Gymnastics takes final home meet

Led by their captain and lone senior Teri Diamond, the North Carolina’s gymnastics team finished its last home meet Saturday with a 194.400-188.825 win against William and Mary.

In Diamond’s last appearance in Carmichael Arena, the co-captain finished her home career with a personal best 9.825 on the bars.

“It was really good to go out like that. Not just because it was my personal best and I won, but because I could put up a score for my team,” Diamond said. “Just knowing that everyone was pulling for me and we’re pulling for each other was just a great feeling.”

The Tar Heels placed first in every element while William and Mary only saw a combined three gymnasts place in the top three for the events.

“We tried to make it really special for her. Every routine we did, we were just like, we want to make Teri proud,” junior Morgan Evans said. “We knew just to support her the whole day and make it all about her.”

Evans led UNC in the All-Around with a total score of 39.125, beating her teammate Krista Jasper for first place by less than a point.

Evans placed first in the floor exercise with a score of 9.850 and tied fellow Tar Heel Kristin Aloi for the top spot on the balance beam.

“I was confident and I knew that my team had my back the whole time, cheering me on,” Evans said. “We gave each other energy, so I feel like today was good.”

Aloi finished her first season in Carmichael with the tie for first on balance beam and a second-place finish on the floor exercise. Her score of 9.800 was the sixth time she recorded a score of 9.800 or better this season.

Junior Zoya Johnson also had a strong meet, finishing first on the vault with a score of 9.850 and placing in the top three for the uneven parallel bars and balance beam.

“I thought it was a good team performance. We had some outstanding individual performances as well,” UNC coach Derek Galvin said. “Morgan Evans had a great meet as an All-Arounder, so did Krista Jasper. I thought this was Zoya Johnson’s best meet thus far.”

The Tar Heels previously defeated the Tribe by a margin of 4.775 earlier in the season, yet this win highlighted the cohesiveness gained by the team throughout the season.

“It was a good team performance. I think it wasn’t the sharpest that we’ve looked,” Galvin said. “But it was a very solid team performance”

Next weekend UNC will travel to College Park to take on Maryland for the second time this season. In their first home meet against the Terrapins, the Tar Heels lost by a margin of .400 after faulty performances on the balance beam.

“Last time we saw Maryland we had not come together as a team on beam yet. I feel like we have now,” Galvin said. “They’re going to be a tough team to beat at home, but we love challenges. So we’re going to go up there with attitude that if we do our best, we’ll walk out of there feeling good about our performance.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.