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University of North Carolina Athletics
Gymnastics Team Heads to NCAA Regionals
April 6, 2006 | Women's Gymnastics
April 5, 2006
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SETTING THE SCENE:
The North Carolina gymnastics team travels to Athens, Georgia for its fifth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Southeast Regional Championship. No. 1 and reigning national champion Georgia will host the Southeast Regional at the Stageman Coliseum.
Carolina heads into the meet after winning its third East Atlantic Gymnastics League Championship on March 25. The Tar Heels will face EAGL opponents West Virginia and NC State at regionals in addition to Georgia, Nebraska, and Missouri.
The Southeast regional features five teams ranked in the nation's Top 25: No. 1 Georgia, No. 12 Nebraska, No. 13 Missouri, No. 22 West Virginia and No. 23 Carolina.
Six regionals will take place across the country Saturday, and the top two teams from each one will advance to the National Championships in Corvallis, Ore., April 20-22. Carolina is looking for its first-ever national bid.
TAR HEELS IN PAST REGIONALS:
Over the past three years, Carolina has inched painfully close to the school's first berth to the NCAA National Championships. In 2003, the Tar Heels qualified for regionals at the University of Georgia as the fifth seed, and upset Maryland and Ohio State, only to be edged by second-seeded Florida by .05 points (194.95-194.90). In 2004, Carolina came even closer, when the team finished third behind second-place Nebraska, 196.375-196.35, a margin of .025 points. Last year, the Tar Heels finished third for the third straight year at the meet, missing the necessary second-place finish for a bid to nationals, with a score of 194.075. Florida (196.575) won the meet, with Georgia (195.15) placing second.
Senior Courtney Bumpers has advanced from regionals to nationals all three years, however. In 2003, Bumpers went on to finish fourth in the individual balance beam finals; in 2004, she earned a share of the floor exercise title after winning floor exercise at regionals and placing third all-around. In 2005, Bumpers successfully defended her 2004 national floor exercise title with her ninth career 10.0. This year's team is the 12th that head coach Derek Galvin has taken to an NCAA regional meet. Having qualified for the fifth year in a row, Carolina's gymnasts have tied their longest streak in school history. Carolina was also represented each year at a regional meet from 1982-1986 (five years). In the years that the Tar Heels have not appeared at regionals as a team, they have been represented by individual qualifiers.
2006 Season:
Carolina had another great start to the season, winning their first meet of the season, the George Washington Invitational for the fourth straight year. The Tar Heels topped five other teams at the George Washington Invitational, and then dominated their first home meet of the season against William & Mary to remain unbeaten at 6-0.
In the following meet at home despite holding the top four scores on vault, Carolina recorded a third place finish against Kentucky, Maryland, and James Madison However at their next meet on Feb. 5, the Tar Heels bounced back strongly sweeping every event to win the 11th annual Governor's Cup for the fifth time in six years, triumphing over NC State, Maryland and Towson.
The Tar Heels next battled fierce competition on the road finishing fourth against host team Florida, West Virginia, and Arkansas on Feb. 10. After having two weeks off without any competitions, Carolina faced NC State, Denver, and George Washington at the Wolfpack Invitational, where the Tar Heels placed third. Two days later, Carolina once again faced NC State and GWU at home, only this time finishing in second place. The month of March was extremely successful for the gymnastics team. The Tar Heels won all three meets in which they competed, finishing the regular season with a 5-0 win streak. In their last home meet of the season against New Hampshire, Carolina recorded a season-high 48.850 on balance beam.
THE LAST TIME OUT: EAGL CHAMPIONSHIP
Carolina won its third East Atlantic Gymnastics League title in the past five years Sat., March 25, at Rutgers. The Tar Heels' 195.325 was the highest total the team has had this year and was enough to defeat NC State (195.075), West Virginia (194.900), New Hampshire (194.450), Maryland (194.175), George Washington (193.775), Rutgers (191.425), and Pittsburgh (190.225).
Overall, Carolina had its best meet of the season achieving season-high scores on vault (49.100), uneven bars (48.925), and floor exercise (49.050).
Courtney Bumpers, who was recently named the 2006 EAGL Gymnast of the Year and Outstanding Senior Gymnast, won the all-around title with a total of 39.525. Bumpers finished first on floor exercise, tied for second on vault and balance beam, and tied for sixth on uneven bars. Her scores on vault (9.875) and uneven bars (9.825) tied for personal season-high scores on those events.
Christine Robella also had an extremely strong meet capturing first place on uneven bars with her season-high score of 9.900. The junior also finished in second on floor exercise with a 9.900, which ties her current season-high on that event and tied for fourth place on balance beam with her season-high total of 9.850.
EAGL WEEKLY Honors:
Senior Courtney Bumpers and junior Christine Robella led the team all season, each earning at least two EAGL Gymnast of the Week selections. Robella was honored on Jan. 18 after winning the all-around (38.925), the floor exercise (9.800) and tying for the top score on vault (9.850) in the Tar Heels' first-place finish at the George Washington Invitational. On Jan. 31 Robella was again named Gymnast of the Week for the second time in three weeks. The honor came after the team's home meet against Kentucky, Maryland, and James Madison. The competition marked Robella's third straight meet as all-around champion and included wins on uneven bars (9.825) and floor exercise (9.825).
Senior Mikel Hester was named the EAGL Specialist of the Week for her strong performance at the Jan. 29 meet as well. Hester placed in the top four in every event that she competed in. The senior co-captain tied teammate Christine Robella for the win on the floor exercise at the quad meet. Hester also captured third on beam with a 9.775 and fourth on vault with a 9.8. It marked Hester's first career EAGL Specialist of the Week honor. Like Robella, Courtney Bumpers was also named the EAGL Gymnast of the Week twice. For the final week of February, Bumpers received the honor after winning two all-around titles in three days with scores of 39.400 at the Wolfpack Invitational on Friday, Feb. 24, and a 39.325 at home on Sunday, Feb. 26. Bumpers received her eighth career EAGL Gymnast of the Week title on March 21 after tying for the highest all-around in the league this year with a 39.45 in the Tar Heels' 194.975-194.325 win over New Hampshire on March 19, in Chapel Hill, N.C. Bumpers, competing in her final home meet as a UNC gymnast, tied season highs with 9.975 on the floor exercise and 9.900 on the balance beam to win each event. She also drew marks of 9.800 on vault and 9.775 on the uneven bars. Bumpers, the top-ranked all-around gymnast in the EAGL, is the 16th-rated all-arounder in the nation.
TAR HEEL ACADEMIC SUCCESS:
Carolina gymnasts have historically excelled in the classroom, and this year was no exception. Senior Courtney Bumpers was named the recipient of a prestigious Weaver-James-Corrigan postgraduate scholarship by the Atlantic Coast Conference in February.
Also ten members of the University of North Carolina gymnastics team were named to the East Atlantic Gymnastics League All-Academic Team. Seniors Courtney Bumpers, Mikel Hester and Cecilia Liu were three of six total recipents who were named to the team for the fourth straight year. Three-time recipents of the honor included juniors Christine Robella, Miranda Ross, and Claire Smith. Junior Courtney Turco and sophomores Shawna Kelly, Angela Lauten, and Alice Xu were all named to the All-Academic Team for the second straight year.
Players Mentioned
