Tar Heels Close Out Pink Meet With a Victory

Monday, February 19

Chapel Hill

3:30 p.m.

North Carolina

195.400

192.100

Brown University

Madison Hargrave set two new personal records on vault and floor exercise with scores of 9.825 in each event.

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

February 19, 2018 | Women's Gymnastics

Results Photo Gallery

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — After weeks on the road, the North Carolina Tar Heels closed out their annual Pink Meet with a victory in Carmichael Arena and defeated Brown University for the second time this weekend with a final score of 195.400 to 192.100.

Though the team overall score fell from Saturday's competition in Raleigh, Carolina sees positives in their consistency on vault and floor.

"We just keep reminding them that this is another opportunity to show what you're capable of doing, and they truly enjoy competing for each other," said UNC head coach Derek Galvin. "The energy that they gave each other on floor I thought was excellent. They enjoy that event as a team and if we can keep having that kind of energy in the final event of the meet even though they were tired, then I know we're going in the right direction."

UNC came into today's meet ranked seventh in the nation on floor exercise with an average score of 49.200 and a high of 49.425 which they earned in Saturday's quad meet at NC State. The team is also ranked 15th nationally on vault, averaging 49.025 in the event with a high of 49.275.

Finally back in their home arena, Carolina started the afternoon on vault and earned a total score of 49.025, their second best rotation score of the day. The Tar Heels took home the top five spots in the event, and four Tar Heels swept the podium with four first-place scores of 9.825. Madison Hargrave kicked off the first rotation with a career-best vault of 9.825 to tie Kaitlynn Hedelund, Madison Nettles, and Khazia Hislop. Morgan Lane finished in a tie for fifth-place honors with her score of 9.725, and Alexis Allen followed closely behind in seventh with a 9.700.

The Tar Heels continued the competition on the uneven bars and scored a collective 48.650, an improvement from Saturday's competition. Almost sweeping another podium, Kaitlynn Hedelund earned her second first-place title of the day with her score of 9.850 on bars. Brown's Kate Nelson took second with a score of 9.775, but three Tar Heels trailed by just 0.025 to tie for third. Madison Nettles, Morgan Lane, and Alexis Allen all received scores of 9.750 for their performances. Mekyllah Williams made an impressive recovery and finished her routine with a score of 9.575.

Carolina stumbled in the third rotation but still earned four of the top seven scores on beam. Led by Khazia Hislop and Morgan Lane with their first-place scores of 9.825, the Heels totaled 48.300 in the event. Kaitlynn Hedelund's score of 9.750 finished in a tie for fourth, and Raine Gordon tied for sixth-place accolades with her score of 9.675. Alexis Allen recorded a 9.225 on beam to add to Carolina's rotation total score.

Despite the setback, UNC rebounded with another solid group of floor performances and another podium sweep, ending the competition with a rotation score of 49.400. Khazia Hislop grabbed a first place title in the Tar Heels' last performance of the day, scoring 9.900 and extending her streak of earnings at least 9.900 in the event to four straight meets. Carolina had another four-way tie, this time for second place on floor exercise. Lily Dean set a new career-high score of 9.875 and tied teammates Mikayla Robinson, Morgan Lane, and Madison Nettles for a spot on the podium.

Morgan Lane returned to the all-around for the fifth straight week and earned a first-place score of 39.175 as the only all-around competitor of the day. Lane has earned no less than 39.100 in the all-around competition since she first completed all four events in the quad meet at Towson University.

The Pink Meet is Carolina's second meet this season where the gymnastics team has taken time to celebrate the people in their Chapel Hill community and organizations like Get REAL & HEEL that support them. When asked why his team so often connects with their surrounding community, UNC head coach Derek Galvin says it is simply because they have the opportunity to do so.

"I'm sure there are a lot of other schools that do things, other sports and other schools," said Galvin. "I think Chancellor [Carol] Folt has been really outspoken about this, and it's been part of the UNC tradition even before Chancellor Folt arrived, but for all of our students here to be involved in community service of some sort. I think that enriches your education experience. And certainly when we demand so much time from our gymnasts as athletes, I don't want them to miss out on the opportunity to be involved in projects that can support the people in the community that support us. You have people coming to watch us compete that we certainly value having here and we appreciate having them here, but in their personal lives they've got battles that they're fighting. So if there's ways that we can show support for that we certainly want to do it."

Carolina will take a break from competition next weekend but returns to action on March 2nd at 8:30 p.m. EST when the Tar Heels travel to take on the seventh-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide.