University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina Gymnastics 2002 Preview
December 6, 2001 | Women's Gymnastics
Dec. 6, 2001
The 2002 Carolina gymnastics team may possess more depth than any squad since 1991. Every team member from last year's squad, with the exception of school-record-holder Brooke Wilson, returns for the 2002 season. Wilson graduated this past May after one of the most impressive careers in the history of the Carolina gymnastics program. Filling the void created by Wilson's graduation are five newcomers and nine experienced returnees building greater depth than has been seen on the team in a decade.
Seniors Lisa Companioni and Monica Middleton will provide the leadership for this year's team. Companioni and Middleton have been key competitors for the Tar Heels throughout their collegiate careers. They both have been NCAA qualifiers and their names are prominent among the program's statistical rankings. Their strong leadership qualities were evident throughout the team's preseason training and they are eager to guide this year's squad with the same commitment and enthusiasm they saw displayed by previous team leaders.
Companioni is both a gifted performer and a tough competitor. She has always displayed both a delightful personality and a competitive consistency in her routines as a Tar Heel. Floor exercise and balance beam are the events where she shines the brightest, and her consistency on vault places her among the best ever in that event at Carolina. Her performance at the 2001 East Atlantic Gymnastics League Championships was one of the most impressive of her collegiate career. She finished in second place on the balance beam and her gritty performance while injured on floor exercise was a testament to her absolute commitment to her teammates, and a view into the heart of the gymnastics program.
Companioni's skill, as well as her tenacity as a competitor, will once again be a key to the success of the team. Tenacity is also a quality displayed by Middleton, in both training and competition. Her impressive inventory of skills on each of the four events ranks her among the best all-arounders in the program's history.
She has battled through injury on a number of occasions during her career with needed performances under challenging circumstances. Her commitment to off-season training and conditioning has made her even stronger than in previous years. Middleton will once again play a major role on each of the four events.
Companioni and Middleton have shared in the experience of competing in NCAA post season competition. They appreciate the value of the team's tradition of strong senior leadership. Now, as seniors, they are prepared to carry that tradition forward, and lead the entire team all the way to NCAA post season competition in 2002.
The junior class of Fritzie Cathcart, Anne Chaffee, Chrissy Klonne and Natalie Halbach also is working hard to contribute to that effort. They have all competed significantly in the line-up in previous years and will be called upon to do so again this season. They have each shown steady improvement and a higher fitness level than in their first two seasons. All appear determined to play an even greater role this year.
Coming off a standout sophomore season, Cathcart looks even stronger going into 2002. Her off-season training during the summer kept the momentum going as she has added new skills and has grown stronger on previously performed elements. Returning as one of the team's top performers on bars, Cathcart will now compete on all four events.
Halbach possesses a grace and beauty on balance beam that very few gymnasts can match. During her first two seasons as a Tar Heel, Halbach repeatedly impressed the gymnastics judges and the spectators with her special gift on balance beam. Her abilities on vault, along with her progress on uneven bars and floor exercise, could lead to a place in the line-up on those events as well.
Klonne provided strong performances on floor exercise during the later part of the season during both her freshman and sophomore years. She enters the 2002 season stronger and healthier than at any point since she arrived on the Carolina campus. Her improvement on both vaulting and balance beam could lead to a presence on three events this year.
Chaffee is also back stronger and healthier than in previous years. Hampered by an ankle injury last year, she has worked hard to get back to a level of performance that will place her in the line-up on floor exercise and balance beam. Chaffee's preseason conditioning efforts have paid big dividends as her tumbling skills and her level of execution on both events have improved significantly.
Maddy Curley, Skylar Inman, Amanda Smith and Anna Wilson make up a sophomore class that gained a considerable amount of competitive experience last year. Curley, Inman and Smith did so as Tar Heels. Wilson was the top all-around competitor for the University of Pennsylvania prior to transferring to Carolina this fall.
Curley had an exceptional year as a freshman. She was an individual all-around qualifier to NCAA post season competition where she placed fifth on balance beam and finished among the top 10 on floor exercise. Off-season training has her prepared to be a strong all-around competitor for the Tar Heels again this year.
Inman's strongest event last year was uneven bars. She competed on that event in every meet and she appears poised to do so again this year. A foot injury hampered her training on balance beam and floor exercise last year, but she has shown progress on those events during the preseason.
Smith appeared in the line-up on both balance beam and floor exercise during her freshman year, and she displayed potential on uneven bars as well. A foot injury limited her training during preseason this year to primarily beam and bars. Smith's work ethic and desire will keep her in contention for a spot in the line-up in spite of the limited training.
Wilson joins the Tar Heels after a sensational freshman year at Pennsylvania. Last year she set school records on three events and in the all-around for the Quakers. Wilson captured two event titles at the East Coast Athletic Conference Championships last year, and she was an individual all-around qualifier to NCAA post-season competition. Her athletic talent is evident in the quickness and power she exhibits on all four events.
Four freshmen join the Tar Heels this season. Elisabeth Alsop (Raleigh, N.C.), Morgan Stanley (Raleigh, N.C.), Olivia Trusty (Baltimore, Md.), and Amy Williams (West Chester, Pa.) have all been working hard during the pre-season to prepare for their debuts as Carolina gymnasts. They have all displayed impressive qualities that will serve them well during their collegiate careers. All four are training as all-arounders, and they have each shown the potential during the preseason to immediately step into the line-up on one or more events.
As a group, they have been most impressive during the preseason on uneven bars and balance beam. Strong potential is also evident on vault and floor exercise.
Trusty possesses the poise, skill level and athletic ability that could immediately place her among the top all-around competitors in the EAGL. Alsop could be among Carolina's top performers on uneven bars and in the running on the other three events. Stanley has displayed an energy and effort that could lead to a spot in the line-up. Her progress on vaulting was particularly impressive during preseason training.
Williams is a gifted athlete who could also become an outstanding collegiate all-around competitor. Her strongest events during the pre- season were balance beam and floor exercise.
The talent seen in this freshmen group, when combined with the strength of the returning members from last year's squad, provides the Tar Heels with one of the strongest and deepest gymnastics teams in many years. The excitement and anticipation surrounding the upcoming season has contributed to a very productive pre-season. The Tar Heels are determined to do everything they can to achieve a team qualification to the NCAA post-season.
VAULT
The graduation of Brooke Wilson marked the departure of one of the most
dynamic vaulters in the programs history. However, the cupboard is
certainly not bare. The Tar Heels return with significant experience in
the vault line-up from the upper classmen. The addition of five newcomers
to the mix on this event, and the emergence of Chrissy Klonne during the
preseason, provides the Tar Heels with a much deeper group of vaulters.
Middleton will again perform a front handspring - front flip in piked position. Companioni performs a front handspring vault with a double twist. Halbach performs a well-executed half twist on - double twist off. Cathcart will utilize a front handspring -front flip vault, which she can do in either tucked or piked position. Klonne has shown steady progress during the preseason on a front handspring - front flip vault in tucked position. Curley continues to be the only Carolina gymnast to use the round-off entry Yurchenko vault, which she does in a layout position.
Curley has been training the progressions to add a twist to her vault. Among the newcomers, Wilson and Trusty perform the most dynamic vaults. Wilson performs a front handspring - front flip which she can do in either a tucked or piked position. She has also been training progressions to add a twist to her vault. Trusty does a half twist on - half twist off into a layout front flip vault. Alsop, Stanley, and Williams are all training front handspring - front flip vaults both tucked and piked position.
BARS
Middleton, Cathcart, Curley and Inman return as the most experienced
uneven bars performers from last year's line-up. The addition of new
elements to each of their routines will enhance their scoring potential
under the new "Code of Points" utilized by the gymnastics judges. The
graduation of school-record-holder Brooke Wilson, and the retirement of
Companioni from competition on this event because of an elbow injury,
creates more opportunity for places in the line-up. Among the team
members vying to earn a space in the uneven bars line-up, newcomers Anna
Wilson, Trusty and Alsop looked particularly strong during preseason
training. Halbach, Smith, Williams and Stanley have also had good
preseason workouts on bars, as each of them continue to train release
elements and combinations for addition to their routines.
The anticipated impact of the new " Code of Points" on an individual's score on the uneven bars may result in lower scores than those seen in recent years. Nonetheless, the skill level and the level of execution displayed by the Tar Heels this year is expected to be stronger in comparison to the past two years.
BALANCE BEAM
alance beam, once again, could be Carolina's strongest event. Last
year Brooke Wilson and Companioni captured first and second place,
respectively, at the EAGL Championships meet as a Carolina gymnast
achieved the highest score on the event for the third year in a row.
Companioni returns along with several experienced competitors from last
year's beam squad. Most notable among them are Middleton, Halbach and
Curley. Middleton displayed a high skill level and intense focus during
the preseason, as she has done on this event throughout her career.
Halbach's grace and style continue to be her strength on beam following a very impressive season last year in which she secured the individual event qualification on balance beam to the NCAA Regional Championships. Curley wrapped up an outstanding freshman year with a fifth place finish on balance beam at last year's NCAA Southeast Regional Championship, and she appears equally capable again this year.
Cathcart, Chaffee, Smith and Wilson have also had significant collegiate experience on balance beam. Each of them are capable of competing in the line-up and achieving scores consistent with those of our most experienced competitors.
Klonne, Alsop, Stanley, Trusty and Williams do not yet have experience as collegiate performers on balance beam, but they all have significant previous experience as competitors on this event.
FLOOR EXERCISE
Carolina's floor exercise routines in 2002 will possess high level
tumbling, graceful dance, and infectious energy and enthusiasm. Floor
exercise is an event which provides the gymnasts with a means to express
themselves more readily than any other event. Companioni, a true
Carolina crowd favorite, has been one of the most expressive and
effective performers for the Tar Heels over the past three years. Her
routines incorporate high level tumbling and energized, fun-filled dance.
Companioni and classmate Middleton display different styles but provide
equally dynamic performances.
A talented group of juniors, sophomores and freshmen join Companioni and Middleton in forming a floor exercise squad which possesses one of the highest levels of tumbling Carolina has ever had. The daily competition in practice, just to make the floor exercise line-up, may be as exciting as some of the meets UNC will compete in this year. Among the juniors, the spectators will recognize Cathcart, Chaffee and Klonne from previous meets. Halbach is also preparing to step out on the floor with the same graceful style she is known for on balance beam. The juniors have all increased the difficulty of their tumbling as well as their level of confidence in those tumbling skills.
Sophomores Curley and Smith made their marks as Tar Heels on floor exercise last year. Curley and Wilson, although competing on separate teams, both had outstanding performances on floor exercise as freshmen. Alsop, Stanley, Trusty and Williams represent the most talented freshmen class of tumblers the Tar Heels have seen in many years.
