Pack gymnastics opens season with quad-meet win

<p>Junior gymnast Alexis Ortega dismounts the balance beam during NC State’s Red and White Exhibition meet at Reynolds Coliseum on Friday, Dec. 17, 2021. This preseason meet wrapped with the white team beating the red team 10-7.</p>

Amrita Malur

Junior gymnast Alexis Ortega dismounts the balance beam during NC State’s Red and White Exhibition meet at Reynolds Coliseum on Friday, Dec. 17, 2021. This preseason meet wrapped with the white team beating the red team 10-7.

Kat Peters, Staff Writer

The NC State women’s gymnastics team opened its 2022 season on Saturday, Jan. 15 in a quad meet against UNC-Chapel Hill, New Hampshire and Rutgers in Piscataway, New Jersey. The Pack came out on top with 195.125 points, 0.575 ahead of the second-place Scarlet Knights.

The Pack kicked off its first meet of the season in the bars event. Junior Emily Sheppard’s 9.825 led the Wolfpack and was the third highest score in the event overall. Freshmen Lauren Rutherford and Hailey Merchant both made their career debuts with NC State in this event, scoring a 9.800 and a 9.700, respectively. As a whole, the team recorded a 48.850 in the event which was the second-highest on the bars, as UNC-Chapel Hill took the highest score of 48.950.

Moving on to the beam event, NC State continued to excel. Sheppard continued her high performance, leading the team once again in scoring with a 9.875. Behind her was graduate student Nicole Webb, scoring a 9.750. The Pack scored a 48.750 in the beam event, putting it on top overall with a running score of 97.600 after two events.

The Pack competed in the floor event third. Webb came out on top for NC State, leading them with a 9.825 in the event. Sheppard and sophomore Gabrielle Diaz tied for second on the team in the event, both scoring a 9.775. NC State recorded a total score of 48.725, its lowest so far in a single event.

NC State competed in the vault event last. In her first meet with the Pack, junior Shruthi Anand led the team with a score of 9.800. Junior Alexis Ortega and Rutherford tied for second in the event with a 9.775. The Pack had an overall score of 48.800 in the vault, the lowest amongst the teams.

Four from the Wolfpack had top-ten overall scores in the meet. Sheppard placed fifth overall with a score of 29.475. Ortega and Rutherford tied for sixth with a 29.275. Finally, Diaz finished eighth with a 29.200. NC State came first overall in this quad matchup, recording the second highest season-opening score in the program’s history with a 195.125.

The Pack will be back in action on Saturday, Jan. 22 against Towson in Reynolds Coliseum.