April 4, 2012

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Championship Central

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - For the fourth consecutive season and 18th time overall, the Maryland gymnastics team is set to compete in the regionals of the NCAA Championships. The Terps travel to Arkansas to compete Saturday, April 7 at 5 p.m. ET in the Fayetteville Regional.

In addition to Maryland, the field includes No. 3 UCLA, No. 10 Arkansas, No. 15 Boise State, No. 19 Missouri and New Hampshire. The top two finishers in the region qualify for the NCAA Championship in Duluth, Ga., on April 20-22.

Maryland
After totaling the 10th-highest score in program history at the EAGL Championships, the Terps enter the competition with the 34th-highest RQS in the country (194.905) and the 23rd-highest floor RQS (49.050).

Sophomore Katy Dodds leads the Terps on floor. The Gaithersburg, Md., native is tied for 22nd nationally with a RQS of 9.885 and has posted a 9.900 in three of the last four meets.

Junior Ally Krikorian is peaking at the right time. Krikorian won the gold on floor at the EAGL Championships with a career-high 9.925, which tied for the fourth-best performance all-time.

On vault, Krikorian and Dodds are tied for 29th and 39th, respectively, in the nation. As a team, the Terps shattered the all-time record on the apparatus in back-to-back meets. After posting a 49.200 at Penn State to close the regular season, Maryland recorded a 49.225 at the league championships.

Last Time Out
The Terps completed their regular season with a record-breaking performance at the EAGL Championships in Pittsburgh, Pa., on Saturday, March 24. Maryland tied the 10th-highest score in program history (195.950), posted the highest all-time score on vault (49.225) and tied the fourth highest all-time score on floor (49.450) en route to a third place finish.

Krikorian won the gold on floor, while senior Kyra Phillips, Dodds and Krikorian finished in a five-way tie for first on vault.

Maryland in the NCAAs
This is Maryland's 18th trip overall to the regionals and fourth in a row. Last season, the squad placed fifth with a 193.200 at the Athens Regional.
Maryland's highest finish at the event is third (1989, 2001). In 2001 at the Gainesville Regional, the Terps posted a 195.850, which is the school record for NCAA competition.

Individually, Ronanne Comerford is the only Terp to win a regional title. Comerford won the gold on vault at the Southeast Regional in 1988.

Including Comerford, five different Terrapins have individually qualified for the NCAA Championship a total of seven times most recently in 2001 with Gillian Cote, Jill Fisher and Lisa Mealey (alternate).

Live Coverage
ArkansasRazorbacks.com will provide up-to-the minute coverage of the regional. Live blog, stats and video will be available on the championship page.

Best of the Best
The East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) announced the 2012 All-Tournament Team Monday, March 26. Maryland's members include:

All-Tournament Vault
First Team
Katy Dodds
Ally Krikorian
Kyra Phillips

All-Tournament Uneven Bars
Second Team
Kesley Cofsky
Katy Dodds

All-Tournament Balance Beam
Second Team
Stephanie Giameo
Briana Melander
Shannon Skochko

All-Tournament Floor
First Team
Katy Dodds
Ally Krikorian
Kyra Phillips

Second Team
Kesley Cofsky
Ebony Walters

- Terps -