Carolina Defeats Towson In Mental Health Awareness Meet

Saturday, February 9

Chapel Hill, N.C.

4 p.m.

North Carolina

195.075

193.000

Towson University

Mekyllah Williams' career-high 9.800 on bars gave her her first career first-place finish.

February 9, 2019 | Women's Gymnastics

Results Photo Gallery

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The University of North Carolina women's gymnastics team topped East Atlantic Gymnastics League foe Towson in its first annual Mental Health Awareness meet by a 195.075-193.000 margin. Carolina continues to dominate on floor, sweeping the top-5 in today's contest.

"The coaching staff and the team as well were very pleased with the team's performance," North Carolina head coach Derek Galvin said. "This was the first meet that we felt like we started to put all four events together… It was a good meet. I felt the energy level was pretty good. We were pleased with the way that the teams performed. It sets us up for a good week of training before we travel to NC State next weekend."

The Tar Heels started the day on vault with a team score of 48.975 for the second week in a row. Khazia Hislop led the Tar Heels taking the top spot on the podium with a score of 9.900. Drew Aldridge improved for the fifth consecutive meet, scoring a career-high 9.800. Aldridge and teammate Mikayla Robinson tied for second place, a career-high placement for Aldridge. Madison Hargrave rounded out the four top-5 Tar Heels with a score of 9.775. Alexis Allen tied her season-high for the Tar Heels with a score of 9.700.

Carolina continued over to bars looking to bounce back after a disappointing performance last week at Pittsburgh. Carolina rattled off four top-5 finishers to earn a 48.725, its second-highest score of the year on uneven bars. Mekyllah Williams won her first event of her collegiate career with a career-high score of 9.800. Grace Donaghy and Rylie Dewhurst tied for second with scores of 9.750. Megan Ruzicka scored a 9.725, barely missing her career high of 9.750, to place fifth.

On beam, Carolina sported a 48.475 behind Hislop and Dewhurst's 9.800 second-place scores. Alexis Allen also scored in the top-5 for the Tar Heels with a 9.725.

The Tar Heels wrapped up the meet sweeping the top-5 spots on floor. Hislop won the event with a 9.875. Robinson placed second with a season-high score of 9.825. Lily Dean and Hargrave tied for third with 9.750. Jamie Antinori placed in the top-5 for the Tar Heels for the first time in her career with a score of 9.700. Carolina scored 48.900 on the event.

The Tar Heels also celebrated its first annual Mental Health Awareness Meet during today's contest. The team prides themselves on making a difference and inspiring conversation. Carolina hopes that everyone at the meet and other teams will be willing to have a conversation about mental health and de-stigmatize negative connotations.

"For anyone between the ages of 16-25, life can be really rough sometimes," said Galvin. "We can de-stigmatize the use of resources to cope and handle the struggles we all face at times… We have the resources on our campus for our students and our student-athletes and we want to de-stigmatize the use of those resources and encourage people to use them."

The Tar Heels are back in action next weekend as they travel to NC State for the Sweetheart Invitational. The meet will begin at 4 p.m. and take place in Valvano Arena in Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, N.C.