Maryland Terrapins awards roundup: Tennis, gymnastics, track players shine

Although we as fans don't pay as much attention to them as we might, Maryland Terrapins athletes continue to represent the state's flagship campus in exemplary ways. This story looks at some notable accomplishments you might have missed.

Alexandra Stanova - Tennis

Junior Alexandra Stanova must have a special affinity of some sort for the second week in March. On that week in 2015, Stanova defeated Michigan's 19th ranked Ronit Yurovsky and picked up singles wins over players from Nebraska and Morgan State and, with Welma Luus a doubles win over a ranked Nebraska tandem. Those efforts earned her the B1G Tennis Athlete of the Week - the first ever for a Terp.

On that week this year, Stanova, continuing to play in the number one singles spot, picked up a three set win over Purdue's Nicole Robinson and added a doubles win with partner Kristina Hovsepyan in helping propel the Terrapins to a 6-1 win over the 62nd ranked Boilermakers and improve Maryland's conference record to 2-1. And, for the second time in her career, she earned the B1G Tennis Athlete of the Week award.

Kathy Tang - Gymnastics

Entering the 2015-2016 season, Maryland gymnastics coach Brett Nelligan knew that Kathy Tang, one of only three seniors on his squad, would shoulder an important leadership role. Tang not only filled that role but wraps up an outstanding senior season by earning second team All-B1G honors. Unlike many other all-conference honors, gymnastics awards are not based on votes from coaches or media but are a product of an individual gymnast's regional qualifying score (RQS). The B1G awards first team honors to gymnasts who finish with a top five RQS on any apparatus. Gymnasts who rank sixth through tenth receive second team status. Tang's 9.795 RQS on vault placed her eighth in the conference.

Tang becomes the third Maryland gymnast to earn all-conference honors in the B1G. Last year, Maryland's first in the league, Stephanie Giameo and Kathy's older sister Karen, also earned spots on the second team.

Brene Moseley - Women's Basketball

Although she is the least "under the radar athlete covered by this summary and would be the unlikeliest of winners, Terrapins redshirt senior guard Brene Moseley was tapped as one of five finalists for the Nancy Lieberman award honoring college basketball's top point guard. The other four finalists are Notre Dame's Lindsay Allen, Moriah Jefferson who plies her trade for UConn and who won the award in 2015, Baylor's Niya Johnson and fellow B1G star Kelsey Mitchell of Ohio State.

Lieberman, who led Old Dominion to two national championships and was a three time All-American for the Monarchs, sits on the committee that selects the finalists and eventual winner. She said of this year's group, "The level of play in women's college basketball this season has been outstanding, which made the selection committee's task extremely difficult. These five point guards are the best of the best and I look forward to watching them lead their teams in the tournament."

Moseley, who averages 11.4 points and 6 assists per game and leads the B1G in assist to turnover ration, is the only non-starter among the finalists. Should she win the award, she will become the second Terrapin winner in the award's 16 year history joining Kristi Toliver who won the award as a junior in 2009.

Chioma Onyekwere and Micha Powell - Track and Field

By finishing in the top 16 of their events at the recent NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, two standouts on Maryland's track and field team, Chioma Onyekwere, a senior from Fairfax, VA and junior Micha Powell who hails from Toronto, earned second team All-American honors last week.

Onyekwere, who competes in the throws, finished 14th in the women's weight throw. She hurled the weight 19.49 meters (63'11.5") landing it a meter short of a first team nod. A first time NCAA qualifier, Powell entered the competition seeded 16th in the 400 meter run. She bettered her seeding to finish with the 12th fastest time in the competition -  53.31 seconds.

News we might have missed

The B1G honored recently two other Terrapins with weekly awards. Jen Giles was named the conference's Freshman of the Week in women's lacrosse on March 8th for scoring two goals in Maryland's 20-5 rout of Hofstra. She joins Caroline Steele and Megan Taylor as Winners of this recognition.

At the same time, the B1G recognized Nick Dunn with two awards - simultaneously awarding him baseball's Freshman of the Week and Player of the Week honors. Dunn's awards came for his performance as the Terps split four games at the Keith LeClair Classic in Greenville, NC on the weekend of March fourth through sixth. Dunn hit .643 going 9-14 while both driving in and scoring four runs. His is the first Maryland B1G Player of the Week award since Brandon Lowe won the honor in March 2015.

Congratulations to all these outstanding Terps.