NC State gymnastics (13-11) had its season come to a close on Thursday, March 30 after failing to advance to the final quad-meet of the NCAA regional championship.
The No. 30 Wolfpack won its play-in meet against No. 34 Ball State (16-7) on March 29 by a score of 196.075-195.375 to advance past the first round of the NCAA regionals. The Pack was subsequently eliminated the next day, placing last in a quad-meet against Oklahoma, Arkansas and Ohio State.
In its second postseason meet after placing second at the EAGL championship, the Pack pieced together a win at the expense of Ball State, headlined by a floor routine from senior Emily Shepard, earning a 9.900 in what was an overall consistent team performance.
NC State began its day on vault, where it tallied a score of 48.650 — falling short of the standard this team has set throughout the season, giving Ball State an early advantage. The red-and-white cleaned up on the uneven bars in its second rotation, bagging a 49.225 to add to a running score of 97.875.
In stark contrast to the Pack, Ball State struggled on the uneven bars, totaling 48.375 — the lowest rotational score on the day. The cause of the low score can be attributed to two Cardinal gymnasts falling off the bars with both women barely grazing the 9.000 mark.
Although the uneven bars wound up being the high-point for the Pack, the second half of the meet saw satisfactory scores. The red-and-white has not been known as a ‘Beam Team’ this season but came together to score a 49.175, further expanding its lead going into the fourth and final rotation.
NC State has overachieved on its floor routines all season but had one of its lowest scores of the year at 49.025 to finish just over the 196.000 mark. Senior Chloe Negrete, who has been a sure thing all year, had the second-lowest individual score on the team at 9.650.
It proved to be an uphill battle from here, with the Wolfpack set to face No. 1 Oklahoma (20-1), as well as two top-20 teams in Ohio State (13-1) and Arkansas (5-14) in round two of the NCAA regional championship.
NC State had an uncharacteristically poor performance in its final meet of the season, ending with a score of 195.375 — its second-lowest total on the season.
The Pack scored a 48.875 on vault, a 48.400 on bars, a 48.900 on beam and wrapped up with a floor score of 49.200. These marks were nowhere near the scores the opponents were posting, with the Sooners securing a perfect 10 from Jordan Bowers on bars, followed by another perfect 10 from Ragan Smith on beam.
In addition to these outstanding scores, both the Buckeyes and Razorbacks had a handful of individual scores above the 9.900 mark.
Oklahoma earned the first-place finish, scoring a 197.925, followed by Ohio State’s 197.350. Both teams earned spots in the final regional quad-meet while Arkansas (197.275) and NC State saw their respective seasons come to a close.
The Wolfpack will likely continue to perform at a high level next year with top performers Negrete and Shepard set to come back for a fifth year, along with juniors Gabrielle Diaz and Krista Zultevicz. Joining this group are a handful of first and second year athletes, headlined by a rising star in sophomore Lauren Rutherford.
