Feb. 23, 2009
Written by: Lisa Reifschneider
Wow! This week has flown by! We got back from Kent State Sunday night and jumped right back into school Monday morning. The coaches gave the team a few days to catch up on schoolwork, but Wednesday it was back to business. Everyone came into the gym excited and ready to train for the meet on Friday.
Wednesday we squeezed all four team events into one practice, and Thursday was our usual walk-through day in Comcast Center. Since swimming and diving ACC Championships are here at Maryland this year, Brandi George's little sister was up here to compete, so a bunch of the girls went to watch her dive!
Then Friday, it was meet day once again! After three weekends in a row of traveling, it was nice to be back in front of a home crowd - and it was a HUGE crowd! It was our annual "Pink Meet" to support Breast Cancer Awareness, so instead of wearing Terp red, most of the crowd was wearing pink, Kyra's favorite color =).
We started the meet with a solid vault line-up. Both Kyra Phillips and Abbey Adams hit huge vaults to get the night started. Kelsey Nelligan also hit another big vault for the second week in a row! The girls moved to bars where we hit another 6 for 6 solid routines. With big stuck landings from Kaitlin Joseph and Kelsey McDermid and huge sets from Brandi and Abbey, the girls showed how consistent they have become.
But it was on beam where we really showed how hard this team has worked. As Brett Nelligan told us earlier, we were taking this meet one routine at a time, and on beam, that's just what we did. Abbey started the team off with a solid routine, followed by Michele Brenner, Candice King, Becca Pang, Talia Tossone, and Brandi to lead us to a big 48.725 beam score.
The energy was high in the gym as we headed to floor. With an enthusiastic crowd, all holding up their 10.0 signs, the girls tumbled their way to a season-high 49.0 floor score! Talia and Michele hit huge routines, each scoring a 9.8, but it was Abbey's event-winning 9.9 that sealed the night perfectly. Abbey's consistent night lead her to the all-around title, and helped the team go 25 for 25 to score a 195.1 and win the meet against the Wildcats.
It has been so amazing to watch this team grow this season. Having been sidelined for most of the season from a recent surgery, I have had the opportunity to watch the girls show how much heart we have, even when things weren't going our way. I have been back in the gym working hard to get into a line-up by the end of the season, so hopefully you will see me competing soon!
We head to Iowa this weekend for our last away meet of the regular season. Then the Terps are back in Comcast Center for three big home meets! Hope to see you all there! Until then, lets keep the ball rolling girls!
GO TERPS!!!
Lisa =)
Previous Terps Tumble Talks:
Feb. 18, 2009 - Talia Tossone
Feb. 4, 2009 - Abbey Adams, Brandi George & Becca Pang
Jan. 26, 2009 - Kyra Phillips
Jan. 21, 2009 - Candice King
Jan. 12, 2009 - Abbey Adams
Dec. 15, 2008 - Associate head coach Brett Nelligan
Dec. 8, 2008 - Michele Brenner
Dec. 2, 2008 - Kaitlin Joseph
Nov. 24, 2008 - Assistant coach Vicki Chliszczyk
Nov. 17, 2008 - Becca Pang
Nov. 10, 2008 - Allie Dama
Nov. 3, 2008 - Margaux Meeks
Oct. 27, 2008 - Kelsey McDermid
Oct. 20, 2008 - Brandi George
Oct. 13, 2008 - Lisa Reifschneider
Oct. 6, 2008 - Head coach Bob Nelligan
