Reynolds Coliseum was rocking Friday night for the first home gymnastics meet of the 2013 season. The Wolfpack, ranked No. 22 in the Troester.com preseason poll, aimed to learn from the mistakes it made last week against top-10 Louisiana State University. State tied with the Maryland Terrapins, 195.000 each.
The Pack began the night on the vault.
“I think our strongest events are probably vaulting and floor,” head coach Mark Stevenson said.
Stevenson’s confidence rang true as State pulled ahead of competitor Maryland in the first rotation of the meet. A stellar vault performance by junior Diahanna Ham, earning a score of 9.9, exemplified the Pack’s early success.
However, the Terrapins were far from defeat. In fact, they shrunk State’s lead to a very small .025 margin after the second rotation, where the Wolfpack found itself on the uneven bars.
Junior Stephanie Ouellette led the team with a whopping 9.825, which earned her first place in the event.
“I like to compete,” Ouellette said. “Even though sometimes I make mistakes, I handle my nerves pretty well,”
With two more events to go, competition was fierce.
Junior Hannah Fallanca, who has contributed a beam routine in every meet of the three seasons she has been a part of the Wolfpack, no doubt shined in the third rotation of the night. Fallanca’s performance on beam nabbed a 9.8, earning third place in the event.
Ouellette and the impressive freshman Michaela Woodford were not too far behind Fallanca, getting 9.75 each.
“Freshmen make or break the team in many ways. You can only get better or worse depending on how your freshmen compete,” said Ouellette regarding Woodford and other first year teammates.
Even with such fantastic scores and no counted falls to boot, the Pack trailed the Terrapins as it entered the final rotation: floor exercise.
Just as Stevenson contended, his N.C. State team proved its potential on the floor. Ham and freshman Brittni Watkins wowed the crowd with especially remarkable routines. Their scores of 9.875 rightly earned first place in the event.
As the last routines were evaluated, it became clear that both teams had a fair shot at victory. The judges poured over each and every score to be sure no mistakes were made.
Several minutes later, Reynolds was full of anticipation. At last, the final score was announced: Both teams had scored an even 195. It was the first tie in Wolfpack gymnastics history since 2005.
Fortunately for the Pack, the road to the NCAA tournament does not depend on wins, losses or even ties, as in this case, but rather on points. So although the outcome of Friday’s meet was not ideal, the Pack still has high hopes for the season.
“If you’re excited and happy then you’re going to do well. If you do well, then you will get better and you’ll end up in the NCAA’s,” said senior Rachel Fincham.
Stevenson shared Fincham’s positivity.
“We’ve got 11 more meets plus regionals and nationals, so we’ve got plenty of time to keep working at it. To be where we are already so early this year, we feel really good about where the team is and the progress we’re making,” said Stevenson.
