For a North Carolina gymnastics team that lost four top seniors from last year, coach Derek Galvin said his current squad is not far from where it needs to be.
But after a loss by less than one point to Maryland Saturday night, he said his team does need to continue to hone in on the little things.
“I think our floor and beam have come along really well, and we focused on those two events this past week,” he said. “We just need to get in a little more vaulting training and bars as well.”
The Tar Heels defeated the Terrapins in both the floor exercise and balance beam, but Galvin and senior co-captain Elizabeth Durkac agreed that a weaker vaulting performance made the difference in Maryland’s close victory.
“They had a great start,” Durkac said. “We had a great finish so if we had just started with the intensity that we finished with, then I definitely think the score would have been much more narrow.”
With the top three vaulters from last year having graduated, Galvin said his group is still strong, but not as consistent as it was last year.
“We weren’t as sharp on vaulting,” Galvin said. “Really the difference is vaulting. Maryland is very strong on that. They’ve got two vaulters that are among the best in the country.
“In order for us to stay with them we needed to have a solid performance from everyone in our lineup.”
Durkac said she thought the team was more focused on making the vaults than it was paying attention to precise details. But after the team completed the vault, its second event of the evening, Galvin got his gymnasts back on track.
