Sindy Huang
Drew Grantham, a junior majoring in communications, poses in her floor routine during the match against Ohio State on Saturday, Jan. 12, 2019 in Reynolds Coliseum. The Wolfpack lost their home opener to the Buckeyes 196.025-194.925.
NC State gymnastics held its first home meet of the season, hosting Ohio State Saturday at Reynolds Coliseum.
The Wolfpack (1-1) may have lost 196.025-194.925 to the Buckeyes (1-1) but the Pack showed great improvement in each event, reaching new season highs on the bars, vault and beams. The Pack also earned a new team high score since defeating Michigan State with a score of 193.750.
“I was really proud of the team today, how they came out,” head coach Kim Landrus said. “We started on vault and right now that is a little bit more challenging event for us. But I’ll tell you they gave it everything they had and definitely improved on our vaults from last weekend with a lot of great landings. And we really just carried that momentum throughout the whole competition.”
Opening on the vaults, the Wolfpack was off to a strong start with three gymnasts scoring a 9.800 or higher. Senior Alexa Phillips tied for first on the vaults with a season high of 9.825; the score was only 0.075 less than her career high score of 9.900. Ohio State’s senior Jamie Stone and junior Olivia Aepli tied with Alexa Phillips. Seniors Caitlyn Fillard and Paris Phillips scored 9.800 each. Fillard and Paris Phillips tied for fourth place. The team’s scores created a new team high of 48.600 on the vaults for this season.
The Pack struggled to reach the podium in its second event as the Buckeyes dominated the bars. Senior Maggie Tamburro tied with three other gymnasts, all of which were from Ohio State with a solid score of 9.825. Of the three who tied with Tamburro, Stone was among them. Aepli placed second, 9.850 leaving sophomore Jenna Swartzentruber to secure first place, 9.875. Despite the loss on the podium, the Pack made strides in improving its team score by 0.25 for a new score of 48.825.
By the end of the first two events, the Wolfpack was trailing the Buckeyes 98.125-97.425.
The Wolfpack then continued the meet on the beams. Again with a new season high, the Pack knocked out its previous score of 48.250 for an excellent score of 48.875. The Pack grabbed second and third for the podium when freshman Alliah Harrison and Grantham tied with a score of 9.825.
“Beam right now is one of our stronger events,” Harrison said. “It’s a really good lineup that we have put together.”
Harrison reached a podium placement on the beams she scored a 9.400 on the vault. Along with her own improvement, Harrison explained what was different about this meet.
“I was more confident in this one for sure,” Harrison said. “We worked on things at practice to progress from last week and I thought that made a difference focusing in on those areas.”
Finishing with the floor, the Pack may not have achieved a season high but Grantham tied for third place at 9.825.
Stone placed first with 39.200 but was closely followed by Grantham and Aepli who both tied for second place with 39.175. Fillard placed fourth, finishing with 38.725.
“Looking back, there are areas we need to work on,” Landrus said. “However, three events definitely saw some improvement this week. Drew had a fantastic meet. Alliah, just wanted to give her a little shout out starting off the beam team, so solid.”
The Wolfpack will compete in a quad-meet this Friday in Maryland at 7 p.m.