Lane Finishes UNC Career, Earns High Praise At Nationals

Friday, April 20

St. Louis, MO

7 p.m.

North Carolina

NCAA Championships

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

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

April 20, 2018 | Women's Gymnastics

By: T.J. Scholl

ST. LOUIS, MO. — The 2018 season officially came to an end for North Carolina gymnastics as senior Morgan Lane lived out her dream of competing at the NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships on Friday, April 20th in St. Louis, Missouri. Finishing 15^th with an all-around score of 39.2750, Lane hangs up her leotard with a Carolina career to remember. With her final score, Lane set the new UNC single-season points record.

"I'm really happy with the way she performed, and of course Morgan always wants to do better, but I told her she should feel proud of the way she performed. It was a fun and exciting meet, and I told her beforehand that she belonged here, and she showed why tonight," said Head Coach Derek Galvin. "She represented EAGL and UNC very well, like she always does. Her floor routine was a lot of fun to watch and it was great to see her receive such a positive response from the crowd."

Lane entered competition as the top qualifying individual all-arounders from the NCAA Regional competition in Raleigh. Rotating with No. 1 Oklahoma, she finished the championship evening with scores of 9.7875 on beam, 9.8750 on floor, 9.8000 on vault, and 9.8125 on bars.

Finally achieving her goal of advancing to the national stage, Lane's final season was more than a success. Earning all-around scores of at least 39.000 in each of her ten appearances, Lane scored at least 39.300 four times, tied her then-career-high score of 39.400 once, and set a new personal record of 39.550 in the last meet of the 2018 regular season. In fact, Lane set two new personal bests on vault and in the all-around in addition to tying her career-highs on beam and floor in that season closer. She also earned scores of at least 9.800 on vault five times and on bars four times and scores of at least 9.900 four times on both beam and floor.

"This was the perfect way for her to end her gymnastics career. She enjoyed the process and I couldn't be more proud of her," Galvin said.

The senior leaves Chapel Hill with personal best scores of 9.875 on vault, 9.850 on bars, 9.950 on beam, 9.925 on floor, and 39.550 in the all-around competition. Lane's career-high beam score is currently ranked third all-time at Carolina, while she ranks tenth all-time on floor and fifth all-time in the all-around competition. The 2015 EAGL Champion on floor exercise during her freshman season, Lane went on to become first gymnast in UNC's history to notch a score of 39.000 or higher in the all-around competition in every meet as a sophomore in 2016. At the 2018 EAGL Championship competition, Lane finished second in three events with scores of 9.925 on both beam and floor and 39.375 in the all-around.

Over the course of her college career, Morgan accomplished just as much academically as she did athletically. Now a member of Phi Beta Kappa, a recipient of an ACC postgraduate scholarship, and EAGL Scholar of the Year, Lane has been hailed as one of the most complete student-athletes a coach could ask for.

"When you have the opportunity to work with a student athlete who is totally committed to achieving their goals it's inspiring for the coach and their teammates," said Galvin. "She came in with goals in mind academically, athletically and certainly in what she wanted to contribute to the community, and she never wavered and she kept on working. She's just such a giving person, and she pushed herself to be the best she can be."

Congratulations to all of our 2018 seniors — Kaitlynn Hedelund, Morgan Lane, Madison Nettles, and Lauren Weisel — on four fantastic careers with Carolina gymnastics.