Carolina Sweeps Quad Meet in Road Opener at Towson

Friday, January 26

Towson, Md.

7 p.m.

North Carolina

194.600

194.275

Towson

Morgan Lane
floor exercise
University of North Carolina Gymnastics v North Carolina State
Carmichael Arena
Chapel Hill, NC
Friday, January 12,2018

Morgan Lane earned first-place honors (39.100) in her first time competing in the all-around this season.

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

January 26, 2018 | Women's Gymnastics

Complete Results

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Carolina gymnastics brought home a first-place win in their road opener against Towson (194.275), Yale (192.050), and Ursinus (187.425) with a team overall score of 194.600. Despite sweeping the competition, the Tar Heels know they can correct some of the missteps that resulted in a drop in the overall team score.

"It wasn't the performance that we expected," said UNC head coach Derek Galvin. "It certainly wasn't the performance that we wanted, but we can learn from what we did tonight and apply it in the next meet. We can get some redemption that way."

Although total scores fell from the last competition, the Tar Heels did bring home some individual accolades in addition to the team win. Senior Morgan Lane competed in the all-around competition for the first time this season, breaking 39.000 with a first-place final score of 39.100. Sophomore Khazia Hislop earned two first-place titles of her own, scoring 9.825 on both floor exercise and vault.

The Tar Heels opened up competition on the uneven bars, earning an event total of 48.500. Seniors Kaitlynn Hedelund and Morgan Lane led Carolina in the rotation and tied for fourth-place honors with scores of 9.775, a season-high for Hedelund. Mekyllah Williams, Madison Nettles, and Grace Donaghy also tied after receiving scores of 9.650, landing them in twelfth-place in the final standings.

In the second rotation, Carolina transitioned to balance beam and recorded a score of 48.300, once again led by their seniors. Lane earned the highest score for Carolina with a third-place 9.800 while Hedelund received a 9.725 and fifth-place honors for her routine. Lily Dean placed seventh after earning a season-high 9.650 and Khazia Hislop followed closely behind in eighth with her score of 9.625. Raine Gordon also contributed 9.500 to the Tar Heels' total.

For the third straight week, the floor exercise showed the strength and resilience of the Carolina gymnastics squad. The rotation score of 48.900 tied the best on the night for the Heels and propelled Carolina into first place heading into the final event. Khazia Hislop earned first-place honors for her score of 9.825, and Mikayla Robinson and Lily Dean trailed by just 0.025, earning scores of 9.800 and second-place accolades. Madison Nettles' 9.750 earned a spot in the four-way tie for seventh-place while Morgan Lane and Lauren Weisel finished 11th and 12th, respectively, with scores of 9.725 and 9.700.

Carolina sealed the win in their final rotation on vault, again totaling 48.900 in the event. UNC took home the top four scores, the best group of individual finishes for the Tar Heels in a single event. Khazia Hislop led the event with a 9.825 while Morgan Lane earned a season-high 9.800 to tie with Madison Nettles for second-place honors. Alexis Allen also earned a season-high vault score of 9.775 to place fourth in the individual scores, and Madison Hargrave's score of 9.700 tied for eighth-place honors.

"Again, we were expecting to be in that same range of scores or higher from last weekend," said Galvin. "We're expected to be in the high 195.000's. This team is certainly capable of that and that's going to be our focus next week — competing on bars with more of a calm confidence and on beam the same thing, a composed confidence."

Next week, the Tar Heels travel to Durham, New Hampshire for their second of three consecutive away meets. Carolina will take on EAGL conference opponents, the UNH Wildcats, beginning at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 2nd.