University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina Gymnastics Heads West
February 26, 2010 | Women's Gymnastics
Feb. 26, 2010
The University of North Carolina gymnastics team travels to Palo Alto, Calif. Sunday where it will face host No. 6 Stanford, the University of California and Eastern Michigan. The meet features outstanding academic institutions and two Tar Heels will be competing against their sisters. After facing tough competition at NC State last weekend, the Tar Heels have focused on continuing to compete with confidence and are excited to travel to California this weekend.
"We're looking forward to this competition for several reasons. It gives us more visibility on the west coast and in competing with Stanford and Berkeley, we are competing with two of the top academic institutions in the country," head coach Derek Galvin said. "Berkeley and Carolina are consistently ranked among the top five public universities and Stanford is one of the top universities in the nation, so it's kind of a neat meet in that sense that we've got three very well regarded academic institutions. I'm eager to take the team there so that we can be exposed to the judging on the west coast because the judges that we face at NCAA's come from all over the country."
The Tar Heels will once again compete without Zoya Johnson and freshman Meredith Magjuka who suffered a fracture in one of her vertebrae during warm-ups at NC State. Magjuka is expected to make a full recovery, but will not return to competition this season.
"Meredith was injured in warm-ups and the people we put in her place did very well. From a competitive stand point the team is just as strong. Now, we just don't have the same kind of depth we had before and certainly everyone on the team feels bad for Meredith because you don't like to see any of your teammates reach the point where their ability to compete for the season is over," Galvin said. "We'd love to have everyone on the team healthy and ready to go, but with Zoya's injury and Meredith's injury it gives other people the opportunity to step into the lineup and show us what they can do. Our goals have not changed. We still feel confident about what this team can do."
Freshman Michelle Ikoma and senior Christine Nguyen will not only face a top 10 team on Sunday, but their own sisters. Ikoma's sister Danielle is a junior on the Stanford team and Nguyen's sister Catherine is a sophomore.
"That will add a fun element to the whole experience as well," Galvin said.
Nguyen has been a mainstay for the Tar Heels, winning the all-around in all four of Carolina's meets this season.
"She had an excellent meet at NC State against some very capable competition," Galvin said of Nguyen who was named EAGL Gymnast of the Week after the Sweetheart Invitational.
In addition to taking the all-around title against NC State and Nebraska, Nguyen led the team to a victory on balance beam, an event the team struggled with in its first three meets.
"For the team to come out and compete with more confidence on balance beam was in some ways a turning point for us," Galvin said. "Everyone on the team acknowledges that we should be confident. We have the skill level and if you're more confident it is reflected in your performance. We've turned a corner and I expect the team to perform assertively and confidently at Stanford and in the rest of the meets this year."
With more confidence on balance beam and a week of quality training behind them, the Tar Heels are prepared for the tough competition they will face on the west coast. Sunday's meet at the Maples Pavilion kicks off at 2 p.m. PT (5 p.m. EST).
"Normally we wouldn't have the opportunity to compete against Stanford, Berkeley or Eastern Michigan, so it's a chance to see some teams that we normally don't face," Galvin said. "I think we will also benefit by competing on a more regular basis. We had three meets in the amount time that everyone else had had five and now everyone else has had six and we've only had four. We're just getting into competing and learning how to compete together as a team. The lessons that we gained from the meet last weekend will hopefully bolster our efforts at Stanford."
Players Mentioned
