COLLEGE PARK -- The N.C. State gymnastics team came into Cole Field House last night and took the East Atlantic Gymnastics League championship right away from a favored Maryland team.
The 13th-ranked Terrapins had to be content for second place behind the No. 25 Wolfpack, which would have been very disconcerting for many coaches.
But not Maryland's Bob Nelligan, who has always broken the mold of most coaches.
Nelligan was given the highest honor of his 20-year coaching career last night when he was chosen the East Atlantic Gymnastics League Coach of the Year, and he did not hide his glee.
"I can live with the close loss," said Nelligan whose team compiled a score of 195.475 compared to 196.050 for N.C. State. "There are always going to be ups and downs in a season. But the Coach of the Year honor means a lot to me. I've never won an award like this in my 20 years in the business. I'm at a loss for words for one of the few times in my life."
Nelligan and his first-year assistant Wendy Marshall have formed quite a vibrant team this season in leading the Terps to the school's best gymnastics performance.
"Bob's a little wacky and I'm real enthusiastic," said Marshall. "We make quite a team."
It is Marshall whom a lot of Maryland's gymnasts give credit for relieving pressure to perform at a perfect level every day.
"Wendy teaches our girls that a losing score doesn't mean that it's the end of the world," said Nelligan. "She tells them the sun will come up tomorrow and life will go on. The girls love this because they've been under so much pressure most of their careers."
While Maryland came up a little short against N.C. State, 26th-ranked Towson University finished a disappointing fifth with a 194.325 because of a lackluster performance on the bars.
The Tigers scored only 47.900 on the bars, supposedly their strongest event.
"It's terrible," Towson coach Dick Filbert said, "We should have been right up there with Maryland fighting for first. We missed three routines on the bars and it killed us. We had two girls competing in the bars who had been sitting around since 6 o'clock and didn't get on until 9: 30. The bars were their only event and they had to wait all the time."
The meet started approximately 20 minutes late and was delayed about 20 minutes because of a problem with the bars earlier in the evening.
Sarah Adams and Cindy Parker were the Tigers who had the long wait. Parker scored 9.250 and Adams 9.750.
Towson was led by Niina Parjanen, who compiled an all-around score of 39.050, and Liane Williams (38.200).
Williams ran into problems on the bars and beam but was brilliant in her floor performance with a score of 9.900. On the vault, she scored a nifty 9.875.
For the young Maryland team, freshman Laura Moon was tops with a 39.275 all-around score and freshman teammate Gillian Cote had a 238.825 all-around score.
