NC State gymnastics finished the final half of the Tri-Meet at Reynolds Coliseum on Saturday. The team placed in first, second and third for all-around events. Not only did the team place first overall, but also managed to place first in all individual events too.
This was the team’s first home meet since the Red and White Intrasquad back in December. The Pack has been on the road since the first half of the Tri-Meet and a trip to UNC-Chapel Hill for an EAGL competition. The Wolfpack (4-0, 1-0 ACC) has kept a clean record for the beginning of the season.
“Our plan as a team is to beat ourselves, to beat the score we got the last weekend and to go out there and be confident,” junior Caitlyn Fillard said.
The Pack started off strong on the vaults, leading right away with 49.100 leaving both Ball State and William and Mary trailing. Ball State scored an overall 48.550 on the beams, while William and Mary earned 48.100 on the bars.
Senior Chelsea Knight took the top spot for the Pack for the vault with a personal score of 9.900. Knight was closely followed by junior teammate Alexa Phillips’ 9.850.
After a brief transition, the Wolfpack performed on the bars while William and Mary took its turn on the beams, leaving Ball State to start off the floor performances.
Senior Nicole Wild started the bars with a solid 9.800 followed by sophomore Drew Grantham’s 9.725. In the middle of the room, Ball State’s second floor performance was an impressive 9.725.
NC State finished the bars, dominating over William and Mary’s scores from the first round of events. Junior Maggie Tamburro took the top score, 9.850.
The Wolfpack headed over to the beams while William and Mary moved to the floor, leaving Ball State to compete against the Pack’s scores on the vault.
Entering the third rotation, the Wolfpack led with 98.150. Ball State remained in second place with 97.375. Trailing was William and Mary with a team score of 96.275.
After its performance, the Pack confidently secured placement in the balance beam with Knight and Grantham scoring 9.900 and 9.875 respectively. The team racked up more points for a team score of 147.150, ahead of Ball State at 146.150 and William and Mary at 144.700. All three teams remained in the same overall placements.
The Wolfpack prepared for its final performance, the floor. Ball State warmed up for the bars and William and Mary practiced on the vaults.
Senior Mackenzie Itcush was the first on the floor for the Pack and walked away already earning the Pack at least first place with a top score of 9.825.
Fillard, Grantham, and Knight were the only three from NC State to perform in all four events, each of them scoring higher than 39 points and placing first, second and third in the all-around scores.
“We know we can do better,” Grantham said. “I think what we did today is exactly what we’ve been training for. Every meet, we’re not done. It’s just a foundation, it’s the building block. We’re just adding on every week something that we can focus on and we laid a foundation at home that we know that we’re proud of but we know we’re not done.”
Fillard echoed Grantham’s statement.
“I thought it was so exciting that we had such a huge fan base,” Fillard said. “We really fed off that energy and one routine after the other, we did our job. But that’s how we’ve been training, so it all paid off.”
Knight placed the highest amongst the three with an overall score of 39.450 and first place in all-around. Knight also placed first on the balance beams and on the vaults. Following her first place success, Knight also managed second on the floor.
Grantham who was in second place all-around placed first on the floor with a 9.875 score, also placing second on the balance beams and third on the vaults.
“It made us want to do it for more than just ourselves,” Grantham said. “We wanted to do it for the Wolfpack Nation, we want to do it for all the fans, we want to do it for all of our support staff. When I come out of the meet, I ask myself, ‘How did I help this team?’ I was able to be a counting score on three out of four events. And I got a career high on the beam. I matched my career high in vault. And I got a career high in the all-around. And I’m so excited about that.”
NC State had a top-tier performance, easily sweeping all of the events, taking first and second places at least and three of the five overall spots. The Pack dominated the events by not scoring less than 9.700 in any, an impressive feat for any gymnast that demonstrates the hard work and effort that has been put into the players’ training.
The final scores for the team had NC State in first with a score of 196.350, a large margin compared to second-place Ball State who scored 194.750. William and Mary finished in third with 193.300.
NC State will be travelling to Dallas, Texas for the Metroplex Challenge on January 27 at 7:45 p.m.
