University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC Hosts William & Mary for Senior Night on Friday
February 22, 2017 | Women's Gymnastics
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. –The University of North Carolina gymnastics team will face off against William & Mary on Friday for the second time this season at 7 p.m. in Carmichael Arena. It will be the last home meet for seniors Christina Pheil and Ashley Landry. It is the first of two straight meets against William & Mary as the Tar Heels head to Williamsburg next week for a dual competition.
UNC head coach Derek Galvin was excited to see Pheil perform so well on vault against New Hampshire last week, as she is the only senior competing for the Tar Heels this season. Though not in the spotlight, Ashley Landry has made the most of injuries sustained after transferring to Chapel Hill from Air Force. Now, Landry helps Carolina gymnastics in other ways.
"Ashley helps with promotions and running the meets," explains Galvin. "She was actually the person who connected the team with the Super Cooper College Buddies program. She's done a lot of neat things behind the scenes for the team.”
Ranked third in the EAGL with a record of 9-3 (5-1 EAGL), UNC has been on a winning streak since starting off the season 1-2. The Tar Heels are hoping to extend that streak by bringing home one last win for their seniors.
“Our goal is to do quality routines regardless of what the score may be,” said Galvin. “We want to go into this Friday night focused on a strong team performance by keeping the energy level up throughout the meet, keeping the focus strong through all four events, and delivering performances that reflect the quality that we want to have at the end of the season.”
WEEK #7: HOME MATCH-UP AGAINST EAGL'S SECOND-RANKED NEW HAMPSHIRE
North Carolina hosted its annual Pink Meet on Feb. 17 recognizing the efforts of two on-campus organizations and their work with cancer patients and survivors. “Get REAL & HEEL” provides post-cancer support for breast cancer survivors, while the Super Cooper College Buddies program provides essential resources to children that are undergoing cancer treatment. The Tar Heels gave crowds even more reason to celebrate, as Carolina posted a season-high score of 195.875, defeating the New Hampshire Wildcats, 195.875-195.075.
UNC also set a season-record of 49.050 on the uneven bars, with three Tar Heels either tying season highs or beating career bests. Morgan Lane and Kaitlynn Hedelund led the event with scores of 9.850, a career-best for Lane and a tied season-high for Hedelund. Freshman Grace Donaghy also earned herself a new personal record on bars after receiving a 9.825 from the judges.
The Heels had a top-notch night on floor as four of five scores either matched or bested career records. Mikayla Robinson broke her career record with a 9.825 for her routine, Madison Nettles earned a 9.875, and Morgan Lane and Khazia Hislop both earned scores of 9.925 on the floor.
Lane set a personal record with her floor routine as well as a season-high all-around score of 39.350, which included scores of 9.750 (vault), 9.825 (beam), 9.850 (bars), and 9.925 (floor). Hislop tied her own career-best on floor exercise, which she had previously set in this season's competition versus Florida. For the fourth time this season, Hislop received EAGL Rookie of the Week honors for her phenomenal performance for the Tar Heels.
Nettles tied her career-best of 9.875 on the floor exercise, which she set at last weekend's quad meet in Raleigh, N.C. While teammate Morgan Lane took first in the all-around competition, Nettles found herself in a three-way tie for second place with a score of 39.075.
The success continued for Carolina. Mikayla Robinson tied her season-best score of 9.625 on vault, Christina Pheil set a new career-high of 9.750 on vault, and Kaitlynn Hedelund nailed a career-best 9.875 for her beam performance.
Coach Galvin praised his athletes for all of their hard work and well-deserved rewards: “They know how hard they've all worked to have those kinds of performances. That's the beauty of sport as a team. In collegiate women's gymnastics, you have a whole team of sisters who are there to celebrate that moment. We are fortunate this year that we've been able to celebrate a lot of those moments. It's one of those things that once you experience it as a team, you want to do it again. “
THE OPPONENT: WILLIAM & MARY
William & Mary's highest overall score of the season so far is a 193.025. With scores of 9.850 on the uneven bars from Carolina Caponi, 9.825 on floor exercise from Briana Gironda, and 9.900 on floor from Aaliyah Kerr, the Tribe could show Carolina some serious competition in their second of three face-offs this season.
Players Mentioned
