March 3, 1999

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The University of Maryland women's gymnastics team is ranked No. 9 in the country after its seventh and eighth meets of the season by GymInfo, the official NCAA rankings. The Terps were ranked No. 24 in last week's poll and the 15-spot jump marks the largest by a top 25 team. Maryland is also the highest ranked team from the East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL). This is also the Terps' highest ranking since the first poll of the season on Jan. 12, when Maryland was ranked No. 8. The Terps are also ranked No. 12 in the nation on vault, No. 16 on bars, No. 7 on beam and No. 25 on floor. They are the highest ranked EAGL team on vault and beam, the second highest on bars and the third highest on floor. Maryland is also ranked No. 2 in the Southeast Region and No. 1 in the EAGL, the highest rankings the Terps have ever had at this point in the season.

In the Terps' last two meets, they faced four opponents in a span of three days. On Friday, Feb. 26, the Terps competed against EAGL rival Towson and despite losing the contest by a score of 194.875-194.500, the Terps recorded what was then the third highest team score of the season. Two days later, on Sunday, Feb. 28, Maryland traveled to Lincoln, Neb., to face off against then No. 7 Nebraska, then No. 8 Arizona State and California. The Terps placed third behind both Nebraska and Arizona State, but recorded an all-time high team score of 195.200. Individually, freshmen Gillian Cote (Fredericksburg, Va./James Monroe) and Laura Moon (Scottsdale, Ariz./Saguaro) are nationally ranked in several events. Cote is ranked ninth in the all-around competition and is the second highest nationally ranked EAGL gymnast in the all-around behind Pittsburgh's Danielle Alba. Cote is also ranked 17th in the nation on floor. In the Southeast Region, Cote is ranked second for all-around, 12th on vault, eighth on bars, eighth on beam and fifth on floor. In the EAGL, she is ranked second for all-around, fifth on vault, sixth on bars, fifth on beam and first on floor.

Moon is ranked No. 11 in the nation on all-around and is the third highest nationally ranked EAGL gymnast in the all-around. She is also ranked No. 23 in the nation on beam. In the Southeast Region, Moon is ranked fourth for all-around, 13th on vault, fourth on beam and 14th on floor. In the EAGL, she is ranked third for all-around, sixth on vault, 25th on bars, first on beam and ninth on floor.

The Terps are the only team in the EAGL and the Southeast Region to feature two gymnasts in the national rankings for all-around and, along with No. 17 UCLA, are one of only two nationally ranked teams to feature two gymnasts in the top 25 for all-around. Junior co-captain Rachel Dolbin (Pottsville, Pa./Pottsville) is ranked 12th in the Southeast Region for all-around, 21st on vault, 24th on beam and 25th on floor. In the EAGL, she is ranked 11th for all-around, 15th on vault, 16th on beam and 19th on floor. Another freshman, Kit Johnson (Virginia Beach, Va./Salem), is also making her presence felt. In the Southeast Region, she is ranked ninth on vault and sixth on beam, while in the EAGL she is ranked third on vault and second on beam.

The freshman twin sister tandem of Lisa and Alyssa Mealey (Ben Salem, Pa./Villa Joseph Marie) are also standouts on bars. In the Southeast Region, they are ranked No. 13 and No. 23, respectively, while in the EAGL, they are ranked ninth and 20th, respectively. The Terps (12-7, 3-3 EAGL) will next travel to Raleigh, N.C., to compete in the Wolfpack Invitational on Saturday, March 6 at 7 p.m. The meet will feature EAGL rival No. 24 NC State as well as Pennsylvania, Radford and William & Mary.