North Carolina State University Athletics
TIM PEELER: Freshman Seaman Making All-Round Contribution
2/17/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH – Freshman Taylor Seaman is still getting used to performing in big gymnastics meets and competing for a team.
Like most of her teammates, she was used to competing for her club as an individual, not trying to gain points for her team, either in a single event or in the all-around. So being one of the Wolfpack’s biggest contributors has been something new for the freshman from Greensburg, Penn.
“When you come to college, it is all about the team, and that is a new thing for me,” Seaman said. “I was always by myself throughout high school, competing for my club.”
But Seaman has been one of the Wolfpack’s biggest contributors this season, earning EAGL Rookie of Week honors following the Wolfpack’s first home meet of the season on Jan. 23 against Georgia, Iowa and Ohio State. She also finished first in the all-around in a meet against Penn State, a nice homecoming present for someone who grew up about 30 minutes outside of Pittsburgh.
However, Seaman missed last week’s EAGL meet against North Carolina because of an ankle injury. She expects to return for limited action this weekend as the Wolfpack hosts one of its biggest meets of the season, the Hearts Invitational. The Wolfpack hosts No. 6 Nebraska, No. 24 West Virginia, George Washington and James Madison at 7 p.m. at Reynolds Coliseum.
Seaman had no idea how she would fit into the Wolfpack lineup. She came from a relatively small gymnastics club. When she arrived in the fall, she discovered that she not only had to develop her skills in all four gymnastics events, but also spend time lifting weights and doing other conditioning.
Her work-out time doubled when she got to Raleigh, as she spent time developing her skills in all four events and doing conditioning as well. Her work-out regimen went from four times a week to every day. She knew she was in a different world when she found out that some of her teammates from bigger clubs saw their work-out times in college cut in half, while hers doubled.
“I wouldn’t say I came from a hard-core gymnastics club,” Seaman said. “So I train a lot more now and everything is a lot more intense. But that really helps me stay focused on all the things I have to do, in gymnastics and away from gymnastics. The rest of the team pushes you to stay on track, to get everything done.
“It was a definite adjustment, but I was prepared for it and ready for it. The coaches told me how it was going to be. I like the challenges.”
It’s kind of odd, but Wolfpack coach Mark Stevenson says that Seaman’s relative inexperience in bigger events has been a benefit for fitting into the team, primarily because she came in quite skilled. Seaman, whose father was once a minor league baseball player in the Boston Red Sox farm system, began gymnastics at the age of 4 and had always excelled in her sport.
“She probably is more developed than any other freshman we have ever had come in,” he said.
So she was a natural for competing in the all-around. It’s just taken some getting used to, especially in the bigger meets.
“I think I need to become more consistent, because I compete in four events,” Seaman said. “It’s hard to focus on just one thing when you have to compete in four of them. But I think that have proved to the team that I have something to give them.
“As the year goes on, I am going to get all the nervousness out of me and be more consistent in all of them.”
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
