all-around and 18th on floor. She is also ranked 17th for the all-around in the EAGL, 24th on vault, and ninth on floor. Dolbin is ranked 12th in the Southeast Region in the all-around, 23rd on vault, 17th on balance beam, and 27th on floor. She is also ranked 12th in the EAGL in the all-around, tied for 14th on vault, 10th on balance beam, and 15th on floor.

The Terps next meet will be in Los Angeles against No. 9 UCLA, No. 15 Washington, and UC Santa Barbara. The Terps are 0-2 all-time against both UCLA and Washington and are 2-2 against UC Santa Barbara. It marks the first time that Maryland has faced the Bruins since 1985 and the first time facing the Huskies since 1986. The meet takes place on Sunday, Jan. 31 and begins at 2 p.m. at the John Wooden Center.

Top 25 Women's National Rankingss (by total season average)

   
 1. Alabama            195.867
 2. Georgia            195.625
 3. Utah               195.325
 4. LSU                194.275
 5. Arizona State      194.112
 6. Michigan           193.675
 7. Penn State         193.475
 8. Minnesota          193.375
 9. UCLA               193.187
10. Stanford           192.933
11. Ohio State         192.625
12. Illinois-Chicago   192.608
13. Oregon State       192.258
14. Iowa State         192.250
15. Washington         191.100
16. Denver             192.000
17. Nebraska           191.987
18. Florida            191.983
19. Oklahoma           191.558
20. Auburn             191.350
21. Arizona            191.312
22. MARYLAND           191.100
23. Utah               191.025
24. Ball State         190.875
25. Kentucky           190.825