CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — No. 22 NC State gymnastics defeated rival No. 23 UNC Friday night in Chapel Hill at Carmichael Arena, 196.350-195.925. The competition was fierce all night, and a winner did not emerge until the final routines.
After battling to take a slim 147.200 to 146.975 lead going into the final event, the Pack (2-4, 1-1 ACC) was in control of its own destiny and just needed to put up a decent score to secure the win. Soon thereafter, the path to victory suddenly became much more difficult when junior Meg Adler fell off of the beam in her routine and scored a 9.225, putting Carolina (1-2, 0-1 ACC) back in the mix.
The Pack came through in the end, increasing its lead after the last event and finished strong. Graduate Chloe Negrete secured the victory with a meet-high score of 9.925 in the final frame for the Wolfpack, capturing a ranked win over a rival opponent.
The Wolfpack started the meet on the uneven bars, tallying a score of 49.000 to take a .025-point lead over the Heels who began with the vault. Junior Kailee Adomaites led the team with a score of 9.875 on the bars, helping the Pack take the lead. Even with stellar individual performances, it was less about super-high scores and more about consistency. The lowest score on the uneven bars for the Pack was 9.750.
NC State next moved to the vault, where once again, consistency was a key part of its success. The Pack scored 49.100 points in this event with an average score of 9.820. The top performer was sophomore Ashley Knight with a score of 9.850. After a stellar performance by the Tar Heels on the uneven bars, the Pack found itself down .175 points with two more events to go.
On the floor, the Pack put the building on notice as both Negrete and freshman Syniya Thomas were the top performers at the meet. Negrete earned a score of 9.925 and Thomas earned a score of 9.875. Knight captured the attention of the crowd with her routine as the cheers from Wolfpack faithful in attendance eclipsed that of the Heels with a score of 9.850. Thanks to well-executed routines, the Pack retook its lead heading into the balance beam event where it ultimately finished strong.
Along with their leading performances on the floor, Negrete and Thomas finished second and third respectively in the all-around, only bested by Julia Knower of North Carolina who was the only athlete to compete in all four events.
NC State has had a tough schedule to start out, but it will not be getting easier any time soon as it will next see action on Feb. 2 when it faces off against No. 7 California in Reynolds Coliseum.
