Kirsten Peterman was one of four Terrapin gymnasts whose final season was cut short due to the onset of the pandemic in 2020 after requiring hand surgery that same year. What she perhaps didn’t know at the time was that years later, she’d still hold an integral role in collegiate athletics. Peterman now works as an academic advisor at LSU with the school’s football players and is one of their biggest fans, often quick to celebrate the on-field and off-field accomplishments of the athletes she works with.
After checking off competing at the 2014 world championships and 2016 Canadian Olympic trials, competing for the University of Maryland was a career highlight for Peterman—not necessarily isolated moments but the idea of leaving her comfort zone and focusing on her teammates. One of the largest differences between competing elite out of southern Ontario and doing so in a Power Five conference is the introduction of the game-day experience, which pulled her in immediately. “I loved college athletics, just the camaraderie around everything, how big the stages were, the fans—everything. It drew me in since I went and did it myself, so I knew I wanted to stay close to it in some facet,” Peterman said.
Merge the collegiate sports culture, the resources…
