TOWSON, Md. - Liane Williams' road to the Towson Athletics Hall of Fame had its share of twists and turns, save for one.

Williams, one of the brightest stars among the galaxy of great Tiger gymnasts, says she easily could have turned to a life of performing on the Broadway stage.

The parallels are certainly there. Though there is clearly a group dynamic to plays, musicals and gymnastics meets, there's also the aspect of the dancer and/or tumbler performing on the solitary stage.

For Williams, whose specialty was the floor exercise, gymnastics provided the performance element she was looking for.

“Basically, if I wasn't going to college, I was going to Broadway,” said Williams. “It (gymnastics) was a means for me to express myself and my personality.

“I love tumbling, so the combination was there," she added. "It was like a whole other person was turned on when I got out there.”

Williams, who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at a ceremony at the Ballroom in the West Village Commons Friday, was a backbone of powerful Towson gymnastics teams in the mid-1990's.

Over her four-year career, Williams led the Tigers to a 63-23-1 record and three trips to the NCAA Southeast Regional, and two USA Gymnastics NIT championships.

Along with fellow Hall of Famers Erin (Shanley) Cherneski and Carrie Leger, Williams helped continue the tradition of Tiger gymnastics.

“Those years were amazing. We just had that drive,” said Williams of those teams. “We knew that when we went out there, we were going to give the best that we had if we worked hard for it. And if we didn't win, we defeated ourselves.”

For Williams, the joy of performing and winning was often dimmed by the pain of injury.

Indeed, to add to the ankle stress fracture and broken ankle she suffered in her sophomore and junior years, Williams led the Tigers to the second NIT championship while competing with a broken toe. Her 9.875 on the floor exercise helped clinch the title over Rutgers.

“I remember that meet, just closing it out and taking a deep breath (at the end and saying), 'Man, I'm finally done',” said Williams.

The Hall of Fame designation provides Williams an unexpected coda to a brilliant career.

“I felt like I didn't finish my career the best I could have because of those little hiccups two years in a row,” said Williams. “I thought, 'Well, that was great. I got an education out of it, good memories and good sports. That's that.'

“So, that's why it's never really crossed my mind that I would be nominated for the Hall of Fame,” she added.

Since graduating from Towson in 1999 with a degree in communications studies, Williams, a Virginia Beach native, has gone on to parlay that education into a career as a health insurance broker.

A Washington, D.C. resident, Williams says she takes pride in the idea that gymnastics has become a more viable option for the little African-American girls she sees at the Prince George's (County) Sports and Learning Complex.

It's an idea that was rare for her when she was growing up as the daughter of a single mom and Williams hopes that she and Olympic gymnast Dominique Dawes have been able to play some part in bringing gymnastics to African-American girls.

And who knows? Perhaps, one day, one of them might grow up to be the next Broadway star, or, even better, the next Liane Williams.