March 22, 2011
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
The top-ranked Maryland competitive cheer team will play host to No. 2 Oregon Thursday night in its Senior Night meet. The Terps and the Ducks will take the mat at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Comcast Center Pavilion.
Admission and parking are both free for all fans planning to attend.
Seniors Arielle Brown, Amanda Bruno, Season Daugherty, Samantha Ford, Samantha Johnson, Kaitlyn Letourneau, Megan Salvatore and Joanna Venezia will all be honored Thursday night.
This year's senior class won two NCA titles (2008, 2010) and one grand national championship (2010). Now competing in all National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Association events, the seniors this year have led the Terrapins into a new era of the sport.
This will be the first time the nation's top two teams meet this year. The Terps and the Ducks (4-0) last met in NCA's Nationals in April 2010 in Daytona Beach, Fla.
The Terrapins won the NCA title for the fourth time in five years last year. Oregon finished third in the competition.
The Terrapins (6-0) are coming off of a dominating win at No. 6 Fairmont State two weekends ago. Maryland took a seven-point lead in the second event of six, stunts, and never looked back. Maryland also garnered the top score in the country this season in the team event, 107.08, as well as total score, 286.452.
This is the first season the Terrapins will compete only in NCATA meets. The teams in each meet will compete in six categories: compulsory elements, stunting, basket tosses, pyramids, tumbling and the team routine.
Maryland has been ranked No. 1 since the beginning of the NCATA season in December. NCATA member coaches voted on the poll, ranking the organization's teams. The Terps earned 24 votes overall and four of the first-place votes.
After Thursday's meet, Maryland will close out the regular season at Quinnipiac Sunday at 11 a.m. The NCATA Nationals will be at Oregon April 7-10.
- Terps - 