Gymnastics To Begin Regional Competition Thursday

Thursday, April 2

Baton Rouge, La.

2 p.m.

North Carolina

NCAA Regionals

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

April 1, 2026 | Women's Gymnastics

Regional Central Watch Live Scoring

BATON ROUGE, La. – University of North Carolina gymnastics will begin regional competition on Thursday afternoon in the session one quad meet. Alongside the Tar Heels, the quad features seventh-seeded Stanford, 10th-seeded Michigan and Utah State. Competition is set to begin at 2 p.m. ET from the Maravich Center with streaming available on ESPN+.

Carolina prepares for their second-straight regional appearance as a team. Last season, UNC competed at the Tuscaloosa Regional where they finished sixth overall. The highlight of the regional was Kaya Forbes becoming the first Tar Heel since 2018 to qualify for the NCAA Championships as an individual where she competed on vault.

Against the Competition
In their respective quad, Carolina will meet two new opponents this season while clashing with familiar ACC foe, Stanford.

Carolina is set to face Big Ten member Michigan Thursday afternoon. Last time the programs clashed was the 2023 Denver Regional where the Wolverines came out on top of the regional and the Tar Heels finished ninth overall. UNC is no stranger to Big Ten competition. This season, the Tar Heels are 1-2 against Big Ten teams.

UNC last met Utah State in the 2024 season opening quad meet at home. The Tar Heels finished second at the meet while Utah State finished fourth. Carolina outscored the Aggies by .550.

The Tar Heels competed against Stanford in their home opener this season where they fell, 197.225-196.400. The teams later met again at the ACC Championship where UNC finished fifth and Stanford finished second.

NCAA Regionals
The championship is composed of a field of 36 teams based on their national qualifying score. The NCAA Women's Gymnastics Committee seeds teams 1-16, and the remaining teams are placed geographically at one of the four regional sites.

Four regionals, consisting of nine teams, three all-around competitors (not on a qualifying team), and four individual specialists per event (not on a qualifying team), will be competing at predetermined campus sites. The first round will consist of two teams, and the second round will feature eight teams while the regional final will consist of four teams.

Tar Heel Tidbits

Sydney Seabrooks was named Second Team All-America on floor.
UNC Finished fifth at the 2026 ACC Championship.
Gwen Fink (beam) and JoJo Valahovic (vault) were named to the All-ACC Championship Team.
Three Tar Heels were named All-ACC – Kaya Forbes (vault), Sydney Seabrooks (floor), JoJo Valahovic (beam, vault).
Sydney Seabrooks was tabbed ACC Newcomer of the Week March 10.
Carolina downed no. 13 Minnesota at home with their highest score of the season (197.200). The score marks the fourth best in program history.
The Tar Heels posted their highest beam score since 2001 (49.425) in the meet against Minnesota.
Cami Rueda posted a career-high 9.925 and event win on floor against Minnesota.
Sydney Seabrooks won the all-around crown against Minnesota with a score of 39.450.
The Tar Heels finished third at the Purple & Gold Podium Challenge with a score of 195.950.
Cami Rueda recorded a career-high 9.900 on bars at Purple & Gold.
Jessica Naranjo recorded a career-high 9.925 on floor at Purple & Gold.
Sydney Seabrooks recorded her fourth 9.950 on floor this season at Purple & Gold.
Carolina posted their highest team score of the season at Cal (196.750).
Paige Prejean recorded a career-high 9.925 on bars in the tri-meet against Nebraska and Penn State.
JoJo Valahovic was tabbed ACC Specialist of the Week (Feb. 17) for the second-straight week this season. The sophomore has now posted a 9.900 or higher on vault six times this season.
JoJo Valahovic is tied for 19th in the nation on vault.
Gwen Fink earned another all-around event win at Metroplex and recorded a career-high 9.950 on beam at the event.
JoJo Valahovic tied her career-high of 9.950 on beam in the meet against NC State. The sophomore also recorded a 9.925 on vault for the second consecutive meet.
Sydney Seabrooks recorded a 9.925 on floor against NC State for the fifth meet this season where the freshman recorded a 9.900 or higher on the event.
Gwen Fink won the all-around against NC State with a score of 39.250.
The team ranks in the top 25 in the NCAA on all five events (Vault – no. 11, Floor – no. 19, Beam – no. 21, Bars – no. 22, AA – no. 22,).
Sydney Seabrooks is tied for 9th in the NCAA on floor.
After recording a 9.925 on vault, JoJo Valahovic was named ACC Co-Specialist of the Week (Feb. 10).
Gwen Fink recorded a career-high and program's third-best score on bars against NC State (9.950).
Jessica Naranjo, Sydney Seabrooks, and JoJo Valahovic all recorded a 9.900 on their respective events against Clemson. Naranjo and Valahovic were crowned event winners on beam after posting season-high scores of 9.900.
After recording a 9.950 on floor for the two consecutive meets, Sydney Seabrooks was tabbed ACC Specialist of the Week (Jan. 20).
Gwen Fink was tabbed ACC Gymnast of the Week (Jan. 14) after winning the All-Around title in the season opener at Florida with a score of 39.475.
The Tar Heels were picked to finish fourth in the ACC Preseason Poll.
Carolina secured second place while recording a program record score on the road (196.675) in the season opening quad meet at Florida.
Gwen Fink and Kaya Forbes were named to the ACC Preseason Watchlist while Sydney Seabrooks was featured on the Preseason Newcomer List.
Sydney Seabrooks was named to the Most Anticipated Freshmen List by College Gym News.