The State gymnastics team took to the mats Friday night in a competitive match-up with the No. 3 Florida Gators at Reynolds Coliseum. The Gators went on to defeat the Pack and take first place team honors back to Gainesville as they defeated the Pack 195.475-194.450.
While there was a cold, dreary rain outside Friday night, the Virginia and Washington, D.C. area was bracing for a major snow storm. This weather impacted the meet, which was supposed to also feature George Washington. The team was unable to make it to Raleigh for the meet, and only four of the nine judges scheduled to judge the meet were able to make it.
But the Wolfpack couldn’t let the Gators take all the top honors in the meet, as sophomore Brooke Barr turned in a stellar statistical outing with a first place all-around score of 38.925. In its second week of facing top-five teams from around the country, the Pack was able to maintain a high level of competiveness against perennial powerhouse Florida, only trailing an average of .4 points for each rotation.
“We progressively got better as the meet went on,” senior Taylor Seaman said.
After the first rotation on the night, the Wolfpack was down early as it was not receiving scores that matched its performance on vault. The team scored a team total of 48.425 in its first rotation. Meanwhile, on the other side of the gym, the Florida Gators posted their highest event team total for the entire night in their first rotation. The Gators’ score of 49.125 on the uneven parallel bars propelled the visiting team to the early lead by about six tenths of a point. The Pack was lead on vault by Barr with a score of 9.775 and sophomore Jess Panza, who earned a 9.725.
“The kids did really well on vault,” head coach Mark Stevenson said. “You just have to go to the next event and shake the start off and do better.”
The second rotation proved to be much of the same for the Wolfpack, both on the score side and the level at which the athletes were performing. The Pack walked away from its second rotation on bars with a team score of 48.500, which was still slightly lower than the Gators’ 48.825 on vault. Seaman lead the Wolfpack on bars with a score of 9.775. The Pack also got contributions in the same event from freshman Rachel Fincham and junior Brittney Hardiman who both earned 9.75 on bars.
“We started off kind of shaky, but after vault I think we pulled it together,” Barr said.
The third rotation was much of the same for the Wolfpack. It maintained about the same level of performance on the balance beam as it did in the previous rotation. The team put together a solid showing on beam as the team scored a 48.475 and didn’t have to count a single fall on the event.
“We need to continue to stick our landings, and also continue the streak of not counting any falls towards our overall score,” Stevenson said.
Panza scored a 9.825, and Seaman and junior Brittany Vontz got a pair of 9.7s. Florida seemed to nail each of its floor routines, but scored only four tenths higher during this rotation.
“Making each event better throughout the entire meet is the name of the game,” Seaman said.
The Wolfpack finished off this dual meet on a high note as the team compiled its highest event score of the evening on floor. Seaman ended with a great show on floor for the 2,500 fans in attendance. She earned a 9.9, the highest score on floor exercise in the meet. The team finished with a team score of 49.05.
“They really performed well on floor,” Stevenson said. “We picked it up and did very well to end the meet.”
The Pack will have a second chance to face George Washington this upcoming weekend as the team heads to Washington, D.C. to face the Colonials on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.
