Jan. 10, 2007
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland Gymnastics team will open the 2007 season by hosting the Towson Tigers and University of Pennsylvania Quakers in the Comcast Pavilion this Friday, January 12th at 7:00 pm.
Head coach Bob Nelligan (29th season) will have eight members return this season, including two 2006 NCAA Regional qualifiers and senior co-captains, Angela Ferg and Rachel Colon. However, he will have to rely heavily on his freshmen class to turn strong performances as they are expected to compete in almost half of the line-up spots.
"We definitely have a young team this year," said assistant coach Vicki Chliszczyk. "However, all of our athletes have been in pressure situations in the past. With the strong leadership of the team veterans, we are poised to have an exciting season."
Senior Ferg will possibly compete all-around by making her collegiate debut on uneven bars. Recovering from an injury, Colon is expected to compete uneven bars and beam. Marisa St. Louis will possibly return to competition after being sidelined by an ACL tear last season.
Juniors Gretchen Kittelberger and Morgan Fishbein are expected to turn in strong routines this weekend. Kittelberger will make all-around appearance. Fishbein will be key on the floor due to her consistency and increased level of difficulty. Junior Lindsey Bonomo is fighting through minor injuries to earn a spot incoming vault and floor line-ups.
The sophomore class looks to make an impact for the team later in the season. Kim Loew is recovering from surgery, but working hard to compete beam later in the season. Walk-on Kelsey Nelligan is a vault specialist and training to depth to the event.
The Terps have six freshmen this season, Michele Brenner (New City, N.Y.) Allison Dama (Lansing, Mich.), Brandi George (Orlando, Fla.), Candice King (Plano, Texas), Margaux Meeks (Winter Garden, Fla.) and Talia Tossone (Virginia Beach, Va.) George will compete in the all-around and her beam routine will be a highlight due to her extremely high level of difficulty. Meeks will compete vault and uneven bars. King will compete three events with a possibility of the all-around. Brenner will compete on uneven bars, beam and floor. A stylish beam worker, Tossone, should make line-up on that event. Following surgery of inserting a rod in her shin, Dama, is recovering rapidly and already training to compete on uneven bars by the end of the month.
Admission is free to the public and the team will autograph posters at the conclusion of the competition.
