University of North Carolina Athletics
Kaitlynn Hedelund, Khazia Hislop, Morgan Lane, Madison Nettles, and Mikayla Robinson will compete at the 2018 NCAA Southeast Regional competition in Raleigh, N.C. on Saturday, April 7th.
Five Tar Heels Compete at NCAA Southeast Regional
April 5, 2018 | Women's Gymnastics
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — In two days, five individual gymnasts on the University of North Carolina roster head to Raleigh, N.C. for the NCAA Southeast Regional competition on Saturday, April 7th beginning at 4 p.m. ET in Reynolds Coliseum.
"Just being at regionals in any capacity is exciting," said UNC head coach Derek Galvin. "I'll take it whether we're all in the same rotation or in different rotations. I'm just thrilled that we're there… It's going to be interesting not only for the spectators watching us on different events but as coaches and as athletes we're going to have people competing on different events. There may be an overlap on one rotation where we have two people that are competing at almost the same time, but we've been through that before. We feel really confident with the three coaches that we have that they'll still get the coaching they need on each event. It's just going to be a different feel because they'll be competing separately instead of in the same rotation."
Carolina has at least one competitor in each event including two 2018 EAGL Champions and one all-around gymnast.
Senior Morgan Lane will represent UNC in the all-around competition (RQS 39.315) and sophomore Khazia Hislop will have the second most appearances for the Tar Heels, competing in three events: vault (RQS 9.875), balance beam (RQS 9.875), and floor (RQS 9.930). Senior Madison Nettles joins Hislop on vault (RQS 9.860) and sophomore Mikayla Robinson (RQS 9.865) will be Carolina's third performance on floor of the day. Senior Kaitlynn Hedelund was also selected to compete on the uneven bars (RQS 9.850) in the NCAA Regional.
Though all of the five competitors experienced NCAA competition last year, this is the first time some of the athletes will experience postseason as individual competitors. Saturday's competition also marks the first time this season that Carolina's five athletes will compete without their entire team.
"I think the girls are very excited," said Galvin "I think the whole team is excited for the ones that are qualifying. Obviously the people who didn't qualify are disappointed we didn't make it as a team, but I think that disappointment has been overcome by their excitement for their teammates that are going."
In order to advance to the NCAA Championships, individual event specialists need to win their event while all-around individual competitors need to finish with one of the top two scores of the day. A tough task, but the coaching staff and the athletes are facing it head on.
"At this week's training, they all looked good," said Galvin. "They look strong, they look confident, so we'll see what we can do."
THE OPPONENTS: LSU, NEBRASKA, OREGON STATE, GEORGE WASHINGTON, NC STATE, MARYLAND
The six teams selected to compete at the NCAA Southeast Regional competition are LSU, Nebraska, Oregon State, George Washington, and NC State.
LSU ranks second in the nation with an RQS of 197.890 and a season high of 198.175. Nebraska follows in 11th place, Oregon State in 14th, George Washington in 19th, NC State in 20th, and Maryland in 31st. LSU's gymnasts hold a total of 14 top-20 rankings across all events, including two titles of national leaders on bars (Sarah Finnegan) and floor exercise (Myia Hambrick).
In addition to Carolina's event specialists, Towson's Tyra McKellar and Gabriella Yarussi will compete on bars and beam, respectively.
"Just being at regionals in any capacity is exciting," said UNC head coach Derek Galvin. "I'll take it whether we're all in the same rotation or in different rotations. I'm just thrilled that we're there… It's going to be interesting not only for the spectators watching us on different events but as coaches and as athletes we're going to have people competing on different events. There may be an overlap on one rotation where we have two people that are competing at almost the same time, but we've been through that before. We feel really confident with the three coaches that we have that they'll still get the coaching they need on each event. It's just going to be a different feel because they'll be competing separately instead of in the same rotation."
Carolina has at least one competitor in each event including two 2018 EAGL Champions and one all-around gymnast.
Senior Morgan Lane will represent UNC in the all-around competition (RQS 39.315) and sophomore Khazia Hislop will have the second most appearances for the Tar Heels, competing in three events: vault (RQS 9.875), balance beam (RQS 9.875), and floor (RQS 9.930). Senior Madison Nettles joins Hislop on vault (RQS 9.860) and sophomore Mikayla Robinson (RQS 9.865) will be Carolina's third performance on floor of the day. Senior Kaitlynn Hedelund was also selected to compete on the uneven bars (RQS 9.850) in the NCAA Regional.
Though all of the five competitors experienced NCAA competition last year, this is the first time some of the athletes will experience postseason as individual competitors. Saturday's competition also marks the first time this season that Carolina's five athletes will compete without their entire team.
"I think the girls are very excited," said Galvin "I think the whole team is excited for the ones that are qualifying. Obviously the people who didn't qualify are disappointed we didn't make it as a team, but I think that disappointment has been overcome by their excitement for their teammates that are going."
In order to advance to the NCAA Championships, individual event specialists need to win their event while all-around individual competitors need to finish with one of the top two scores of the day. A tough task, but the coaching staff and the athletes are facing it head on.
"At this week's training, they all looked good," said Galvin. "They look strong, they look confident, so we'll see what we can do."
THE OPPONENTS: LSU, NEBRASKA, OREGON STATE, GEORGE WASHINGTON, NC STATE, MARYLAND
The six teams selected to compete at the NCAA Southeast Regional competition are LSU, Nebraska, Oregon State, George Washington, and NC State.
LSU ranks second in the nation with an RQS of 197.890 and a season high of 198.175. Nebraska follows in 11th place, Oregon State in 14th, George Washington in 19th, NC State in 20th, and Maryland in 31st. LSU's gymnasts hold a total of 14 top-20 rankings across all events, including two titles of national leaders on bars (Sarah Finnegan) and floor exercise (Myia Hambrick).
In addition to Carolina's event specialists, Towson's Tyra McKellar and Gabriella Yarussi will compete on bars and beam, respectively.
Players Mentioned
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