April 25, 2012

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Friday, April 27, 2012

NCATA Semifinals

#1 Maryland

vs.

#5 Azusa Pacific

Meet Time: 5:30 p.m. ET (4:30 p.m. CT)
Location: Waco, Texas
Arena: Ferrell Center
Admission: All-Session: $25/Single Session: $10
Championship Central: http://www.baylorbears.com/sports/w-acro/12ncata.html#bracket%29

NCATA Championships Info
• For full information on the NCATA Championships, please log on to http://www.baylorbears.com/sports/w-acro/12ncata.html#bracket%29.

Scouting The Terps
• The Terrapins enter the 2012 NCATA Championships as the No. 1 seed. To determine the seeding, all teams' top four overall scores were averaged, but at least two of the scores had to come from a meet in which the team was on the road.

• Last year, Maryland finished the 2010-11 season No. 2 in the inaugural NCATA season. The Terrapins went 9-1 on the year and went all the way to the NCATA Finals before falling to Oregon, 283.482 to 283.352.

• Most recently, the Terps (8-1) outlasted Fairmont State to win 291.150 to 286.650 in Fairmont, W.Va.

• The Terps' score of 58.65 in the tumbling round was the highest in NCATA history and beat their own record they set three times this season already.

• Maryland is 2-0 all-time vs. Azusa Pacific.

NCATA History
• Maryland is 17-2 all-time vs. NCATA teams. The Terrapins went 9-0 through the regular season last year, before falling to Oregon by less than half a point in the Finals.

• The Comcast Center Pavilion has played host to four of Maryland's regular season meets. The Terps are 6-0 on their home floor.

Head Coach Laura Chiriaco
Laura Chiriaco is entering her first season as head coach of the highly-regarded Maryland acrobatics and tumbling team.

Chiriaco was a member of the first recruiting class at Maryland, back in 2004. She served as team captain in her junior and senior years and helped lead the team to three NCA titles in 2006, 2007, and 2008. After she graduated with her degree from the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at Maryland, Chiriaco stayed on staff as a volunteer assistant for the last three years.

"Laura has been a part of this program from day one and she truly understands where we want it to go," director of athletics Kevin Anderson said. "She has seen it evolve over the last seven years. She has a true passion for Maryland and for this team."

NCATA Honors
• On Wednesday night, three Terrapins were named All-Americans - Brittany Burkhard, Danielle Jenkins and Lauren Shannon. Jenkins and Shannon were both named All-Americans in 2011, the inaugural NCATA season. Burkhard is a freshman.

• Senior Lindsey Kaufmann was honored Wednesday with the Louise Goodrum Academic Achievement Award. The award was named after Goodrum for her contributions to not only the sport of acrobatics and tumbling, but to college athletics and students in general. Goodrum is best remembered for the way she was able to listen and very subtly give advice

• The Terrapins won four event titles at last year's NCATA Championships.
Aerial pass - Season Daugherty
Six-element pass - Brooke Grohol
Trio pass - Margaux Cooper, Brooke Grohol, Alexandra Yannelli
Quad pass - Jamie Burke, Ali Iovino, Lindsey Kaufmann, Kaitlyn Letourneau

Support the Terps
• To support the Maryland Acrobatics & Tumbling program, stop by the facebook page today! Log on to Facebook.com for more information.

• Follow Maryland Acrobatics & Tumbling on Twitter for in-game updates during all games and the latest info! Check out https://twitter.com/#!/MarylandAandT!

Follow Maryland Athletics on Twitter

Media Information
• Email Straight To You: If you would like the latest Maryland acrobatics & tumbling news emailed directly to you as soon as it breaks, email acrobatics & tumbling contact Rose DiPaula with "A&T E-Mail" as the subject and you will receive every update.

• Terps on the Web: For up-to-date game stories, statistics, schedules and results, and other Maryland athletic department information, please log-on to www.umterps.com on the Internet.