In its first quad meet of the season, No. 8 NC State gymnastics finished last in the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. No. 13 Michigan won the event with a score of 195.925, followed by No. 14 Arizona’s 195.825, Clemson’s 195.350 and NC State’s 195.000.
Graduate Chloe Negrete was the Wolfpack’s best performer on the vault, beam and floor with scores of 9.800 or better on all three. Negrete’s highest finish came on the floor where she tied for second with a score of 9.875, .025 points behind Michigan’s Jahzara Ranger.
Freshman Syniya Thomas tied Negrete’s score on the floor, which set a career-high. Sophomore Ashley Knight was the other Wolfpack gymnast to finish in the top 10 on the floor, tied for sixth with a score of 9.825.
Negrete then tied for third with a 9.850 on her second rotation on the beam, 0.050 points Arizona’s Abigayle Martin and Elena Deets. Sophomore Katie Harper didn’t finish too far behind Negrete as she tied for seventh with a score of 9.800.
In her last event, Negrete tied for sixth on the vault with a score of 9.800, .050 points behind first place. Her teammates Knight and sophomore Lauren Wright also posted scores of 9.800, helping to combine for a team score of 48.875, the team’s highest score in an event in the meet.
On the bars, the only competition Negrete didn’t perform in, Harper scored a 9.825 out of the anchor spot to tie for fifth, .075 points behind first place. Freshman Caroline Volk followed close behind Harper with a career-high 9.800 to tie for ninth. Freshman Ava Myers posted a career-high 9.725 as she tied for 18th.
Despite a few strong individual performances, the Wolfpack didn’t finish better than third in any event and placed last in two. Outside of Negrete, only one other Wolfpack gymnast had a top-three finish when Thomas tied her for second on the floor.
After coming in last in the quad meet, the defending ACC champions move to 1-3 on the season as a fourth-place finish acts as three losses. The Wolfpack will most certainly fall far in the rankings as it placed behind two teams ranked lower than it and an unranked Clemson team.
It’s early in the season, but if NC State wants to defend its ACC crown, then it must find more consistent performers outside of Negrete.
Up next, the Wolfpack will travel to California to take on Stanford on Saturday.
