No. 23 Maryland (1-0) vs. Rutgers (3-3)
January 19, 2024
XFINITY Center
8:00 p.m. ET
B1G+
COLLEGE PARK, MD - The No. 23 Maryland gymnastics team hosts Rutgers Friday night at the XFINITY Center. The meet is set to begin at 8 p.m., and fans can watch the action live on B1G+.
This week's meet is the LGBTQ+ PRIDE Celebration meet, featuring:
- LGBTQ+ PRIDE T-SHIRT GIVEAWAY: The first 200 fans will receive a Maryland Gymnastics Pride T-Shirt.
- TESTUDO'S KIDS CLUB NIGHT: Members of Testudo's Kids Club are invited to come and support the Maryland Gymnastics team. Members are guaranteed a post-meet autograph card.
- GIRL SCOUT NIGHT: Members of local girl scout chapters will be invited to come and support the Maryland Gymnastics team. All Girl Scouts in attendance will receive a Maryland Athletics patch.
- POST-MEET AUTOGRAPHS: Stick around post-meet to get your autograph card signed by student-athletes of the team!
SETTING THE STAGE
- The Terps opened their 2024 season and 50th year of competition with a 196.150 score to vault itself over West Chester, who scored 193.775 last Friday at the XFINITY Center. The Terps tied their program best score in a season opener.
- Freshman Natalie Martin debuted and led the Terps on vault with a score of 9.850. Martin also recorded scores of 9.850 on beam and 9.875 on bars. Martin was named a Big Ten Gymnast to Watch prior to the season.
- Junior Rhea LeBlanc put together a notable performance on bars matching her career high score of 9.875.
- Junior Josephine Kolger also matched her career best on beam with a score of 9.925.
- Senior Alexa Rothenbuescher tied her career high and led the Terps with a score of 9.925 on floor.
- The GymTerps are now ranked No. 23 in the Road to Nationals rankings following their opening meet victory.
- Maryland also stands at No.8 on beam and No.9 for floor in the event rankings.
Graduate Student
Emma Silberman ranks ninth all-time in Maryland gymnastics history in career points scored and was a second-team All-Big Ten selection in 2023
50 Years of Maryland gymnastics
- In the 2023-24 season, Maryland gymnastics will celebrate its 50th year of competition.
- The team's first year of action came in 1973-74, when head coach Patricia Long assembled a roster of seven student-athletes to practice in the annex gym of Cole Field House. Four head coaches and 49 years later, the Terps fielded a roster of 22 gymnasts that competed on the XFINITY Center court during the 2022-23 season.
- The 2023-24 season will serve as a celebration of the progress the program has made since its inception. Read more about The Lost Years of Maryland Gymnastics and how one women's story set up this season's 50th year celebration.
Brett Nelligan enters his fifteenth season as head coach of the Terrapins in 2023-24. Nelligan became the fourth head coach in program history on May 1, 2009, following the retirement of his father, Bob Nelligan.
Checking out the schedule
- The GymTerps will host four dual meets this season along with one quad meet at the XFINITY Center in 2024 while hitting the road for eight competitions leading up to the 2024 B1G Championships in East Lansing, MI.
- The Terps will begin competition with back-to-back home meets, starting the season with a dual meet against West Chester on Friday, Jan. 12, followed by the first Big Ten meet of the season against Rutgers on Friday, Jan. 19. Nelligan's squad hits the road for the first time in 2024 with an away dual against Minnesota on Saturday, Jan. 27. Two more home meets follow, with the GymTerps hosting Ohio State on Sunday, Feb. 4 and Nebraska on Saturday, Feb. 10.
- Big Ten competition concludes with a pair of road meets, starting with the team's final Big Ten dual meet against Michigan State on Sunday, Feb. 18. Maryland closes out Big Ten competition at the annual Big Five Meet on Saturday, Feb. 24 hosted by Penn State in State College, PA. In the five-way meet, Maryland will compete against the hosting Nittany Lions, along with Illinois, Iowa and Michigan.
- In March, the GymTerps will host their final home event of the season in a quad meet against Central Michigan, George Washington and William & Mary on Friday, March 1. A quartet of road meets round out non-conference competition, as the GymTerps travel to New Haven, CT to compete in a quad meet against Yale, Southern Connecticut State and New Hampshire at the Yale University campus. Another quad meet follows at Temple University in Philadelphia on Thursday, March 7 as Maryland competes against the Owls, along with North Carolina State and Penn.
- The GymTerps have their final dual competition of the campaign on the road against in-state rival Towson on Sunday, March 10. Maryland rounds out the regular season with the Collegiate Classic in Nashville, TN on Saturday, March 16 to close out the regular season. Postseason competition begins with the Big Ten Championships on Saturday, March 23 in East Lansing, MI. The NCAA Regional meets will take place between April 3 and 7, where Maryland hopes to improve upon its program-best 196.675 score from 2023. The NCAA semis and finals will be held in Fort Worth, TX between April 18 and 20.
Josephine Kogler earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors after a stellar 2023 on beam and vault.
Read all about it!
- Meets in College Park will feature a number of promotions throughout the 2024 season, including the LGBTQ+ Pride Celebration on Jan. 19, the Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Meet on Feb. 4, the Mental Health Meet on Feb. 10 and Senior Night on March 1. The full promotional schedule can be found here.
- Interested in hosting a party at a Maryland Gymnastics meet? Check out the table below to see the different party packages offered! For more information, email Ella Wilson at ewilso14@terpmail.umd.edu.
- Fans looking for group experiences can find that information here.
