March 14, 2009

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COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Bob Nelligan's final home meet as head coach of the University of Maryland gymnastics team progressed similarly to his entire 31-year career - consistently solid performances with moments that were spectacular.

The Terrapins tallied a team score of 194.175 during their quad-meet with No. 15 Penn State, No. 19 Arizona and Yale Saturday evening before a capacity crowd in the Comcast Center Pavilion, exceeding a mark of 194.000 for the eighth time in their last 10 meets. That score placed the Terps third, behind the Nittany Lions (196.125) and Wildcats (195.300), and ahead of the Bulldogs (165.625) in each teams' regular season finale meet.

Nelligan, who will retire following the conclusion of the 2009 season after serving as the face of the program since 1979, earned the 491st victory of his career Saturday. Maryland (13-9) concludes the regular season with its best winning percentage (.591) since 2005. For Nelligan, the current campaign represents his 19th winning season at the helm of the program.

Freshman Kyra Phillips provided a highlight during Nelligan's final home meet, tying her career-best mark on vault (9.900) to claim a share of the event title. Phillips' performance on vault tied for the fourth-best individual score in school history, and junior Brandi George, who paced the team in two of the four events, finished tied for fifth on vault (9.850). Both scores helped the Terps secure their second-best vault team total of the season (48.950).

The ensuing uneven bars rotation saw sophomore Abbey Adams place tied for fourth (9.800), and sophomore Kaitlin Joseph (9.750) also far exceeded her season average in the event.

George and fellow junior Talia Tossone have been the Terps' top performers on balance beam all season, and that trend continued during Saturday's quad-meet. Both gymnasts registered scores of 9.775 to finish tied for third, as Maryland tallied the meet's second-best team score on beam (48.375).

During the final rotation on floor exercise, George led the way with a score of 9.800, which tied for fourth in the event, and Adams added a mark of 9.775. As has been the case all season, the pair of gymnasts finished neck-and-neck in the all-around competition, with George compiling an all-around mark of 39.125 and Adams coming in at 39.075. Those marks were good for fourth and fifth place, respectively.

In addition to representing the final home competition of Nelligan's storied career, Saturday's meet served as Senior Night for the Terps. Both Nelligan and his daughter, Kelsey Nelligan, the squad's lone senior, were honored following the meet's conclusion.

Maryland now heads to the 14th annual East Atlantic Gymnastics League Championships in Raleigh, N.C. The eight-team league meet takes place at 3 p.m. next Saturday in NC State's Reynolds Coliseum.