Despite three individual event titles, NC State couldn’t take home first place as a team in its latest meet. The Pack came in second just behind Maryland and was led by freshman Ashley Knight and graduate student Alexis Ortega who each earned career-high scores.
The Wolfpack (11-5, 6-0 ACC) finished with a total score of 196.750 with its highest event score coming on the beam. Scoring 49.425, the red-and-white earned its best score of the season and fifth-best score in program history.
Graduate student Emily Shepard led the Pack on the beam with a 9.925. Other than an early fall, the team didn’t record an individual score below 9.850. Graduate student Chloe Negrete, in the anchor spot, recorded her fourth score of 9.900+ on the beam this season.
Junior beam specialist Macy Jennings earned the Wolfpack a 9.850, marking her highest score since Feb. 11 and tying her second-highest score on the season.
Taking to the floor next, Shepard earned her second individual title of the night which she shared with Maryland’s Alexa Rothenbuescher. A score of 9.900 gave Shepard her sixth 9.900 or higher score in her last seven meets. Leaning on the graduate student in the anchor position again, Negrete scored a 9.850 on the floor and just slightly above a trio of gymnasts who all recorded a 9.800.
Knight made waves on the vault as the only gymnast at the meet to score above a 9.900. The freshman’s 9.925 marked a career-best in the event. The vault was the event where the Pack struggled the most other than the stand-out freshman. NC State had 3 scores of 9.700 or lower while Maryland had 5 scores higher than 9.800.
With the day coming to a close, NC State saw its highest score of the night courtesy of Ortega. Earning a 9.950 on the bars, the veteran earned a career-best. Freshman Katie Harper earned a 9.900, the third of her freshman campaign. With a 9.825, junior Peyton Childs posted her best score since Jan. 26.
Since the beginning of the season, the Pack has continued to improve and get better as a team with each meet garnering a slightly higher score than the previous. After opening the season with 4 losses and no overall score above 196.000, the Pack has gone 11-1 since, including going undefeated in ACC competition. During that run, the Wolfpack hasn’t scored lower than 196.225.
The 21st-ranked team in the country will host one last meet this season on Sunday, March 10, where they take on Penn, Penn State and Texas Woman’s University in a quad meet showdown. NC State will host its senior day festivities slightly before the opening contest which is scheduled to start at 4 p.m.
