After falling on beam in her final event Monday, senior Karen Tang hoped to rebound with a steadier performance for the Terrapins gymnastics team in Friday’s tri-meet at Pittsburgh.
After opening the meet in promising fashion by tying her season-high score on beam, Tang struggled on her next two routines. On a night in which she battled a stomach virus, Tang stepped out of bounds for a 9.100 on floor and followed that performance with a 9.225 on vault. But with the meet on the line, she regrouped to close out the night with a career-high 9.875 on bars.
Tang’s bars score secured the road sweep over conference foes Pittsburgh and North Carolina. The Terps (194.700) topped the Panthers (194.350) and the Tar Heels (192.275) to improve to 3-7 on the road.
“They really kind of gutted it out and did the job they needed to do to get the wins,” coach Brett Nelligan said.
The Terps (10-7, 6-6 East Atlantic Gymnastics League) started the meet off on beam, after two falls in the event cost them Monday’s meet. Freshman Sarah Faller opened up for the Terps on Friday, scoring a 9.725.
After two solid routines by seniors Ebony Walters and Elizabethe Manzi, junior Shannon Skochko fell for the second time this season. But Giameo, as she has many times this season, anchored the beam lineup with a 9.850 to make up for the miscues. By dropping Skochko’s fall, the Terps scored a new season high of 48.825.
“After beam is done, we don’t have to be calm anymore,” Nelligan said. “We can attack the last three events, and that is key to get that out of the way.”
The Terps followed the beam by heading to the floor, an event in which they average a score of 48.858. Freshman Emily Braukmuller and junior Dani Kram, who are both dealing with injuries, posted a 9.650 and a 9.675 in their routines, respectively.
Sophomore Alex Zimmermann topped the Terps leaderboard with a 9.725. Walters, also dealing with an upset stomach, came up short on one landing, resulting in a 9.625. The Terps totaled a 48.375, their lowest since their first meet.
“Ebony actually threw up directly after that routine. Dani Kram was feeling ill. And Karen Tang was feeling ill,” Nelligan said. “So there was some sort of bug that was sweeping through the team today.”
Dealing with the illnesses and trailing Pitt by 0.575 at the halfway point, the Terps needed to put together a good vault sequence. Giameo led the way with a 9.825 and sophomore Kathy Tang anchored with a 9.800.
With Pitt falling on beam and counting a 9.200, the Terps’ 48.700 was enough to give them the lead heading into bars.
“We didn’t really hit any home runs with those first couple vaults,” Nelligan said.
“The landings were a little short, so it was key for us to finish strong with those last two.”
For the second straight meet, the Terps entered the final rotation with the lead. This time, however, the Terps finished it off. Manzi led with a solid 9.700, but senior Jessie Black struggled on her dismount resulting in a 9.125.
Her teammates picked up the slack. Faller scored a 9.725, Giameo scored a 9.775 and Kathy Tang delivered a 9.725 to set up for her sister’s heroics.
Giameo continued her strong season in the all-around earning a narrow victory over the Tar Heels’ Haley Watts with a 39.150. She added an individual win on beam with her 9.850. But it was Karen Tang’s ability to preserve through a stomach virus and score a career high of 9.875 on bars that secured the Terps’ victory.
“This was the true definition of a hard-fought win because with the stomach bug and then the one fall, we put so much pressure on ourselves,” Nelligan said.
