Coming off its second-best performance of the season, the NC State gymnastics team will head to the EAGL championships Sunday with the third-highest regional-qualifying score in the conference.

Head coach Mark Stevenson said he is thrilled with the way his team is performing in the late stretch of the season.

“I really think the kids have stepped up to the plate at the right time,” Stevenson said.

On Jan. 9, no one would have seen this coming.

The Wolfpack started its 2015 campaign with a dreadful showing in Reynolds Coliseum against No. 25 Denver. The State gymnastics stumbled their way to a score of 192.025, the team’s lowest score in about six years.

While some may have thrown in the towel before the season had begun, Stevenson and the Pack instead looked ahead and used its early failure as a learning experience.

“I feel pretty good about our team,” said Stevenson after the meet against Denver. “We’ve got a really young team, and if we stay healthy, we’ll continue to get better as we go on. I think we can be really good.”

Against the Pioneers, the Pack started at least two freshmen at each event, a trend that has continued throughout the year. But as the young athletes got more experience under their belts, the State team began to flourish, inching closer and closer to its true potential as a program.

The transition from high school to collegiate gymnastics is a drastic one, and not just due to the increased level of talent.

“[Before college, our freshmen have spent] most of their time doing gymnastics in front of 25 people,” Stevenson said. “They come in here and there are 3,000 people in the stands, so they have to get used to that and get through all the jitters. There’s nothing you can do but go out and learn to perform.”

Freshman Chelsea Knight was an integral part of State’s success this season, starting in three events at every meet this season. During the season, Knight said she had to make changes to her daily routine to her new role.

“Staying in shape is more important since there are so many more meets,” Knight said.

As gymnasts, fitness is a top priority when performing at the collegiate level. Senior Lane Jarred said without strong showings in practice, there can’t be successful meets.

“We had to do our jobs to the best of our ability,” senior Lane Jarred said. “We had to show them that performing in the gym is just as important as performing in competition. Hitting all of your routines and not just going through the motions makes it easier to compete at your best.”

Jarred and juniors Michaela Woodford and Brittni Watkins have acted as mentors not only in practice, but under the lights as well.

The trio has taken care of business during competition, competing in every meet — except for one absence by Watkins due to injury — and leading the team in podium appearances with 11, 10 and 24, respectively.

Stevenson said the leadership of his upperclassmen has been invaluable during the season.

“They’ve done a phenomenal job,” Stevenson said. “Even if they couldn’t go all the way, they were still in the gym doing all the things that need to be done, working hard and leading by example.”

The consistent excellence of the Pack’s leaders combined with the steady improvement of the younger athletes has bolstered the program to a new level. In its past three contests, the team has recorded two of its best performances, posting scores of 194.800 at Michigan and 196.000 this past week at Missouri.

“It’s always the goal to peak at the end of the season,” Jarred said. “You get all of your nervousness out at the beginning, and you want to be ready for EAGL.”

The Pack will enter the EAGL championships as the third-ranked team in the conference with a season-high score of 196.175, the team’s best in three years. Defending champion New Hampshire was the only other EAGL program to score more than 196 this season.

Stevenson said even if the team does not end up on the top of the podium after Sunday’s meet, he wants it to perform its best and give itself a chance to take home the gold.

“First is where you want to be, and we definitely have that ability,” Stevenson said. “But if we go into our last event feeling like we can win, and somebody beats us on the last event, we at least put ourselves in a position to be successful. If you don’t put yourself in that position, it will never happen.”

No matter the result, Stevenson and his club succeeded in turning what looked like a lost season into one the team and fans can be proud of.