NC State gymnastics delivered in its final meet of 2023 in Reynolds Coliseum, posting a season-high score of 197.225 to bring down Rutgers, who scored 196.225. The Wolfpack’s score not only was its best of 2023, but its second-best score in program history.
NC State (11-6) trailed Rutgers (5-17) after the first rotation, but surpassed the Scarlet Knights after the second rotation and never looked back. This meet saw numerous season highs for the team and for individual gymnasts, including a season-high 9.900 on the uneven bars for senior Alexis Ortega, a season-high 9.975 for the floor exercise from senior Chloe Negrete and a season-high 49.625 as a team for the floor exercise.
“It was a total team effort,” said head coach Kim Landrus. “From Gabby’s [Diaz] first vault all the way until Hayley Merchant nailed her floor routine in exhibition.”
The Wolfpack started the day on vault, an event that has gradually gotten better for the Pack as the seasons progressed. Senior Emily Shepard led all gymnasts on vault with a 9.900, tying her career-high score to lead the Pack to a total score of 49.100 along with sophomore Lauren Rutherford’s 9.825.
Rutgers found early success with the uneven bars, scoring a 49.150 paced by Hannah Joyner’s 9.900, but the Scarlet Knights would fall short of the 49.000 mark on vault, opening the door for NC State.
The Pack turned in a solid performance on the uneven bars with four of its six competitors meeting the 9.800 mark, culminating in a total tally of 49.225 that gave the Pack a 98.325-97.825 lead through two rotations.
Sandwiched between the uneven bars and the floor exercise was beam, which has been challenging for the red-and-white this season, but a solid all-around team effort ended in a score of 49.275. There wasn’t a gymnast that stood out during this rotation until Negrete salvaged the performance with a 9.950, headlining a consistent showing for the third rotation.
A large part of NC State’s success this year has been the continuing improvement on beam and vault while maintaining a strong group effort with the floor exercise.
“We were working a lot on the little details, whether it be pointed toes, 180 splits, sticks and other stuff like that because the little things do add up,” Negrete said. “Consistently working on that has shown in competition.”
While the Pack was on the beam, Rutgers was in the midst of its floor routines. The Scarlet Knights finished with an impressive 49.400 due to a high level of creativity and execution on the parts of Emily Leese and Emily Wood, both of whom scored a 9.900.
Despite both teams having a strong showing in their respective third rotations, there wasn’t much doubt in the Wolfpack’s ability to pull out the win with a 147.600-147.225 lead and its best event still to come.
The volume was amplified for a senior-day finale at Reynolds Coliseum, as the music for the floor routine and crowd noise combined for a perfect storm to fuel the Wolfpack gymnasts for the home-stretch.
“We really thrive on the energy that Reynolds exudes,” Landrus said. “Everything is so contagious in our sport, they just feed off of one another.”
Junior Gabrielle Diaz was the first to do her floor exercise, showing off her personality and attention to detail with her impressive routine and earning a season-high 9.900. Next was Ortega, who capped off a solid day with a 9.850 — a key contribution to the final score. Junior Krista Zultevicz committed a minor error on one of her landings but still managed to score a 9.825 in what was shaping up to be an average floor rotation for NC State. This was anything but the truth with Rutherford, Shepard and Negrete still left to compete.
Rutherford dazzled judges with her air time, earning a career-high 9.950, a score that was matched by Shepard to push the Pack to a new level of greatness in a matter of minutes. Somehow, Negrete was able to top both of them with her career-best 9.975, earning a perfect 10 from one of the judges.
This was truly an amazing way to end the Wolfpack’s final home meet of the 2023 season, and a fitting send-off for seniors Shruthi Anand, Grace Hunter and Meredith Robinson. All seniors were honored at the end of the meet, with the exception of Negrete, Ortega and Shepard, who all have another year of eligibility.
Regardless of how the season ends, the level of success and growth the red-and-white has achieved this year cannot be overlooked. The Pack will soon head into the postseason with a ton of momentum and have the ability to take that momentum and team chemistry into the 2024 season.
NC State will close out its regular season on the road in a quad-meet hosted by Texas Woman’s University at 1 p.m. on March 12, before gearing up for the EAGL Championships and NCAA Regionals in the following weeks.
