In N.C. State’s annual Sweetheart Invitational on the Saturday following St. Valentine’s Day, the Wolfpack gymnastics team took first place in a four-team meet against UNC-Chapel Hill, the William & Mary Tribe and the George Washington Colonials.
The Wolfpack finished the night with a season-high score of 196.050, the team’s best since it posted a 196.675 on Feb. 24, 2012.
Stevenson said that he was extremely proud of his team, considering the fact that they had not practiced in two days, due to the University’s snow day policy.
“The performance tonight was probably our best of the year,” head coach Mark Stevenson said. “We went and did all four events the way they were supposed to be done.”
Saturday night marked the third meet of the season in which State has faced its archrival, the Tar Heels, with the first resulting in a loss at Chapel Hill and the second in a victory for the Pack in Reynolds Coliseum.
The Pack started the night strongly on the vault, posting a score of 49.100, marking the third time this season that the team recorded a score of over 49.000 on the vault. One week after making her collegiate debut in Denver, Colo., freshman Amanda Fillard gave another strong performance on the vault, tying for third-best on the team with a score of 9.800.
The Pack followed up its excellent performance on the vault with an impressive showing on the uneven bars, setting the season-high with a score of 48.875. Junior Lane Jarred shattered her previous career-high of 9.500 with a score of 9.775 on Saturday.
“We decided that we wanted to get a 49 in bars,” Jarred said. “That really helped towards our goal of doing what we did tonight.”
Jarred has become a specialist for the Wolfpack, adding bars back to a routine that had previously only included beam and floor. Jarred said that she might even consider adding vault to become the team’s third all-around competitor.
Stevenson said that he was impressed with how Jarred has “stepped up to the plate,” despite feeling ill prior to the match.
“I’m real proud of Lane [Jarred] tonight,” Stevenson said. “She did beautiful bars, the best flour routine of her life and really nice beam.”
In only her third meet back from injury, sophomore Michaela Woodford, the 2013 EAGL Rookie of the Year, tied her career high on bars with a 9.750.
Stevenson said that he is grateful to have Woodford back, and that she will likely be in the lineup doing more events in the next two weeks.
On the balance beam, the Pack rebounded from a subpar performance in Denver to deliver a score of 49.050. Senior Stephanie Ouellette posted a career-high score of 9.850, her best event score on a night where Ouellette would claim her first all-around title of the season, totaling a score of 39.300.
Ouellette said that the home atmosphere made the victory that much sweeter.
“It felt really good,” Ouellette said. “To come home, especially senior year, and do all-around was something that I’ve wanted since the first meet.”
Stevenson said that he was happy to see Ouellette rediscover her dominant form.
“Without her,” Stevenson said, “we’re not the same.”
The Pack kept up its momentum going into the last event, scoring a 49.025 in the floor exercise, marking the first time the Pack has scored over 49.000 in three events all season. Sophomore Brittni Watkins scored a third-straight 9.900 on her way to a third-place in the all-around.
“Brittni [Watkins] looks like a champ,” Stevenson said. “She had a little bit of a goof on beam, but she stayed with it.”
The next competition for State will be in Pittsburgh, Pa. on Friday, where the Pack will look for its second straight win against the Panthers.
