University of North Carolina Athletics
Friday, January 26
Towson, Md.
7 p.m.
North Carolina
at
Towson
UNC gymnastics earned its first team win in the second week of competition, defeating Temple 195.300 to 194.375.
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
UNC Gymnastics Faces Towson, Yale, and Ursinus in Road Opener
January 25, 2018 | Women's Gymnastics
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Just one week after bringing home their first team win, Carolina gymnastics will compete its road opener on Friday, Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. The Tar Heels will face off against EAGL conference opponent Towson as well as Yale University and Ursinus College in their first quad meet of the season.
"We've got an opportunity to get a strong away meet score and that's what we have to start building," UNC head coach Derek Galvin said. "Every meet, our intent is to improve upon what we did the previous meet."
UNC did just that transitioning from week one to week two. The Tar Heels saw improvements in 13 individual scores, three event total scores, and their overall final score. Sophomore Mikayla Robinson earned herself two new personal records on vault (9.800) and floor (9.900), the latter of which earned her EAGL Specialist of the Week honors for the first time in her collegiate career. Sophomore Alexis Allen also scored a career-high 9.900 on balance beam, an event that posed challenges for Carolina in the season opener.
"We're feeling good about the depth that we're building," Galvin said. "We have more depth on beam than we do in any other event. Now, it's finding who are the people that are the most consistent, but all of the performances have looked strong. Practice on Sunday and Monday went well. What we expect as a team — it's not just the coaches that are saying this — but what the team expects is that we will look more polished and more consistent with each meet."
Carolina hopes to see even more progress against their three opponents in SECU Arena in Towson, Md.
WEEK #3: UNC GYMNASTICS EARNS FIRST TEAM WIN OF THE SEASON
Carolina came back from their season opening loss to earn their first time win against the Temple Owls, 195.300 to 194.375. The Tar Heels' overall score marks the first time since 2005 that UNC broke 195.000 in their second competition of the season.
UNC kicked off the night on vault, taking home five of the top eight scores and totaling 49.000 in the event. Madison Nettles, Khazia Hislop, and Kaitlynn Hedelund all tied for first-place honors with scores of 9.825. Mikayla Robinson placed fourth in the individual competition but set a personal best on vault with her score of 9.800. Although two Owls took fifth place, Madison Hargrave followed closely behind in a tie for seventh with a score of 9.725.
The Tar Heels also took home the top three scores on their next event — the uneven bars. Grace Donaghy scored a 9.800 for first-place honors, Morgan Lane's 9.775 earned second-place accolades, and Kaitlynn Hedelund ended up in a three-way tie for third with her score of 9.750. Mekyllah Williams and Raine Gordon both improved their scores from the previous week and contributed 9.650 and 9.625, respectively, to Carolina's overall 48.600 score.
On beam, Carolina earned the top four individual scores and tied their beam total of 48.600. Alexis Allen set a personal best on beam with her first-place score of 9.900. Morgan Lane and Khazia Hislop tied for second-place honors after earning scores of 9.850 from the judges, and Kaitlynn Hedelund's 9.775 earned her fourth-place honors.
For the second straight week, the floor exercise was UNC's best event of the competition. Contributing to the team's 49.100 rotation score, Mikayla Robinson scored 9.900 for her floor performance, a career-high that earned her EAGL Specialist of the Week honors. Madison Nettles tied for second with a score of 9.825, Lauren Weisel and Khazia Hislop finished in a tie for fourth place with scores of 9.800, and Lily Dean tied for sixth-place honors with a score of 9.775.
THE OPPONENTS: TOWSON, YALE, AND URSINUS
With an overall record of 2-5, the Towson Tigers come into Friday's meet with a season-best score of 194.725 following their home opener against Temple University and William & Mary. Towson's score of 193.800 earned the team fourth-place in its season opening quad meet, and a score of 194.000 in their tri-meet against West Virginia and George Washington landed them in third place. Heading into Friday's match-up, the fifth-ranked Towson Tigers trail the Tar Heels in EAGL rankings by just one spot as Carolina holds onto fourth-place in the conference.
Yale is 2-2 on the season following their 191.900 to 191.475 loss to Penn in week two. The Bulldogs earned their highest overall score (191.550) so far this season in their opening quad meet against Rutgers (191.525), Illinois-Champaign (195.100), and Southern Connecticut State (187.650).
Ursinus College placed fourth in its first meet of the season with a score of 184.925 against West Chester (189.825), Ithaca College (186.150), and Springfield College (185.800). The team is now 0-4 after falling short in their home opener against West Chester, 191.725 to 186.800.
"We've got an opportunity to get a strong away meet score and that's what we have to start building," UNC head coach Derek Galvin said. "Every meet, our intent is to improve upon what we did the previous meet."
UNC did just that transitioning from week one to week two. The Tar Heels saw improvements in 13 individual scores, three event total scores, and their overall final score. Sophomore Mikayla Robinson earned herself two new personal records on vault (9.800) and floor (9.900), the latter of which earned her EAGL Specialist of the Week honors for the first time in her collegiate career. Sophomore Alexis Allen also scored a career-high 9.900 on balance beam, an event that posed challenges for Carolina in the season opener.
"We're feeling good about the depth that we're building," Galvin said. "We have more depth on beam than we do in any other event. Now, it's finding who are the people that are the most consistent, but all of the performances have looked strong. Practice on Sunday and Monday went well. What we expect as a team — it's not just the coaches that are saying this — but what the team expects is that we will look more polished and more consistent with each meet."
Carolina hopes to see even more progress against their three opponents in SECU Arena in Towson, Md.
WEEK #3: UNC GYMNASTICS EARNS FIRST TEAM WIN OF THE SEASON
Carolina came back from their season opening loss to earn their first time win against the Temple Owls, 195.300 to 194.375. The Tar Heels' overall score marks the first time since 2005 that UNC broke 195.000 in their second competition of the season.
UNC kicked off the night on vault, taking home five of the top eight scores and totaling 49.000 in the event. Madison Nettles, Khazia Hislop, and Kaitlynn Hedelund all tied for first-place honors with scores of 9.825. Mikayla Robinson placed fourth in the individual competition but set a personal best on vault with her score of 9.800. Although two Owls took fifth place, Madison Hargrave followed closely behind in a tie for seventh with a score of 9.725.
The Tar Heels also took home the top three scores on their next event — the uneven bars. Grace Donaghy scored a 9.800 for first-place honors, Morgan Lane's 9.775 earned second-place accolades, and Kaitlynn Hedelund ended up in a three-way tie for third with her score of 9.750. Mekyllah Williams and Raine Gordon both improved their scores from the previous week and contributed 9.650 and 9.625, respectively, to Carolina's overall 48.600 score.
On beam, Carolina earned the top four individual scores and tied their beam total of 48.600. Alexis Allen set a personal best on beam with her first-place score of 9.900. Morgan Lane and Khazia Hislop tied for second-place honors after earning scores of 9.850 from the judges, and Kaitlynn Hedelund's 9.775 earned her fourth-place honors.
For the second straight week, the floor exercise was UNC's best event of the competition. Contributing to the team's 49.100 rotation score, Mikayla Robinson scored 9.900 for her floor performance, a career-high that earned her EAGL Specialist of the Week honors. Madison Nettles tied for second with a score of 9.825, Lauren Weisel and Khazia Hislop finished in a tie for fourth place with scores of 9.800, and Lily Dean tied for sixth-place honors with a score of 9.775.
THE OPPONENTS: TOWSON, YALE, AND URSINUS
With an overall record of 2-5, the Towson Tigers come into Friday's meet with a season-best score of 194.725 following their home opener against Temple University and William & Mary. Towson's score of 193.800 earned the team fourth-place in its season opening quad meet, and a score of 194.000 in their tri-meet against West Virginia and George Washington landed them in third place. Heading into Friday's match-up, the fifth-ranked Towson Tigers trail the Tar Heels in EAGL rankings by just one spot as Carolina holds onto fourth-place in the conference.
Yale is 2-2 on the season following their 191.900 to 191.475 loss to Penn in week two. The Bulldogs earned their highest overall score (191.550) so far this season in their opening quad meet against Rutgers (191.525), Illinois-Champaign (195.100), and Southern Connecticut State (187.650).
Ursinus College placed fourth in its first meet of the season with a score of 184.925 against West Chester (189.825), Ithaca College (186.150), and Springfield College (185.800). The team is now 0-4 after falling short in their home opener against West Chester, 191.725 to 186.800.
Players Mentioned
V, UB, BB
/ Women's Gymnastics
V, BB, F
/ Women's Gymnastics
UB, BB
/ Women's Gymnastics
UB, BB
/ Women's Gymnastics
V, F
/ Women's Gymnastics
AA
/ Women's Gymnastics
V, BB, F
/ Women's Gymnastics
AA
/ Women's Gymnastics
AA
/ Women's Gymnastics
V, F
/ Women's Gymnastics
V, F
/ Women's Gymnastics
UB
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