NC State women’s gymnastics dominated Yale, George Washington and New Hampshire in the first home quad meet of the season, tallying a first-place 196.700.
At ACC Network’s Mental Health Awareness meet, the Wolfpack (9-4) wore “I Am” shirts during warm-ups, representing the individuality and spirit of the team on this special night. Sporting green ribbons in their hair, NC State’s athletes soared into the winning spot after each of the four rotations, scoring a 9.900 in three of the categories: bars, beam and floor.
“Our entire team, just with the stresses as a college student athlete, our coaching staff, support staff and entire team make sure that we have a really good pulse on what’s going on and pivot when we need to,” said head coach Kim Landrus.
The Wolfpack began the meet on vault, its recent speciality, with strong performances from sophomores Syniya Thomas and Ava Myers scoring a 9.850 and a 9.825, respectively. The team took off running with a score of 49.025 to finish the first rotation.
Next up for the Pack was bars, which produced its fifth straight 49.000 and above on the event. Every performance was consistent, but sophomore Caroline Volk stole the show with her staggering 9.900 score–propelling NC State to an even bigger lead of 98.100 to finish the round.
“Confidence breeds confidence,” Landrus said. “As you continue to build off your performances from the previous competition and then build off the performances from those that come before you in a competition, it just really elevates your adrenaline, confidence and enthusiasm.
NC State’s performance on the beam in the third rotation saw two freshmen take control of the competition to keep the Wolfpack in first place heading into the last rotation. Adasyn Tackett secured her first career 9.900, while Autumn Rardin tied her personal best with a 9.850. The freshman feats led to a new season-high on beam of 49.300.
The career highs continued into the fourth rotation for NC State; the floor. All but one gymnast scored a 9.800 or higher on the event, with Rardin soaring to new heights. While she gave strong performances throughout each rotation, her shining moment was scoring a knockout 9.900 on her floor routine to seal the deal for the Pack.
Other heavy hitters included standout junior Elle Hadrick, scoring a 9.875 and Thomas finishing up her notable night with the same score. Senior Meg Adler also lit up the floor as she tied her career-high with a 9.850, which contributed to a final score of 196.700 — securing the win for NC State.
“We had twenty hearts out there today, so we just poured our hearts into everything and it was a cumulative effect that led to the result,” Landrus said.
NC State will return for another quad meet on Mar. 1, when the Wolfpack takes on No. 38 Townson away at 2 p.m.
