No. 21 NC State gymnastics suffered a defeat at the hands of No. 8 California in Reynolds Coliseum, 197.175-196.550 on Sunday. Both teams competed at a high level throughout the entire meet and had many individual standout performances.
Themed around the hit Broadway musical and movie “Wicked,” California traveled to Raleigh as the Pack’s highest-ranked opponent thus far. Midway through the meet, it was announced that it was a sellout, the first in school history. It was full of fun songs and engaging activities for the fans revolving around the play.
The meet saw high-caliber talent from both teams as the Pack and Golden Bears continuously performed impressively and earned high grades from the judges. California held the lead for the entire meet and by the fourth and final routine, it was winning by almost .600. All it came down to was the Golden Bears having more big moments than the Pack.
The biggest standout for the red-and-white was sophomore Ashley Knight. During her first vault routine, Knight defied gravity and posted a score of 9.900, which was good enough for the total individual win in the entire meet. Knight also posted a score of 9.925 on the floor routine, the highest of anyone on the team.
Another standout for NC State was sophomore Katie Harper. Harper posted the highest score for the team on the bars with 9.850 and posted the second-highest score on the team for the beam with 9.825. Graduate Chloe Negrete finished first on the beam with a score of 9.900.
While the Pack couldn’t secure a victory, there were still several bright spots that the defending ACC Champions could build upon going forward, namely the total floor and vault scores of 29.250 and 29.050 respectively. ACC gymnastics has gotten tougher with expansion as there are currently five teams ranked in the top 25, so the Wolfpack should not look down upon this loss and focus on moving forward in a positive direction.
The Wolfpack will have its next meet on Feb 8 when it hosts the Pittsburgh Panthers in Reynolds. The meet is slated to start at 4 p.m.
