WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (Feb. 9, 2018) – The William & Mary women's gymnastics team will return to action when it travels to Maryland for a quad meet on Sunday at 1 p.m.
In addition to W&M and the host Terps, the four-team meet will include Rutgers and Brown.
Live results will be available at
UMTerps.com, while a video stream will be provided via the
Tribe Women's Gymnastics Facebook page and by BTN Plus.
A LOOK AT THE TRIBE
W&M enters Saturday's meet after posting a pair of impressive performances in its last two outings, as it averaged a 193.263 in those pair of competitions. The Tribe's best event has been vault this season, as it ranks first in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (48.408). Individually,
Katie Waldman leads W&M and ranks among the league's top four on vault (first – 9.767), beam (fourth – 9.742) and all-around (38.492), while
Aaliyah Kerr is second on floor (9.792) and
Taylor White is third in all-around (38.575).
SCOUTING MARYLAND
After defeating Penn State, 195.550-195.025, with a season-high score in mid-January, Maryland has suffered setbacks to Iowa (196.000-195.350) and Michigan (196.875-195.050) in its last two outings and currently ranks seventh in the Big 10 (194.815). Alecia Farina leads the Terps and ranks ninth in the Big 10 in all-around (38.955).
SCOUTING RUTGERS
Rutgers enters Saturday's meet ranked fifth in the North East region and 10th in the Big 10 with a 193.381 scoring average. The Scarlet Knights' best two events have been beam (48.438) and floor (48.663) where they rank fifth in the region. Individually, Jenna Rizkalla ranks first in the region on vault (9.850), while Libby Groden is eighth in all-around (38.837).
SCOUTING BROWN
Although Brown currently ranks last in the ECAC (190.288), it has performed well on bars and is second in the league with a 48.088. The Brown Bears are coming off a second-place finish in its home opener with Bridgeport and Rhode Island College last weekend (190.900) and were led by Kate Nelson and Regan Butchness, who claimed individual event titles on bars and beam, respectively.
| Matchup At A Glance |
|
William & Mary |
Maryland |
Rutgers |
Brown |
| Regional Ranking* |
9th |
7th |
6th |
12th |
| Team RQS |
192.333 |
194.815 |
193.381 |
190.228 |
| Vault RQS |
48.408 |
48.785 |
48.188 |
47.294 |
| Bars RQS |
47.875 |
48.685 |
48.094 |
48.094 |
| Beam RQS |
47.758 |
48.610 |
48.438 |
48.438 |
| Floor RQS |
48.292 |
48.735 |
48.663 |
48.663 |
| *W&M, Maryland in South East Region / Rutgers, Brown in North East Region |
W&M INDIVIDUALS IN THE ECAC RANKINGS (Top 10)
Mary Graceyn Gordon
All-Around – 10th (36.925)
Aaliyah Kerr
Floor – 2nd (9.792)
Evan Pakshong
Bars – 5th (9.717)
Floor – 7th (9.725)
Katie Waldman
All-Around – 4th (38.492)
Vault – 1st (9.767)
Beam – 4th (9.742)
Taylor White
All-Around – 3rd (38.575)
Bars – 9th (9.675)
ECAC ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
After an outstanding performance at the NC State tri-meet on Jan. 20, freshman
Katie Waldman was selected as the ECAC Rookie of the Week. Waldman was the Tribe's top performer at the tri-meet, as she tied for third on vault with a career-high 9.800 and placed fourth in all-around with a career-best 38.925. Additionally, the Omaha, Neb., native tied for sixth on bars (9.775) and beam (9.750) with career highs.
NEARLY BREAKING INTO THE RECORD BOOKS
W&M was just 0.05 shy of tying for the 10th-best mark in school history on vault when it posted a 48.600 at NC State on Jan. 20.
Katie Waldman led the way with a third-place finish (9.800), while
Erika Marr (9.725),
Madison Dwyer (9.700) and
Mary Graceyn Gordon (9.700) also came up big.
STRONG START
By totaling 190.475 in the season opener at Towson, W&M recorded the program's best score to start a campaign since 2015. The Tribe followed up the season-opening effort with a 193.300 at NC State the following weekend.
TRADITION OF ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
The W&M women's gymnastics team continued its tradition of achieving academic excellence last season when 10 Tribe standouts garnered Scholastic All-America distinction by the National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches/Women (NACGC-W). The squad's list of academic achievements from the 2017 season also included 13 standouts being selected to the ECAC All-Academic Team and an NCAA Public Recognition Award for posting an APR in the top 10 percent nationally. During the last five years, Tribe gymnasts have combined to earn 48 NACGC Scholastic All-America honors.
NEXT UP
Following Sunday's meet at Maryland, W&M will return to action when it competes in a dual meet at Yale next Saturday.
