Jan. 21, 2005

COLLEGE PARK, MD. - The No. 22 Maryland Gymnastics team kicks off their home opener Saturday, when they host the Towson Tigers in the Comcast Pavilion at 3p.m. The Terps hope to return to form after a tough quad meet at Ohio State last week.

Maryland enters the third week of the 2005 season and has already had two gymnasts receive EAGL honors. Redshirt sophomore Rachel Colon was named EAGL Specialist of the Week (Jan. 11) and Freshman Lindsey Bonomo was named EAGL Rookie of the Week (Jan. 20). The Terps' meet total of 193.975 at the Maui Invitational is the highest total score in the EAGL this season.

The Terps are coming off a strong performance on vault in last week's quad meet. Freshman Lindsey Bonomo led the team with a 9.80 and Freshman Gretchen Kittelberger followed with a 9.775. Junior Rebecca Ruppert is the team's vault specialist and led the team at Maui with a 9.775.

Maryland will look to have another strong performance on bars after winning that event in their season opener. Seniors Mandy Pascual and Leah Brill lead the way for the Terps and their score of 9.825 (Maui Invite) is the second highest score this season in the EAGL.

Rachel Colon's beam score (9.875) at the Maui Invitational remains the highest score in the EAGL this season. Junior Alex Gatch has been consistent for the Terps on this event, scoring a 9.725 at both meets this season.

The floor exercise has been a strong event for Maryland this season. Junior Rachel Martinez has led the way, averaging a 9.775 or better in both meets and redshirt sophomore Ginny Scott has scored a 9.725 or better in both meets.

Looking at the Towson Tigers

Juliya Kovaliova

Nicole Groccia