The Terrapins gymnastics team climbed onto the balance beam Jan. 26 trailing North Carolina at Carmichael Arena in Chapel Hill, N.C. Three of the six gymnasts fell during their routines, ending any hope for a Terps comeback.
Friday night at Comcast Center, the Terps again headed to beam against the Tar Heels, but this time, they held a slim lead. Senior Karen Tang, however, fell on the Terps’ second routine, and for a moment, it looked like the Terps might squander another meet against North Carolina in the same event. But the rest of the Terps stepped up.
Senior captain Ebony Walters, who fell twice at North Carolina, posted a season-best 9.800, and junior captain Stephanie Giameo tied her own team-best with a 9.875 to close out beam. Despite the fall, the Terps posted a season-high 48.775, more than two points better than their previous score against their conference foe.
The Terps went on to earn redemption against the Tar Heels with a 194.925-194.425 victory in the “pride meet.”
“We had one fall on beam, and they stayed calm and they dealt with it,” coach Brett Nelligan said. “I feel like we have matured as a team, and we can handle these pressure situations.”
Nelligan tinkered with the vault order, hoping to spark some higher scores. Instead, the Terps (7-3, 4-2 East Atlantic Gymnastics League) posted a season-low 48.050, and Nelligan shook his head at the judges. With North Carolina (6-7, 4-4 EAGL) scoring 48.925 on bars, the Terps faced a large deficit early.
“We got together after vault and just said that’s not what tonight is about,” Nelligan said. “Tonight is pride night, and that means we are going to fight and do our thing and go out there and have the best meet of our lives, and the scores will catch up to us. And that is exactly what happened.”
The Terps closed out the meet by posting season bests on bars and beam and narrowly missed their season best on floor.
Senior Jessie Black won bars with a Terps season-best and career-high 9.875. She was competing for the third time this season after joining the lineup when sophomore Kathy Tang injured her ankle.
“I got my first opportunity, and I just wanted to prove to myself and to my team that I deserve to be in there,” Black said. “I just love it. I’m so happy to have this opportunity before I graduate.”
Nelligan choose to keep Black in the rotation despite Tang’s return. Tang, who competed in all-around when healthy, was only able to compete on bars Friday, but the sophomore posted a 9.800.
“We had to put double matting down for her just so that it didn’t hurt her too bad on the landing,” Nelligan said. “She just put the pain aside for that 60 seconds to give us that score we needed.”
After falling on beam, Karen Tang headed to the floor to close out her night. She said after the meet she wanted redemption from the earlier loss, and she delivered. Tang scored a 9.900 to win the event and tied the Terps’ season best.
Giameo won the all-around for the third consecutive meet and tied for first on vault with a 9.725. Her 9.875 on beam also topped the leaderboard and assured the team this meet would not end as it did in Chapel Hill.
“We just came out there and attacked each event,” Giameo said. “That was what today was all about, attacking each event and showing the crowd what we are made of.”