University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
University of Arizona
Carolina Finishes Third in Final Quad Meet
March 9, 2018 | Women's Gymnastics
TUCSON, Ariz. — Wrapping up regular season away competitions, North Carolina finished third at Arizona with a total score of 194.850. Host Arizona took first with a final 195.725 while San Jose State and Air Force placed second and fourth, respectively, with scores of 195.025 and 194.275.
"Today floor and vault were our two strongest events, again," said Carolina's head coach Derek Galvin. "We showed some improvement on bars, which was encouraging. Our team score on bars was higher than it was last week at Alabama. That was an improvement."
Similar to the previous meet against Alabama, the Tar Heels opened up the night on bars with a rotation total of 48.175. Arizona totaled 48.700 on vault in the first rotation to take the lead, San Jose State scored 48.600 on floor, and Air Force earned 48.525 on beam. Senior Madison Nettles received Carolina's top score with a 13th-place 9.675, and seniors Morgan Lane and Kaitlynn Hedelund tied for 16th with scores of 9.650. Mekyllah Williams and Alexis Allen also added 9.625 and 9.575 to the event total.
Carolina transitioned to the balance beam for the second rotation, collectively scoring 48.575. With the team rankings unchanged, Arizona added a 49.100 on bars to their total, San Jose State a 49.025 on vault, and Air Force a 48.600 on floor. Morgan Lane led the Heels with her fifth-place beam score of 9.800, and freshman Rylie Dewhurst tied her career-best score of 9.750 to tie for 13th. Sophomore Raine Gordon, Kaitlynn Hedelund, and Alexis Allen each contributed individual scores of 9.700, 9.675, and 9.650.
Though Carolina did not break 49.400 for a fourth consecutive competition, the Tar Heels still earned their best rotation score of the night on floor with a total of 49.100. Arizona maintained their first-place spot in the meet with a score of 49.275 on beam, San Jose State held their own in second with a 48.525 on bars, and Air Force moved into fourth with a vault total of 48.600. Khazia Hislop's third-place score of 9.850 helped push the Tar Heels into third place with a 0.025 edge over the Air Force Falcons. Madison Hargrave, Lauren Weisel, and Morgan Lane all tied for fourth with scores of 9.825 while Madison Nettles and Mikayla Robinson earned matching scores of 9.775 for eighth-place honors. Though San Jose State took first with a 9.900 and Arizona second with 9.875, Carolina still managed to earn six of the top 10 floor scores.
Trailing San Jose State by 0.300 heading into the fourth rotation, Carolina managed to narrow the gap to just 0.175 after scoring 49.000 on vault. To wrap up their own performances, Arizona scored 48.650 on floor, San Jose State 48.875 on beam, and Air Force 48.450 on bars. Madison Nettles and Khazia Hislop both received scores of first-place scores of 9.850 while Alexis Allen finished in three-way tie sixth with her vault score of 9.800. Madison Hargrave, Mikayla Robinson, and Morgan Lane each scored 9.750 for their vaults, earning them a spot in a four-way tie for 13th.
In the all-around competition, Morgan Lane finished fourth out of five athletes with a score of 39.025. The senior maintained her streak of breaking the 39.000 mark after receiving scores of 9.650 on bars, 9.800 on beam, 9.825 on floor, and 9.750 on vault.
"It wasn't a great team performance but there were some things that were improvements upon what we did last week and the week before so that was good," Galvin stated. "We are looking forward to being back at home next weekend."
Carolina returns to Carmichael Arena to celebrate their seniors during their last home meet of the season on Saturday, March 17 at 1 p.m. against Pittsburgh.
Players Mentioned
