Depth like ‘we’ve never had before’

Senior Rachel Katz said depth should be a benefit for this season’s team.

“We have a lot of depth on all of our routines on each event, so if one person does get injured that’s in our floor lineup, we at least have someone to go in and replace them until they get healthy,” Katz said. “So I think we have a lot of depth this year, which has been helpful. And I just think everyone’s been able to step up and do what they need to do to get our job done.”

Meanwhile, Mark Stevenson, in his 27th season as the team’s coach, said having more gymnasts with a variety of talents will help his team this season. Despite injuries to some team members, Stevenson said those gymnasts will simply move into other events, but they won’t miss meets.

He even went far enough to say this year’s squad may be his deepest.

“Probably the biggest thing is that we’ve got a lot of depth that we’ve never had before. We’ve got 11 kids that can get up and do a bar routine, unlike in the past where we only had six kids that really were ‘good.’ We now have 11 kids that are at the same level,” Stevenson said. “And that makes a huge difference for us as far as if we have somebody injured or somebody bends a finger back real bad and can’t hold onto the bar, then I’ve got a replacement for that person.”

Seniors are a-plenty, juniors too

This year’s team will feature seven seniors. That’s something Katz said could make a positive difference for N.C. State in a couple ways.

“They all look up to us as seniors just because … [when] we came in as freshmen, there were seven of us. And three and four of us have competed all four years, so it’s like we’ve been in there since the beginning,” Katz said. “So I think the new freshmen and the sophomores still look up to us for that because they’re like, ‘OK, we’ve got to fill their shoes when they’re gone and we want to give them a good senior year.'”

With the seven seniors and four juniors on the team, Stevenson said the squad’s experience should help immensely.

“We’re sort of an experienced team,” Stevenson said. “And I think that’s going to help us a lot in a lot of ways.”

‘It’s for the team’

Senior Katie Ozburn said the team members have meshed well heading into the season.

“We have three new freshmen coming in, and two are traveling with us. So it’ll be fun for them to come, but we just have a strong team unit. And so we work together well, and we have a lot of fun together,” Ozburn said. “I think that’s a really big strength that we just support each other.”

Katz put it another way, saying everyone is doing a good job of communicating with her teammates.

“We’re all able to take the constructive criticism,” Katz said. ” So instead of three coaches in the gym, we have like 25.”

On a wall in the team’s practice area on the third floor of Carmichael Gymnasium hangs a placard with the quote, “… the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.” And according to Katz, she and her teammates have been focusing on the team aspect of the sport.

“It’s been more emphasized that it’s for the team now, and especially for the freshmen. It’s not an individual sport anymore,” Katz said. “And I’m really glad to see that our freshmen can come in and pick up where our seniors graduated last year.”

How will the team finish this season?

Junior Kelsey Lee said the team has to be more consistent this season, coming off a season in which it was 23-8 heading into regionals.

“We are working more on consistency. Like I said, we’re a very strong team, but we need to be consistent this season,” Lee said. “That’s the most important thing.”

Meanwhile junior Leigha Hancock said she is uncertain about the regular season, but that the team definitely has a shot to finish well.

“We do have a great team, and I think that we can go far. I believe that we can go to nationals. We definitely can, but I have no idea how we’re going to do in meets,” Hancock said. “Right now, if people watch us practice, yeah, they would say, ‘That’s a team that can go to nationals.'”

Stevenson said doing well is a matter of not becoming too hurried in getting up to speed after a 10-day break over the holidays.

“We’re going to probably be the best team we’ve ever had by the end of the season because the skills are there,” Stevenson said. “And it’s just now being safe and making sure that we are 100 percent back in shape before we really crank out.”

Lee said she can see in her teammates the desire to get better.

“Just the drive in this team — I feel like everybody has a fire in their eye. We want to win. We don’t want to lose anymore,” Lee said. “We want to win.”