The No. 14 North Carolina gymnastics team (2-3, 1-1 ACC) finished with a final score of 194.225 points and secured a third-place finish at the Rutgers Quad Meet in Piscataway, N.J. on Saturday afternoon.
What happened?
The Tar Heels went up against Rutgers, N.C. State and New Hampshire in their second meet of the season. The meet consisted of four events — floor exercise, vault, uneven parallel bars, and balance beam.
Carolina’s first event was the floor exercise, where the Tar Heels were able to put together a total of 47.800 points, highlighted by a career-best 9.800 points from Carolina first-year Julia Knower. In the first rotation, Rutgers took the early lead by accumulating 49.150 points on the vault, with N.C. State scoring 48.750 points on the uneven parallel bars and New Hampshire scoring 48.085 points on the balance beam.
UNC moved onto the vault, in which the team was able to rebound with a score of 48.975 points. N.C. State took the lead in the second rotation after scoring 48.750 points on the balance beam. Rutgers finished with only 47.275 points on the uneven parallel bars and New Hampshire scored 48.090 points on the floor exercise.
The Tar Heels then advanced to the uneven parallel bars, where they were able to come away with another strong performance of 48.950 points. Rutgers improved from their second rotation after scoring 48.875 points on the balance beam, NC State scored 48.725 points on the floor exercise, and New Hampshire scored 48.925 points on the vault.
On the fourth and final rotation, North Carolina scored 48.500 points on the balance beam. N.C. State scored 48.800 points on the vault, Rutgers scored 49.200 points on the floor exercise, and New Hampshire scored 48.525 points on the uneven parallel bars. N.C. State acquired the first place finish with 195.125 points, Rutgers finished in second with 194.500 points, UNC finished in third with 194.225 points, and New Hampshire finished in fourth with 193.625 points.
Who stood out?
There were a few Tar Heels who stood out across the entire meet. First-year Lali Dekanoidze scored 9.90 points on the vault. In addition, Knowner took home her first career all-around title after her exceptional performances in all four of the events. The team all together achieved meet-high team scores on the uneven parallel bars and the vault.
