Digest: Bonds steps down as coach of acrobatics and tumbling

Jarnell Bonds, widely regarded as a pioneering force behind the transformation of competitive cheer into acrobatics and tumbling, announced Tuesday she was stepping down as coach of the Terrapin acrobatics and tumbling team.

Bonds spent 13 years with the program, first as a member of the team and then later as an assistant and coach. Bonds won three National Cheerleaders Association championships as a Terp coach and another as an assistant.

The Terps advanced to the first-ever finals of the National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Association in 2011, where they fell to Oregon by a margin of 0.13 points. Bonds was one of the founding members of the NCATA, which has seen other schools follow the Terps' lead in establishing an acrobatics and tumbling program.

Bonds will remain on staff as an assistant through August, but a national search for a new coach is underway.

"The student-athletes are in top form, ready to attack another season," Bonds said in a statement. "The new head coach is blessed to have a team of so many motivated, positive individuals to lead."

MATIAS PROMOTED

After making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2006, the Terrapin women's tennis team will retain some continuity in the wake of former coach Howard Joffe's departure — at least, for the time being.

Dianne Matias, an assistant with the Terps for the past two years, has been named interim coach, Athletics Director Kevin Anderson announced Wednesday.

"I am very excited and grateful for this opportunity," Matias said in a release. "I look forward to continuing the development of this program and build on our recent success. We have a talented group of women who have gained a tremendous amount of experience from last season."

The Terps are coming off a No. 34-ranked finish, their best since the sport's rankings expanded in 1993. Matias takes over a team projected to return five of six starters, including rising senior Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar, who notched the program's first NCAA Singles Championship Round of 32 appearance last year.

"We look forward to Dianne being able to continue the recent success in our women's tennis program," Anderson said in the release. "We think she is the right person to provide our student-athletes with outstanding coaching and to give them a quality experience in a number of areas."

dgallen@umdbk.com