Sophomores Paris and Alexa Phillips, often referred to as “the twins,” are names commonly heard during NC State gymnastics award ceremonies after meets in Reynolds Coliseum.
The twins call Athens, Georgia home, where they tore up the world of gymnastics. While in high school, Paris captured state titles on floor and all-around and came in second in every other event. Meanwhile, Alexa placed second on bars and all-around in the Georgia State Championship and finished second on vault and 10th in all-around in the Junior Olympic Nationals.
Possibly an even greater accomplishment by the twins is the fact that they graduated high school a semester early and came straight to NC State, where they started to compete last season.
“For me the gymnastics part was pretty hard, because we had to compete every weekend and in club, you don’t have to compete every weekend,” Alexa said about the transition from club gymnastics to college.
Paris also noted that the classes themselves are more demanding.
“School was a little bit harder because having college classes is much different,” Paris said.
While the girls found the transition tough in different ways, they didn’t let that show during meets for the Wolfpack. In their first semester at State, they competed in at least 10 meets in at least one routine. By the end of the season they had tabbed EAGL Rookie of the Week honors at least twice each and both made All-EAGL second team on vault.
“I don’t think they really had a chance to struggle because the end of the first week they were here, they were in a meet,” head coach Mark Stevenson said.
The twins have definitely worked hard and started out of the gate strong in their college careers as gymnasts. But even with the big impact they had for the team last year, they still continue to improve and help the team each and every day.
Last year, both of the girls only participated in two events each by the end of the season but right now, Paris is competing in all four events and Alexa is competing in three. Part of the reason the girls have had to step up is because of many injuries that have plagued the team this year. Over half of the starting spots for each event are now being filled by someone else who was not originally slated to compete in that event.
“With all of our injuries going on, I definitely feel like I’ve had to step up a little bit harder and contribute to the all around, I just try to be accountable for everything that I do,” Paris said.
Alexa has also expanded her role due to the various injuries on the team.
“I feel like I’ve had to step up just a little bit, I wasn’t on beam last year, and this year I came in on beam,” Alexa said.
While the girls may seem calm and collected about having to adjust quickly, and not only compete more but move into leadership roles as well. Both Paris and Alexa are having a huge impact on the team this year.
“They have had to step up, particularly Alexa because she was probably only slated for two events initially, she’s now on three and working hard on bars,” Stevenson said.
Even though this year has been a lot for the girls to take on, only being two full semesters into college, it has been good for them.
“Being away from mom and dad was probably a bigger transition because they are very close to their parents,” Stevenson said.
Stevenson did point out that family was very important to the twins and that was probably the hardest part of their transition from high school to college. But this year, NC State had a meet in Athens against Georgia. This meet really helped the girls in their transition from club to college as it allowed them to see their friends and family, who mean so much to them.
Both Paris and Alexa agreed that it was “the most fun meet of the season,” and they both loved having all of their friends and family finally watch them compete.
Even though both of these girls are performing well on their routines, they are still only in their third semester of college. They have come a long way and have taken on a lot of responsibility for the Wolfpack. Try to figure out which twin is which as the Pack takes on No. 16 George Washington and Kent State in a tri-meet Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. in Reynolds Coliseum.
Sophomore Alexa Phillips blows a kiss during her floor routine. Phillips scored a 9.75 for this routine. NC State Wolfpack scored 194.850 and split between Ball State and William & Mary on Jan. 20 in Reynolds Coliseum.
