Wolfpack gymnastics finished second in its quad meet on Sunday, March 6, with its score of 196.925 serving as the third-highest mark in the program’s history.
The Pack fell just short of topping Maryland, which finished the day with a score of 197.100, but took down Yale and William & Mary, which scored 191.575 and 190.025, respectively. Posting a third-best score in program history is no joke, especially considering the fatigue facing the team after completing four competitions in the last 10 days.
A score good enough for the program record books required massive inputs from multiple members of the team, with junior Emily Shephard’s contributions arguably being the most important to today’s success Her scores of 9.900 and 9.925 on beam and the floor, respectively, improved her career total of 9.9 marks to 23, tying the program’s all-time record. The previously mentioned 9.925 for her floor routine also finished as the highest mark for any member of the Pack across all events on the day.
NC State’s best performance of the day came during its floor routine performances, boasting the highest team score in the event across all competitors in the meet. With a score of 49.325, led in large part by Shepard’s previously mentioned 9.925, NC State squeaked past Maryland in the only event it would take over the Terps. As impressive as Shepard’s performance was on the floor, freshman Lauren Rutherford posted a 9.900 in the event as well, proving to be an equally essential component to competing with Maryland.
The Wolfpack also managed an impressive showing on vault with a team score of 49.100, its highest mark in the event all year. Led by 9.825s from Rutherford, junior Alexis Ortega, freshman Lucy Lehman and graduate student Gabrielle Kistner, NC State’s team score fell just short of Maryland’s 49.325, but handily cleared the 48.450 and 47.975 team scores from Yale and William & Mary, respectively.
For bars and the beam, the Pack posted a 49.250 team score in each with 9.875s from Rutherford and freshman Hailey Merchant in the first event and 9.900s from Sherpard, Ortega and graduate student Nicole Webb in the second. A 49.250 on bars was good enough to tie for first in the meet alongside Maryland, but fell just short of the Terrapins’ 49.375 on beam.
Second place in a quad meet in a team’s fourth competition in 10 days is quite a feat, especially when that finish comes alongside a top-three score in program history. Pack gymnastics will have a work week of rest before getting back into its schedule with another quad meet on Friday, March 11 in Raleigh. The meet will feature Rutgers, which NC State has already taken down twice this season, Pennsylvania and Florida.
