Preview: No. 25 Maryland gymnastics gets set for Temple Quad

No. 25 Maryland gymnastics (5-7) is back in action Thursday afternoon, as it travels to Philadelphia to compete in the Temple Quad, featuring Temple, Towson and West Chester. The Terps are hoping to repeat their success in the event from last year, when they placed first with a score of 196.550 against Temple, Southern Connecticut State and Bridgeport.

The Terps are looking to rebound from their rough showing last Friday in Lincoln, where they came in last in the Big Five Meet against No. 4 Michigan, No. 20 Iowa, No. 24 Illinois, and No. 32 Penn State. 

Although they have shown strong finishes all season, the Terps have had a very sluggish start to their past two meets, something that coach Brett Nelligan emphasized would be a point of focus heading into the final month of the season. He wants his team to start strong and finish strong so they don’t have to dig out of a hole as their meets go on. 

Against No. 22 Minnesota Feb. 19, the Terps found themselves down after mediocre showings on vault and bars. However, on beam and floor, they responded in a large way, posting a second-best season score of 49.150 on beam and a season-high score of 49.450 on floor, which was also their best floor score since 2017. Although they didn’t come out on top, they brought themselves back from a large deficit, only falling to an impressive Minnesota squad by .150. 

A similar story unfolded at the Big Five Meet, although the first two events set the Terps back especially far. They recorded an underwhelming 48.900 on bars and a season-worst team score in any event with a 47.300 on beam. However, the Terps had impressive responses on both vault and floor, notching a 49.075 and a 49.200, respectively. The end result was still a rough loss, but a final that was much closer than earlier in the meet would have suggested. 

It’s evident that Maryland has what it takes to perform strongly across all four rotations. It’s now about putting it all together. 

The Towson Tigers (20-2-1) are having a tremendous season, as they are just short of being ranked, sitting at No. 27 nationally. They have not lost since Jan. 29, with the only meet not ending in a win being a tie to LIU Feb. 18. It has been a record-setting year for the program, as the Tigers have recorded six scores of 196-plus thus far and they have scored a collective 49.000 or more on bars for six consecutive meets. This past Sunday, the Tigers recorded a score of 196.775, a season-high and second-best in program history, which also saw them score a program-best 49.400 on vault. They are already familiar with both Temple and West Chester, going 1-0 against the former and 2-0 against the latter so far this season. The Terps are no stranger to their fellow in-state school, as they have gone 11-1 against the Tigers since the schools started competing in 2013. 

The West Chester Golden Rams (13-4) are in the midst of a very successful season as well, which has them at 5-0 in their conference. They’re coming off a six-game winning streak, which most recently featured a first-place finish in a quad meet against Bridgeport, SUNY Brockport and Rhode Island College. In the past few weeks, their squad has set a couple of new season-highs and program records, including their team score of 194.650 against Cornell Feb. 19. 

The Temple Owls (8-13) have had a rough season, and are currently on a five-game losing streak. However, as the season has progressed, the Owls have continually improved in multiple rotations. Entering this week, on beam, they moved up eight spots from No. 46 to No. 38, while on floor, they improved from No. 59 to No. 49. On Feb. 19, the Owls set a new program record on floor with a 49.400. 

The meet will begin at 4 p.m. at the McGonigle Hall.