It was a night to remember for the N.C. State gymnastics team as the Wolfpack squad not only celebrated the careers of the senior class but also defeated EAGL foe William and Mary Friday night, 196.150-190.100 in Reynolds Coliseum.
“We wanted to count a good meet and wanted to enjoy the last meet here in Reynolds for the season,” senior Lauren Deuser said.
The Pack returned home to Reynolds Coliseum after competing in three straight away meets. Home seemed to be just what the team needed to get off its two-meet slide as the Pack posted its highest team score of the season and its highest overall team score since 2004.
In the first rotation of the evening, the Pack came out of the gate ready to reverse the outcome of recent meets in New Hampshire and Georgia.
“We have been working on acting like a team since that road trip,” Deuser said.
In State’s first event on vault, no single gymnast scored lower than a 9.775. In addition, every competitor for the Pack scored higher than the top gymnast from William and Mary on vault. Team leaders included senior Taylor Seaman, sophomore Brooke Barr and junior Brittany Vontz.
On the other side of the gym, William and Mary began its meet on the uneven bars. The Tribe had just gymnast score over a 9.7 to begin the meet.
The Pack continued its success found in the first rotation as it moved to the uneven bars and saw all gymnasts score above a 9.7 again. Freshman Rachel Fincham took first on her team with a score of 9.875. Seaman and sophomore Jess Panza took second and third place on the event respectively.
During the recent road trip to New Hampshire and Georgia, the Pack struggled on the beam as the team had to count a few falls on the event. The trend did not continue against William and Mary. The team performed its routines with a purpose and accumulated a total score of 48.975 on the event.
“I think our best event was beam because our team built up confidence on the event.” head coach Mark Stevenson said. “The team did exactly what we asked them do to.”
Seaman and Panza stepped up and both secured first on the event with a 9.875. The team recorded no falls. After the third rotation the Wolfpack led the Tribe 146.925-143.225.
“It was good to pull ourselves together for this meet after having a slow warm up to begin the night,” Seaman said.
The seniors ended their final home meet on floor exercise and went out with a bang. The show circled around Taylor Seaman, who performed one of the best floor routines of her career as she was rewarded with a 9.95 on the event. After her performance, the crowd shouted requests for a perfect ten.
“It is always hard to lose our seniors because you get to know them so well,” Stevenson said. “This group of seniors is some of the best we have ever had. They never stopped working because they knew what they wanted.
Sophomore Brooke Barr earned second in the event with a 9.925, and Panza finished third with her score of 9.85.
Seaman ended her night to remember in Reynolds Coliseum, taking home all-around champion with a score of 39.475 – fourth highest in school history. It was the 16 th time she had achieved an all-around score over 39, a new school record. Fellow senior Deuser, who joined the team as a walk-on and became a two-event starter for the Pack during her senior year, was honored as well. The Wolfpack will travel to Durham, New Hampshire to compete in the EAGL Championships this weekend and looks to capture its fourth conference title.
