Tar Heels Begin Four-Week Road Stretch at William & Mary

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The North Carolina Women's Gymnastics Team begin its four weeks of consecutive away meets on Saturday, March 2, when it travels to William & Mary College. The meet will begin at 3 p.m. on the campus of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va.

"It was a good week of training," said North Carolina Head Coach Derek Galvin. "We are gearing up for our four weekends of consecutive away meets. This meet gives us the opportunity of getting back into the rhythm of competing away."

Carolina remains the top school on vault in the EAGL with an NQS of 48.845 and ranked 27th in the nation. Junior Khazia Hislop is coming off her third consecutive Specialist of the Week and matching her career high on floor with a 9.950 last week. She leads the EAGL on vault (NQS 9.870) and floor (NQS 9.885) and sits in second on beam (NQS 9.825). Mikayla Robinson also holds a spot in the Top-5 on vault, tied for fourth with an NQS of 9.805.

LAST WEEK

North Carolina (194.275) fell to New Hampshire (194.950) on Senior Night, Friday night in Carmichael Arena. Carolina becomes 6-5 overall and 3-3 in the East Atlantic Gymnastics League. The Tar Heels scored a season-high score (49.275) and three career highs on floor.

"It was a very exciting meet the first two events and the last event," said Carolina head coach Derek Galvin. "Tonight, beam just didn't work out. What I always want for the seniors is for their final home meet to be a good experience. Even though we had a little challenge on beam, the team came back on floor. That is what I want the seniors and the team to take away from this meet, the way they bounced back."

Carolina began the day on vault scoring 48.975, extending its streak of scoring 48.950+ on vault to five consecutive meets. The Tar Heels took four of the top five spots on the event. Junior Khazia Hislop scored the highest for the Heels, placing second with a 9.875. Mikayla Robinson rounded out the podium in third with a 9.825. Madison Hargrave and Alexis Allen place fourth and fifth to round out the top five gymnasts on vault with scores of 9.800 and 9.775, respectively.

On bars, Carolina bounced back after struggling last week and scored 48.700. Rylie Dewhurst's 9.825 tied for second. Grace Donaghy placed fourth with a score of 9.775, tying her season-high. Megan Ruzicka landed her second top five placement of the season with a 9.725 in fifth place.

Carolina senior Jamie DeCicco landed her second career and second consecutive first place finish with a score of 9.850 on beam to lead the Tar Heels to a score of 47.325. Hislop also placed in the top five in fifth with a score of 9.775.

The Tar Heels scored their highest floor score (49.275) since last year's EAGL Championships. Three Tar Heels went first, second, and tied for third with all three matching their career highs. Hislop placed first with a 9.950, her highest score this season. Robinson matched her career high with a season-high 9.900 in second place. Lily Dean's 9.850 earned her third place in the meet. Hargrave rounded out the top five with a 9.825 in fifth place.

After the meet, Carolina honored its three seniors, DeCicco, Hargrave and Ruzicka. The program welcomed them and their families to the floor for a tribute video and presentation of posters.

"As seniors, they are having their best years ever," said Galvin. "I am really happy for them that all the hard work they put in, you can see it in their gymnastics… It's a story of three amazing women. They have all overcome adversity. They have all been tenacious in the way they train and the way they compete. It is inspiring to be around people like that."

THE OPPONENT

The Tribe comes into the meet ranked 62nd in the country with a National Qualifying Score of 191.650. William & Mary are balanced across all four events, with an NQS of 47.950 on vault, 47.635 on bars, 47.685 on beam and 48.085 on floor.

"The Tribe Head Coach Mary Lewis announced her retirement after this year," commented Galvin. "She has been there many years and I think she has done an excellent job with their program."

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Alexis Allen

Lily Dean

Jamie DeCicco

Rylie Dewhurst

Grace Donaghy

Madison Hargrave

Khazia Hislop

Mikayla Robinson

Megan Ruzicka