As she slid into her final pose of her floor exercise, senior Christina Pheil's lower lip quivered.
The North Carolina gymnastic team's 195.625-191.250 win over William & Mary marked Pheil's last time competing in Carmichael Arena. But for most of the meet, Pheil was smiling.
“She’ll find a positive," head coach Derek Galvin said. "She’ll find the silver lining."
Despite having the team's lowest score for floor and placing fifth for vault, Pheil didn't get discouraged. Like she had done all season, Pheil — who is considered the "team mom" — erased doubt with enthusiastic cheers and reassuring whispers to nervous gymnasts.
“If you’ve got a person that’s always optimistic and always looking at the positive side, it keeps the focus in the right place," Galvin said. "She’s done that for us.”
She didn’t place as highly in the vault as junior teammates Kaitlynn Hedelund, Madison Nettles and Morgan Lane — who took first, second and fourth, respectively. But that didn't matter. She tied her career best on vault and even got to compete in the beam in exhibition.
During the routine, Pheil somersaulted onto the beam, a new skill that she had been honing in practice.
“I haven’t competed exhibition beam this whole season, so that was really fun to do," Pheil said. "That’s a new skill, and it was still really fun to compete."
When Pheil heard the scores after each of the last three meets, her eyebrows shot up in amazement. She might not have done well, but the team excelled. And that's what she cared about most.
