Carolina Finishes Sixth at EAGL Championship

Saturday, March 24

Towson, Md.

2 p.m.

North Carolina

194.775

6th

EAGL Championship

Khazia Hislop
University of North Carolina Gymnastics v Pittsburgh
Balance Beam
Carmichael Arena
Chapel Hill, NC
Saturday, March 17, 2018

Khazia Hislop tied her career-high score of 9.950 on floor to earn the title of EAGL Champion on floor exercise.

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

March 24, 2018 | Women's Gymnastics

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- The North Carolina gymnastics team finished sixth at the EAGL Championship competition in Towson, Md. with a final score of 194.775.

NC State took home the EAGL title with a score of 196.625, New Hampshire finished second with 196.300, and George Washington placed third with 195.875. Towson finished fourth with a score of 195.675 and Pittsburgh's score of 195.475 landed them in fifth.

Though the Tar Heels' did not take home a team championship title, Carolina continued to see success on floor and vault. Two gymnasts set new career bests on vault and one set a new record on floor. Three other gymnasts also tied personal bests in the events.

"We did not do well on our first events. Bars and beam were not up to the level we were capable of doing and certainly not up to the level we performed last weekend," said UNC head coach Derek Galvin. "We got off to a really ragged start. We were pretty much out of the running after our first two events. Then we just talked to the team about competing with pride and competing with confidence. They came back on floor and we tied our season-high with a 49.475… Floor and vault were fantastic. The team came back very strong on the last events. They did compete with enthusiasm, but unfortunately that was lacking in the first two events."

Carolina started off the afternoon in the first rotation on bars, totaling 48.250. Senior Kaitlyn Hedelund led the Tar Heels with her 12th-place score of 9.800. Morgan Lane finished with a score of 9.725 to tie three other competitors, and Mekyllah Williams and Rylie Dewhurst both earned scores of 9.700. Madison Nettles added 9.350 to Carolina's event score.

Moving onto balance beam, the Tar Heels collected a score of 47.775. Morgan Lane earned Carolina's top score of 9.925 to earn second-place accolades. Kaitlynn Hedelund and Khazia Hislop both finished with scores of 9.675 while Alexis Allen and Jamie DeCicco added 9.375 and 9.125, respectively.

Carolina took a break during the third rotation while New Hampshire performed on vault, George Washington on bars, NC State on beam, and Pitt on floor exercise.

Following their rotation of rest, Carolina came back strong on floor in the fourth rotation and tied their season-high event total of 49.475. Khazia Hislop earned the title of EAGL Champion on floor exercise after tying her personal best score of 9.950. Morgan Lane finished in a three-way tie for second-place honors, also tying her career-high score of 9.925. Finishing in a four-way tie for eighth, senior Lauren Weisel set a new personal best of 9.875 on floor exercise and tied freshman Lily Dean who also matched her career-high score. Madison Hargrave and Mikayla Robinson finished in 12th with scores of 9.850, placing the entire Carolina squad in the top 15 scores on floor.

Closing out their competition in the fifth rotation, Carolina earned their second-best score on vault of the season. Leading the Tar Heels' vault score of 49.250, senior Madison Nettles set a new career record of 9.900 to tie two other gymnasts for the title of EAGL vault champion. Alexis Allen, Mikayla Robinson, and Khazia Hislop all tied for fourth-place honors with scores of 9.850, a career-high for Allen. Madison Hargrave and Morgan Lane rounded out Carolina's scores with two scores of 9.800 for a spot in the tie for 13th. Once again, all of Carolina's competitors placed in the top 15 scores of the event.

Earning her third second-place accolades of the meet, Morgan Lane finished with an all-around score of 39.375 to place second out of seven athletes. Her scores included 9.725 on bars, 9.925 on beam, 9.925 on floor, and 9.800 on vault.

"We talked about using this next year," said Galvin. "We want to begin competing next year with the confidence and composure that we showed on floor and vault. The last two events at this meet were what we expect of the team and what they expect of each other, and we have to start next year with a different mindset. We have to compete on every event with the kind of confidence they had on floor and vault today."

Despite today's outcome, Carolina's journey is not over yet.

"We will have some individuals that will qualify for NCAAs and that will be announced on Monday," said Galvin. "We have two that should be going onto NCAAs for sure… So not what we came [to Towson] to do. The plan was to do a lot better than we did, but I'm proud of the way they came back on the last two events. They did compete with pride and confidence on floor and on vault."