Karen Tang performs different rituals to prepare for every event she competes in at Terrapins gymnastics meets.
The junior stands in a particular spot before starting each routine. While readying for the uneven bars, she waits for captain Kesley Cofsky to hand her a water bottle and give her a pep talk. And before Tang begins her sprint down the vault runway, she listens for her sister’s voice.
“Stay aggressive,” says Kathy Tang, a freshman gymnast. “Stay tight.”
It’s nothing new for the sisters. Kathy and Karen have been each other’s support systems for as long as they can remember.
They were inseparable while growing up in Agawam, Mass. Whether it was ice-skating, gymnastics or driving their parents crazy jumping on the bed, big sister and little sister were partners in crime.
“They had so much energy,” their mother, Jackie Tang, said with a chuckle. “They were always jumping around.”
Karen did her first cartwheel when she was two years old, and her mother finally decided to enroll her in gymnastics classes six years later. She soon developed a love for the sport and rose through the ranks. Naturally, Kathy wanted to join her sister in the fun.
To avoid making two separate trips to the gym a day, their mother arranged for Kathy to train in Karen’s class. But Kathy struggled to keep up with the older, more experienced children. Her classmates made fun of her and called her names. Everyone but Karen.
“She was very upset and she started to cry,” Jackie Tang said. “But Karen told them all to stop. She was always a supportive sister.”
Karen and Kathy eventually became the stars of Daggett Gymnastics in Agawam, but the rigors of club competition proved taxing. At times, Kathy felt overwhelmed with the intense workload and demanding coaches.
But she stayed the course and won her first all-around title at a meet during her sophomore year at Agawam High School.
“I remember finishing my meet, and watching her out there doing so well,” said Karen, who lost to Kathy in the all-around that day. “When she won, I felt so happy for her because all of her hard work had paid off.”
Both of the Tang sisters eventually emerged as top gymnastics recruits. Karen won gold in floor exercise at the Junior Olympics in 2009, and spurned offers from powerhouse programs West Virginia, New Hampshire and North Carolina State to join the Terps.
Initially, she didn’t want Kathy to follow her to coach Brett Nelligan’s squad. She loved her sister, but wanted to establish her own niche.
And when Karen changed her mind following her freshman campaign, Kathy — a more highly touted recruit — decided she didn’t want to follow her sister to College Park.
“I kind of wanted to go on my own,” she said. “Then, when I came here and saw the campus and the team, I decided that it would be fun to be on a team with my sister.”
Nelligan is grateful the Tangs chose his program. Through three weeks of competition, Kathy leads the East Atlantic Gymnastics League in all-around. And Karen, who redshirted her freshman year while recovering from a knee injury, was named to the 2012 All-EAGL bars first team last season.
Together, they make up the core of a Terps team off to its hottest start in recent memory. Less than a third of the way through the regular season, the EAGL-leading Terps boast a 4-0-1 record.
“When the bright lights go on at a meet, they both take it to the next level,” Nelligan said. “They add a whole new dimension to the team.”
Collegiate gymnastics can be taxing at times. There are tests to take, practices to attend and routines to perfect. But as Karen navigates the hectic experience, she feels comfortable knowing her sister will be right there with her every step of the way.
“We have become better sisters and better teammates,” Karen said. “It’s cool to have someone there, because she knows so much about my life. She knows me so well.”
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