"I Wanted To Do That Routine For Him."

Tasha Brozowski had done hundreds and hundreds of bar routines throughout her life before she stepped onto the floor to do one at NCAA Regionals in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. But the ensuing routine—one that earned an impressive 9.850 score and contributed to Maryland's NCAA Regional team score record of 196.675—would be one that she and hundreds of others who have now seen her story would remember for a very long time. 

"It's hard to describe just how much doing that routine at Regionals meant to me," Brozowski said. "The best and worst moment of my life happened the same night."

On the evening of Thursday, March 30, the day before the Terps were set to compete, Brozowski learned the devastating news that her father, Patrick, was not going to survive after being hospitalized for nearly a week due to complications from a motorcycle accident. She was surrounded by the Maryland coaching staff when her mom called to deliver the news, a request her mom had made prior so that Brozowski wouldn't be alone at that moment.

She was given a choice to return home to be with her family - an option many in her position would have understandably made. However, from the start, head coach Brett Nelligan made it clear that whether or not to compete was entirely up to Brozowski and the team. 

"The main thing that goes through your mind is that none of this other stuff is that important anymore," Nelligan said. "Gymnastics isn't nearly as important right now as what Tasha's going through, what her family's going through, and what the whole team is going through. Because the thing about this team is that they're so close, which means they felt so deeply for their teammate and it was devastating for them too.

"There's not really a playbook for something like that as a coach. I told Tasha, and I told the team, 'If we don't feel like we're in a place to compete, we don't have to.'"

However, after much discussion with her mother, Brozowski concluded she needed to compete.

"I talked to my mom and she was like, 'I think Dad would want you to compete for him'," Brozowski said. "And she was right. He has sacrificed so much for me and I'm only here because of him and all his sacrifice. I knew he wouldn't want me to come home and miss something as big as Regionals. So I decided to do the routine for him and dedicate it all to him."

Nelligan recalls seeing Brozowski emerge from her hotel room the following morning and instantly recognized that the night would be one to remember forever. 

"Once she came out and said that she wanted to dedicate the performance to her father, there was no doubt in my mind that, not only would we compete, but it would be a really powerful moment for Tasha and the team," Nelligan said.

Brozowski went about her warmup routine as usual - even though nothing was - normal about the current circumstances. However, as the National Anthem began to play, the emotions hit Brozowski.

"I couldn't help but cry a little bit during the Anthem when it started. My dad was a veteran so it meant something a little more. I looked up at the flag and I started to think of him and all that he means to me."

For Tasha, her twin sister, two brothers, and the rest of the Brozowski family, Patrick was a man who would have done anything to see his loved ones succeed. 

"My dad was a goofball," Tasha said. "He was very tall and gave the best bear hugs. People were intimidated by him because he was so tall and had a big presence, but he was always a big goofball. He was a veteran. He was also so selfless. He sacrificed so much for me and my sister for our gymnastics; he would go to every meet with us even if he needed to take off work."

Patrick's final actions exhibited that same sacrifice and selflessness, which Tasha finds solace in.

"In the accident, he basically saved my mom's life because he wrapped his arms around her when the motorcycle went down. To think that that was one of his last acts is really powerful. It speaks to who he was, which was a hero."

Back in Pittsburgh, Brozowski put together a nearly flawless routine on the bars as her teammates cheered her on loudly.

"They were yelling so loud for me, I knew right away I wasn't doing the routine by myself," Brozowski recalled.

As she flew off the bars one last time for the season and stuck the landing, the tears started to come.

"When I landed, all the emotions kind of flooded in. I obviously knew the routine was a lot bigger than just gymnastics."

She then went over to Nelligan, and the two shared a long, emotional embrace. 

"He was there for me every step of the way," Brozowski said. "We shared so many words after the routine, he kept telling me how proud my dad was of me. It meant so much for me to hear that."

"There was nothing that was going to take Tasha's pain away, but for her to have that moment, to be able to honor him like that, that felt like something she would be proud of," Nelligan added. "It was something she did for him. And the routine was beautiful. It was one of the best I've ever seen her do."

In fact, the entire bars rotation, featuring Brozowski, along with Aleka Tsiknias and Sierra Kondo, put in some of their best work ever, posting a 49.275 and marking the program's best score on the event at an NCAA Regional.

"I told Tasha when we shared that hug, 'There's no way we did that alone. Your father was with us through the whole thing,'" Nelligan said.

After the embrace with Nelligan, Brozowski went over to her teammates, who were waiting to gather her in an equally heartfelt group hug—wanting to celebrate her strength in the darkest of times. 

"Usually, we high-five after our routines so that's why I went over there to them," Brozowski recalled. "But I was sobbing and a lot of them were crying too. Sharing the hug with all of them represented what kind of family we have and how much love we have for each other. That hug was not just for the routine I did, it was so much more and they were right there with me, supporting me."

Later that same night, a night where Maryland set the program record for the best-ever score at an NCAA Regional, Brozowski FaceTimed her mom as she said one final goodbye to Patrick as he was given a Walk of Honor through the hospital before his heart was stopped so that the doctors could harvest his organs. As an organ donor, another example of Patrick's selflessness, he impacted many lives, including giving a kidney to someone in the military, something the Brozowski's knew would have meant a lot to him. 

Just as it had been every step of the way, Tasha chose to be surrounded by her teammates and coaches during the emotional moment. The entire traveling party–including the athletes, coaches, and support staff—sat around her, each placing a comforting hand on her. 

"We sat on the couch in the meeting room and they all sat with me and we all cried," Brozowski said." It meant the world to me to have them there with me at that moment. We talked about this with Brett and the team, but people throw the word "family" around so much, but it truly has meaning with us. Our team really is a family in every sense of the word and it really showed that weekend when they were all there for me."

"Team 48 truly is a special family," Nelligan added. "They'll be connected for life."

The strength to compete and perform so well on such a devastating day speaks to the fortitude of Tasha's character - something clearly passed down to her by both her parents.

"She's one of the strongest gymnasts I've ever coached," Nelligan said. "I kinda knew that going into the season because she had an injury last year and came back better than she was before. But this just solidified that her fortitude and perseverance are unlike anything I've ever seen. 

Going through this process, it's clear where she gets it from. Her father, a marine and a veteran, and her mom, as the rock, raising twin daughters, Tasha gets her strength from both of them. Getting the worst news of your life and choosing to compete the next day anyways just shows that strength."

However, Tasha wasn't thinking about the strength it took as much as she focused on honoring her dad in the best way possible. 

"People keep telling me I'm so strong, but I just can't even really wrap my head around that. It means a lot now, and I know it will mean a lot more in the future when I can look back a little more and see what kind of strength that truly took. I just knew I wanted to do that routine for him.

"Like I said, that was the best and worst moment of my life. I was glad I got to do that routine and dedicate it to him and I'm so glad that so many people have seen it and now know a little about his story. He was such an amazing dad who sacrificed so much for us."