Diamondback Online - The University of Maryland's Independent Daily Student Newspaper

The Terrapin gymnastics team ended its regular season by placing third in Friday's quad-meet at Penn State.

It was a fitting - albeit disappointing - finish to the regular season for a promising young team that has had trouble remaining consistent enough to develop into an elite national program.

One week after posting a season-high 194.250, the team once again reverted back to its old form, managing only a 192.675. It is a pattern that has become all too familiar to the Terps, who have repeatedly appeared to put things together, only to come back down to Earth a week later.

"We seemed to really pick it up [last week], and we thought we could do it again," sophomore Michele Brenner said. "We just didn't get what we wanted and had little mistakes that hurt us. Overall it could have been a really good meet, but it turned out to not be as good as we expected."

The Terps started off strong, with no counted falls on the balance beam, led by sophomore Brandi George, who scored a 9.800, and freshman Abigail Adams, who notched a season high with a 9.775 mark.

Sophomore Talia Tossone scored a career-best 9.800 on the vault, leading the Terps to a team score of 48.675, a season high in the event.

Following the solid start, the Terps got into trouble in their final rotation when they were forced to count three falls on the uneven bars. Sophomore Allison Dama tied for second in the event with a 9.875. But the falls proved insurmountable.

"We started off really well on beam," Brenner said. "We were on a roll and then we had some little mistakes on floor and then we had a few mistakes on bars which really hurt us."

Indeed, it has been little errors that have been holding the team back all season. The Terps have worked in practice to eliminate these minor missteps, but the same small mistakes plagued them once again Friday.

With the regular season behind them, it is looking increasingly likely that the Terps will be on the outside looking in when the top 36 teams head to regionals in April.

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