March 4, 2004
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
Saturday's home meet vs. No. 5 Stanford marks the most challenging of the season for the Terps, who lost to the only other top-10 team they faced this year-then-No. 9 Iowa. The Cardinal, a perennial powerhouse for gymnastics, is also ranked in the nation's top 10 in each event. Fortunately, big meets often bring out the best in the Terps, who set a season-high 196.325 in the home loss to Iowa on Feb. 14.
Maryland currently sits at No. 30 in the nation after faltering slightly at Rutgers on Feb. 28. The Terps hope for a return to the top 25 in next week's rankings, which will reflect the 195.800 scored against George Washington on March 3. The team aims to set another high team score against the Cardinal on Saturday, which would further raise its regional qualifying score with postseason competition looming.
TRACKING THE TERPS
Right at Home
The Terps have the good fortune of concluding their regular season with three consecutive home meets-the Stanford Cardinal contest marking the second of the series. The first was a win on Wednesday night vs. George Washington, where Maryland prevailed, 195.800-195.350. This brought the Terps back to an even 9-9 on the season and 4-1 at home.
Sophomore Rachel Martinez led the team once again, winning three event titles and setting a season-best all-around score of 39.550. The Terps swept the top three individual spots on beam, floor and bars, and combined for a higher score than George Washington on all four events.
Behind Martinez's 9.90 vault score, it was senior Sarah Hoenig tied for second with a 9.825. Freshman Marisa St. Louis scored a personal-best 9.725 that was good enough for sixth place overall.
On the bars, Martinez scored a meet-best 9.850 and junior Leah Brill posted a 9.80 to finish second. Junior Mandy Pascual notched a 9.775 that took third and sophomore Ginny Scott tied for fourth place with a 9.750.
Moving on to the beam, the squad combined for a season-high 49.00, led by Hoenig who turned in her fifth 9.90 of the season and won her sixth event title of the year. She was followed closely by Martinez in second with a 9.850. Freshman Rachel Colon tied for third with a 9.825 to complete the top-three sweep.
The Terps finished the meet on a strong note, posting a season-high 49.425 on the floor-the second-best team floor score in program history. All six gymnasts scored a 9.80 or better, with Martinez's 9.95 highlighting the evening. Scott notched a personal-best 9.925 to place second and Hoenig took third, tying her career-high with a 9.875.
Fabulous Freshmen
The 2004 Terp team is graced with an influx of talented youth, including three true freshmen and two redshirt-freshmen. All five are quickly making their mark on the team, putting up high scores and making their way into the starting lineups.
Redshirt-freshman Rachel Colon, a transfer from Michigan, competes on bars, beam and vault for the Terps. She boasts a season-high 9.850 on vault and a 9.80 on bars. Excelling on the beam, Colon has scored a 9.825 or above four times this season to become a consistent contributor to the team score.
Redshirt-freshman Ginny Scott is back in action this season after missing last year due to injury. The Terps rely on her consistent performance on the floor, where she has scored four 9.90s and posted a season-high 9.925 against George Washington on Wednesday. She also competes on bars for the Terps and has a season-high of 9.875 on the event.
True freshman Marisa St. Louis is a regular in the vault and floor lineups, and set a personal-best 9.725 on vault on Wednesday. Freshman Angie Ferg also competes on vault for the Terps and boasts a season-high of 9.725 set at the home meet vs. Iowa. Ashley LeVine rounds out the freshman class and scored a 9.80 on beam at Rutgers on Feb. 28, after showing several exhibition routines throughout the season.
NO. 5 STANFORD CARDINAL
The head coach of the Stanford Cardinal is Kristen Smyth, now in her third year with the squad. The team is 7-3 this season and sits at No. 5 in the national rankings to make it the highest-ranked team to face the Terps this year.
Stanford owns the highest overall national regular-season dual meet score and the highest road score this season, sharing both records with Pac-10 rival UCLA.
The Cardinal are hot coming off a program-best away team score of 197.850 set in a victory at then-No. 16 Oregon State. Sophomore All-American Natalie Foley earned her second consecutive all-around title of the season (39.725) in the team win.
Foley tied or took first place on every event but beam against Oregon State, scoring a 9.950 on bars, a 9.925 on vault and a 9.950 on floor for the event wins. The sophomore was honored with Pac-10 Gymnast of the Week for her performance.
Also performing well against the Beavers were senior All-Americans Caroline Fluhrer and Lindsay Wing, who finished second and fourth all-around with scores of 39.625 and 39.400, respectively.
The Cardinal excelled on the balance beam, with all six gymnasts scoring a 9.90 or better-five notching scores of 9.925. The team combined for a program-record away beam score of 49.625. Stanford is currently ranked No. 3 in the country on beam this year, behind only No. 1 UCLA and No. 7 Florida.
Stanford and Maryland have only met once before in history, with the Cardinal taking the win, 193.275-191.950, at a quad meet at Arizona State on Jan. 14, 2000.
