UNC gymnast Morgan Lane stays calm despite miscues

Morgan Lane landed on the balance beam and swayed upon impact.

Lane had just began her routine, but she was already struggling to stay balanced. And with the North Carolina gymnastics team facing No. 11 George Washington, she couldn’t afford to fall.

The sophomore regained her composure after the wobble, but the moments Lane spent keeping her balance came at a cost — she had to change her routine.

But the judges didn’t know that.

After making some minor adjustments, Lane hid her errors and remained poised on the beam. Coach Derek Galvin said Lane’s miscues went undetected, as she still included all the points in her routine.

The Colonials snagged a 194.950-194.275 win over UNC in Carmichael Arena on Saturday. But it was Lane’s versatility when recovering from missteps that kept North Carolina in contention.

“If I didn’t know what her routine was supposed to be, I wouldn’t be able to tell,” said senior Sarah Peterson. “So she did a really great job of recovering from that and finishing out with routines.”

Her proudest moment on the beam was her dismount.

Lane has been working on her beam dismount in practice after struggling with it in the past. On Saturday, the landing was a success.

“I do so many every day,” she said, “so that was really nice to see how hard work pays off.”

With the improvised routine, Lane dazzled the judges and was awarded a 9.850. The score set a season-high on the balance beam for Lane and established a four-way tie for first place between Lane, Peterson and George Washington sophomores Alex Zois and Liz Pfeiler.

“She didn’t do her series that she normally trains and she ended up winning beam,” Peterson said. “So it was pretty cool.”

With Lane and Peterson posting season-bests, UNC tallied a 48.725 on the beam — its highest scoring rotation of the day. Peterson was excited by this outcome because her team typically struggles on the beam.

Lane’s floor routine did not follow the original plan either. But that was OK. Following what she did on the beam, Lane swapped the order of some of her flips.

The judges didn’t notice the difference. They awarded her a score of 9.825, which was enough for Lane to claim first place.

“Morgan is just such a delightful competitor, particularly on floor,” Galvin said. “She’s got really just a happy quality to what she does on floor the way she performs ... She can win everybody’s heart in that event.”

Lane finished the all-around with a 39.075, which was the highest score on the team and second in the meet. Her ability to improvise and stay composed under pressure propelled her to this result.

“We practice, you know, how do you recover when you make a mistake, so mentally they know how to do that,” Galvin said. “Whether they actually do it in competition remains to be seen.”

“Morgan did it.”

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