The scores were not important. The judges were not official. But on a day where competition did not matter, the Terrapin gymnastics team put on a good performance.
The Terps hosted their annual Red vs. Black intra-squad scrimmage on Saturday, and although the scores that were administered by Terrapin athletes Obi Egekeze (football), Paul Lariviere (football), Molly Dreska (women's soccer) and Jerome Burney (men's basketball) were higher than what they likely deserved, the gymnasts still felt they had a successful day.
"The judging was probably not how it's going to be during the regular season," said Kyra Phillips, who was on the Red squad. "But it's fun to have that as encouragement before we get out there for real."
The main goal of the scrimmage was to show the improvements the Terps have made in the preseason, especially on beam.
"Beam is going to be what makes or breaks us this year, and I saw us starting to hit it there," coach Bob Nelligan said. "I saw improvement, and it makes me confident entering the season."
One of the surprising parts of the meet was how well the two freshmen, Phillips and Becca Pang, performed. Neither looked like a rookie during routines on beam, floor, uneven bars or vault.
"The freshmen really impressed me today," said co-captain Kelsey Nelligan, who was on the Red team. "The other girls looked good too, but the freshmen stood out because we did not know what to expect from them."
In the end, the Red squad, led by Brandi George and Abbey Adams, came out victorious. But the Terps are already looking forward to their first match of the season on Jan. 9 against Kent State.
"There were a lot of good things that we saw today," Kelsey Nelligan said. "But we still need to put in some hard work to improve before our first match in a month."
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