University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Maryland
Carolina Gymnasts Top Maryland And George Washington
March 17, 2010 | Women's Gymnastics
March 17, 2010
College Park, Md. -
After narrowly falling to EAGL rival Maryland on Valentine's Day in Chapel Hill, the Tar Heels edged Maryland and George Washington University to win Tuesday night's tri-meet in College Park, Md. Senior Christine Nguyen won the all-around title and two event titles to lead Carolina in the win. The Tar Heels scored a team total 194.000 while Maryland recorded a 193.375 and George Washington posted a 192.825."It was exactly what we need going into our last home meet and the EAGL Championship," said head coach Derek Galvin. "We're finally starting to get a glimpse of what we were hoping to see this season."
The Tar Heels began the high-energy meet on uneven bars where they had their best team performance of the season, Galvin said. Carolina posted the three top uneven bars scores of the night. Senior Kara Wright took the event title with a 9.775 and junior Krista Jasper tied for second place with teammate Morgan Evans after each scored a 9.725. Zoya Johnson scored a 9.650 for seventh place and Nguyen was eighth with a 9.625. Freshman Elizabeth Durkac finished ninth with a 9.600.
"The quality of our bar routines was the best all year," Galvin said. "One of the things Kara and I talked about was that the score didn't matter as much as the quality of the routines and we had more quality routines in this meet than any other this season."
The Tar Heels scored a 47.575 on balance beam, the team's second event of the night. Nguyen tied with Maryland's Talia Tossone for first place with a 9.800. Morgan Evans finished in a four-way tie for seventh with a 9.675 and Tina Jacob finished 13th with a 9.550. Jasper took 14th with a 9.525 and Wright scored a 9.025 for 16th place.
"It was a scrappy beam performance," Galvin said. "We went hard, but we counted a few falls."
The Tar Heels then rotated to floor exercise where they performed with energy and enthusiasm. The team excelled on the event and scored a 49.025. Nguyen won the event with a 9.925 and Wright finished in a tie for second place with a 9.850. Karli Jones and Evans tied for sixth place after both gymnasts posted a 9.775. Michelle Ikoma finished 10th with a 9.700.
"It was the best team performance on floor all year," Galvin said. "It was a lot of fun."
The Tar Heels final event was vault where the top performances came from Wright and Johnson who tied for third place with a 9.875. Nguyen recorded a 9.775 for sixth place and Jones took eighth with a 9.725. Ikoma placed 10th with a 9.650 and Evans finished 11th with a 9.625. As a team the Tar Heels scored a 48.900 on vault.
"They went really strong on their vaults," Galvin said.
Nguyen won her fifth all-around title of the season with a 39.125. Evans placed fourth with a 38.800 and Wright took fifth with a 38.525.
"It was really fun watching the team the way they competed and that is the way it is supposed to be. They didn't hold back," Galvin said. "Seeing the momentum build in the first event, it was obvious they weren't going to be stopped today."
The Tar Heels host Rutgers on Saturday, March 20 at 1 p.m. in Carmichael Arena. The competition will be the final home meet for the accomplished senior class of Teri Diamond, Jacob, Nguyen and Wright.
"We will carry this momentum into Saturday and onto New Hampshire," Galvin said. "It is definitely a good day to be a Tar Heel."
Players Mentioned
