Carolina hosts Temple at 7 p.m. Friday night

Friday, January 19

Chapel Hill

7 p.m.

North Carolina

Temple

The Tar Heels earned their highest floor exercise score (49.250) since March 20, 2010.

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

January 17, 2018 | Women's Gymnastics

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The University of North Carolina gymnastics team will face off against the 4-1 Temple Owls on Friday, Jan. 19 in their second consecutive home meet in Carmichael arena. The meet will be held as originally scheduled at 7 p.m. In the first meet of the season, Carolina brought home second-place honors as a team against NC State, 194.375 to 194.650.

"The opportunity to compete two meets in a row at home gives us a chance to train a little bit more than we would if we were traveling so we've taken advantage of that," UNC head coach Derek Galvin said. "The mood within the team this week has been very positive. I think everyone on the team recognizes that we have the ability to do more than we showed in the last meet. We're getting closer and closer each day to showing that."

While the Heels looks forward to another opportunity to gain headway on their season goals, Carolina gymnastics also wants to recognize the efforts of other organizations on UNC's campus and to celebrate inclusion and equality for all. Expanding on last year's #BETRUE meet, four university groups will be present on meet day to convey their missions to the fans in attendance: the Carolina Women's Center, the Carolina American Indian Center, the LGBTQ Center, and Black Student Movement.

In the spirit of celebrating others, Galvin praised his new assistant coaches for their tremendous efforts with their new team.

"The thing that was exciting for me to see was Taylor [Spears] and Marie [Case Denick]," head coach Derek Galvin said. "They did all of our choreography and arranged the music, and the team performed their routines well… It was the strongest team performance for a first meet that we've had in fourteen years. It was one of the strongest floor performances [since the floor score of 49.425 on March 20, 2010 against Rutgers]. Taylor and Marie have done an exceptional job in preparing the team on floor with the choreography, the music, and the pre-season conditioning so that they could deliver those types of performances in the first meet."

Carolina is excited to correct missteps from their first meet, to build upon successful routine components, and to celebrate the representation and inclusion of people from all walks of life on Friday. UNC Athletics and Harris Teeter have also teamed up to host a food drive at the gymnastics meet to support local families in need and to help curb the North Carolina hunger epidemic.

The competition begins at 7 p.m. sharp so be sure to stop by Carmichael Arena early to learn more about the represented organizations and to drop off any food donations.

WEEK #2: CAROLINA OPENS 2018 SEASON AGAINST NC STATE

North Carolina took a team loss against in-state rivals NC State in its first meet of the season at Carmichael Arena. Despite their 0-1 record, the Tar Heels had their best season-opening performance in fourteen years with a total score of 194.375.

UNC also rang in the new year with three first-place individual scores, seven top-three scores and fourteen top-five scores over all events. The Tar Heels set a total of six new personal records over the course of the competition. Sophomore Khazia Hislop set two new personal bests for her performances on vault (9.875) and floor (9.950). Senior Lauren Weisel and freshman Lily Dean found themselves in a three-way tie for fourth after receiving scores of 9.825, a career-best for both gymnasts. Sophomore Raine Gordon also earned two career-high scores of her own on bars and beam in her first two appearances as a collegiate gymnast.

Kicking off the season on vault, the Tar Heels earned a team score of 48.800 in the first rotation. Hislop's career-high 9.875 earned her stand-alone first-place honors while senior Madison Nettles followed closely behind in second with a score of 9.825. Senior Kaitlynn Hedelund tied two Wolfpack gymnasts for fifth with a score of 9.750 on vault while Madison Hargrave and Mikayla Robinson earned scores of 9/700 and 9.650, respectively.

In the second rotation, Carolina earned four of the top seven scores on the uneven parallel bars to earn a total of 48.550. Nettles received a first-place score of 9.800 while junior Grace Donaghy tied for second-place honors with her score of 9.775. Seniors Morgan Lane and Kaitlynn Hedelund ended up in a four-way tie for fourth with scores fo 9.750. Gordon's personal best score of 9.475 on bars rounded out the rotation for the Tar Heels.

UNC faced challenges in the third rotation on beam, receiving a total 47.775 in the event. Lane tied NC State's Chelsea Knight for second-place honors with a score of 9.825 and Kaitlynn Hedelund and Emma Marchese earned scores of 9.725 for fifth-place. Raine Gordon's career-high 9.500 on beam earned her eighth-place honors in the individual competition.

With resounding resiliency, the Tar Heels made a huge comeback in the fourth and final rotation on floor. Although it was not enough to bring home a team win, the floor score of 49.250 was the highest for the Tar Heels since March 20, 2010. After some miscues on beam, Khazia Hislop topped off the night with a career-high 9.950 from the judges, the first 9.950 on floor earned by a Tar Heel since that same meet against Rutgers on March 20, 2010. Lane once again tied for second-place accolades with her score of 9.850, and Lauren Weisel and Lily Dean tied for fourth with their new personal bests of 9.825. Madison Nettles brought home seventh-place honors with her 9.800 and Mikayla Robinson followed in eighth with a 9.775.

THE OPPONENT: TEMPLE

The Temple Owls head into week three of competition with a 4-1 record. Temple opened its season with a quad meet against New Hampshire, Towson, and Maryland where the team brought home a first-place win with a score of 194.875. The Owls (191.575) lost to Towson (194.725) the following week but defeated William & Mary (190.475) in a tri-meet in Towson, Maryland.