Junior gymnast Chelsea Knight flips into the air, showing her flexibility and great balance at the balance beam event at Reynolds Coliseum on March 18, 2017. Knight receives 9.775 in the vault event, 9.750 in the bars event, 9.775 in the beam event and 9.875 in the floor event which she won second place in. She also won third place with her all-around results of 39.175. The Wolfpack won third place with the score of 194.875 in the meet with George Washington University, University of New Hampshire, UNC-Chapel Hill, University of Pittsburgh and Towson University." />
Sally Tung
Junior gymnast Chelsea Knight flips into the air, showing her flexibility and great balance at the balance beam event at Reynolds Coliseum on March 18, 2017. Knight receives 9.775 in the vault event, 9.750 in the bars event, 9.775 in the beam event and 9.875 in the floor event which she won second place in. She also won third place with her all-around results of 39.175. The Wolfpack won third place with the score of 194.875 in the meet with George Washington University, University of New Hampshire, UNC-Chapel Hill, University of Pittsburgh and Towson University.
NC State gymnastics is back at Reynolds Coliseum for the third week in a row this Friday at 7 p.m. competing against LSU and New Hampshire, which are part of the EAGL.
The Wolfpack competed against LSU back in January this season for the Metroplex Challenge and had an overall score of 195.825. There, the Pack had scored a season-high score on the beam, 49.175 which was only beaten recently during the Alumni Meet, when the Pack scored a new season-high of 49.300.
Not only did the Pack score a team season-high, but senior Chelsea Knight earned a personal record on the beams with an impressive score of 9.950.
Since the meet, LSU is now ranked third nationally and New Hampshire is ranked 34. LSU will prove to be a challenging opponent that will push the Pack further in its performance.
Knight has tough personal scores to beat if she is to score another season-high. For all four individual events, Knight has a high performance of 9.850 or higher. For her high all-around, Knight has an impressive 39.450 which is the top score for all-around on the team. Teammates junior Caitlyn Fillard and sophomore Drew Grantham are not far behind with all-around scores of 39.250 and 39.275 respectively.
Knight either holds all the top spots or is tied for the top score for individual events except for the floor which is dominated by two other Wolfpack gymnasts. Grantham and junior Alexa Phillips tied with a score of 9.900 on the floor for their season-high scores thus far.
Nationally ranked No. 22 with a current regional qualified score (RQS) of 195.695, the Pack is on a good track to having the whole team qualifying for the championship. The last time the team was ranked so well was during the 2012 season when the Pack was ranked No. 17.
Going into the meet this week, the Pack will be focusing on the team and improving each gymnast’s skills in order to get each of the six girls per event to perform to the best of their abilities. As a whole, the team is looking to continue to improve its RQS to keep its spot in the rankings in order to qualify for the championships as a whole team for the first time in two years.
The team appears to always do well when it has the home gym advantage. The energy from the stands will sure to encourage the Pack to fight in every event to show all the work that all gymnasts put into their performance.
This will also be the second to last home meet the Pack will have for the season before hosting the NCAA Regional Championships in April. The team will be eager to go out on a high note in what will be a memorable meet for the seniors: Mackenzie Itcush, Taylor Murphy, Nicole Wild and Knight.