Nicole Dragon performs on the floor when the Terps defeated Minnesota in Xfinity Center on Jan. 15, 2015.
The Terrapins gymnastics team had two gymnasts fall off the balance beam, an event the team has struggled with to start the season, in its competition at Penn State on Saturday. While the mistakes were a factor in the Terps’ defeat, coach Brett Nelligan is confident his squad will gain positive momentum as some of its members return from injuries.
Nelligan revealed in a post-meet conference call that sophomore Nikki Dragon has an eye injury that forced her out of her regular balance beam and floor exercise showings against the Nittany Lions.
“We need to get Nikki Dragon back in the lineup,” Nelligan said. “She got poked in the eye during the Minnesota meet, and her eye swelled up. She still competed beam and floor — and hit — but it kept swelling throughout the week, and she had to go on some steroid drops, and she was having some dizziness, so we weren’t able to use her [against Penn State].
“[Dragon has] been great for us on beam and floor, so we’re hoping we get her back and that will stabilize both of those lineups, and we should be ready to go.”
Senior Stephanie Giameo is suffering from a torn labrum in her shoulder that has limited her to competing on only beam and floor after serving in an all-around role last year. Giameo opted to forgo surgery, which would have sidelined her all season, in an effort to contribute in those two events in 2015.
Tang contributes
While the six-gymnast lineup for all four events remains fluid as the Terps close out the first month of their season, junior Kathy Tang has become one of the squad’s most consistent competitors.
Tang competed on vault (9.825), uneven bars (9.80) and floor (9.750) Saturday, and all three of her marks were counted in the team’s overall score. She placed fifth on both vault and bars in the final results.
She has not scored below a 9.825 on vault this season and has earned scores of 9.8 or better on bars in two of the first three meets, in the second-to-last lineup spot, ahead of her sister, senior Karen Tang.
Though Tang originally began the season as an all-around gymnast, she fell twice in her beam routine in the season opener against George Washington and West Virginia on Jan. 9 and has not appeared in the event since.
She could, however, be reinserted on beam as the coaching staff continues to search for the top six gymnasts for each event.
Stumbles on Floor
It had been one of their bright spots entering the dual meet against the Nittany Lions, but the Terps struggled with landing control on their tumbling passes in their first road competition.
Entering Saturday, the Terps ranked 10th in the nation on floor, according to GymInfo rankings.
But after freshman Dominiquea Trotter led off with a fall to start the floor rotation, the Terps couldn’t seem to maintain their prowess on their top event, posting a season-low score of 48.700.
Giameo and senior Shannon Skochko each scored a 9.775 to lead the team, but it was the first time the Terps had not counted at least three scores above 9.80 all season.
The Terps now rank 12th nationally and fourth in the Big Ten on floor with a 48.933 season average.