AUBURN, Ala.—Leah Slobodin and Shannon Skochko led the Maryland gymnastics team en route to a third place finish at the Auburn NCAA Gymnastics Regional on Saturday. The third place finish marks the GymTerps highest NCAA finish since 2001 and the top regional finish under current head coach Brett Nelligan.

“We just laid it all out there tonight,” Nelligan said after the meet. “We continued to push ourselves and it really showed. For us to be able to finish third in this Regional, that's phenomenal.”

Alabama (197.575) and Auburn (196.900) took the top two spots, earning its places in the NCAA Gymnastics Championship. Maryland (195.150) placed third, while Big Ten counterparts Minnesota (195.025) and Iowa (194.675) earned fourth and fifth, respectively. George Washington (194.150) rounded out the competition in sixth.

Maryland opened the competition on vault, its strongest apparatus. The team totaled a 48.950 on the event, and were led by Abbie Epperson (9.800), Skochko (9.800) and Kathy Tang (9.800). Slobodin (9.775), Dominiquea Trotter (9.775) and Karen Tang (8.975) competed on the event as well.

After a bye in the second rotation, the Terrapins moved to bars, recording a 48.725 team total. Epperson (9.800) and Karen Tang (9.800) led the way, both tying for twelveth individually. Kathy Tang (9.725), Nikola Chung (9.700), Sarah Faller (9.700) and Evelyn Nee (9.575) all contributed scores in the rotation.

Competing on beam in the fourth rotation, the Terps racked a 48.700 team total. Slobodin (9.800) and Skochko (9.800) led the way, while Sarah Faller (9.775) added a high tally. Trotter (9.675), Dani Kram (9.650) and Stephanie Giameo (9.625) additionally competed for Maryland as well.

The Terrapins had its second bye of the meet during the fifth rotation, before moving to floor in the final rotation. The GymTerps finished the meet strong, tallying a 48.775 team total. Slobodin (9.825), Ebony Walters (9.775) and Kathy Tang (9.775) headed the Terps on the event. Trotter (9.700), Skochko (9.700) and Giameo (9.700) also performed for the team.

Maryland hit 23 of 24 routines and did not count a fall for the second consecutive meet. The team continued to improve all season and finished the 2015 campaign with a 14-9-1 regular season record and 2-7 Big Ten showing. Two weeks ago, the GymTerps recorded a season-high team score of 196.075 en route to a seventh place finish at the Big Ten Championships.