The N.C. State gymnastics team finished third at the East Atlantic Gymnastics League Championships on Saturday in Durham, N.H.
No. 23 New Hampshire won the conference championship with an overall score of 196.375, while Maryland came in just ahead of the Wolfpack with an overall score of 195.700. State finished the championship with a score of 195.275, a performance with which head coach Mark Stevenson said that he was satisfied.
“I really feel like we dominated most of the high end levels,” Stevenson said. “Overall, we went really well.”
The Pack had to overcome adversity at the start of the meet when sophomore Michaela Woodford went down in warm-ups with a head injury. The scare put the State team behind the eight ball early, as the team was without a key, consistent contributor. Stevenson said that he knew how much Woodford meant to the team and was pleased with how the team responded.
“We went into the meet down one of our top athletes,” Stevenson said. “I was really impressed with the other kids that came through and stepped up.”
The Pack won the all-around event led by senior gymnast Stephanie Ouellette who notched the top spot with a score of 39.300 and finished as conference champion. Ouellette was accompanied by sophomore Brittani Watkins, who also competed in the all-around competition, tallying a total score of 38.725.
The Pack also had a strong performance on the vault event, led by senior Diahanna Ham and Watkins, who posted scores of 9.825 and 9.850, respectively. This led the pack to an overall team score of 48.825, which was enough to win the event for the team.
The Pack also posted one of the top scores in the balance beam event with a team score of 49.000. Ouellette led the team by posting a new career high score of 9.875 and was followed by teammate senior Hannah Fallanca who notched a score of 9.825.
The Pack’s lowest team total of the afternoon came in the uneven parallel bars event, an event in which State was struggled all year, managing an unimpressive score of 48.125. The Pack started slow in the bars, missing on the first two attempts, resulting in a deduction of 0.6 to start the event. Stevenson said that he was still proud of his team’s performance despite the two miscues.
“We automatically started six-tenths down to begin this event,” Stevenson said. “But our scores after that were excellent.”
The Pack finished the meet with their strongest performance of the night: the floor exercise. The team was propelled by a pair of 9.900 routines, performed by Watkins and junior Lane Jarred. The two performances led the Pack to an overall score of 49.325, putting the team in second place in the event.
Two members of the Pack took home major honors, as Watkins won EAGL Gymnast of the and Ouellette won EAGL Senior Gymnast of the Year. Stevenson said he understood just how impressive these accomplishments were.
“They won Gymnast of the Year plus they won Senior Gymnast of the Year, which is way more than I could have wanted for anybody,” Stevenson said. “So I am extremely proud of my kids and I think they have done a great job.”
Following the EAGL championships, the Wolfpack must wait to see if it will receive a berth in the NCAA Championship and a chance to finish off the season on a high note. The NCAA Regional selections will be released on Monday and Tuesday.
