In its first meet of the 2024 season, NC State gymnastics fell to 10th at Georgia 196.200-194.225 in Athens, Georgia. With ACC Gymnastics’ inaugural season getting underway this week, the group will be looking to make the NCAA Tournament for a sixth straight season, but there’s still plenty of competition left.
With several gymnasts returning — including graduate students Emily Shepherd, Chloe Negrete and Alexis Ortega — many have high expectations for the Wolfpack’s 2024 season. Shepherd comes into this season having won back-to-back EAGL Gymnast of the Year awards. In the preseason poll, NC State tied with UNC-Chapel Hill for first place in the ACC.
Against the GymDogs, the group was outclassed on bars, beams and floor routines, but NC State still put up some great performances. Negrete took the individual titles on vault and beam with scores of 9.875 and 9.900, respectively. Shepherd scored first solo on floor (9.950). Freshman Maddie Hall made her debut at the meet, recording an impressive third place with an overall score of 38.375.
NC State started on the uneven bars while Georgia moved to the bunker. Three members of the group earned 9.800 points, two of which were coming from new faces to the program — Hall and freshman Katie Harper. Sophomore bars specialist Kailee Adomaites led the team with a 9.725 to help push the Wolfpack forward.
Next, the team moved to the vault, where the red and white team posted their best score of the meet, a 49.025. Shepherd and Negrete led again in the event, scoring 9.850 and 9.875, respectively, while Hall shined with a 9.800. Negrete’s score was the best of either team and 0.025 away from her career-best score of 9.900 on vault.
The next lap saw the group fall to the ground, the most dramatic event of the day. Senior Krista Zoltiewicz competed in her only event of the day and scored a 9.750 along with Shepherd’s first-place score of 9.850.
While the Wolfpack had their best score on vault, their best individual score on beam was executed by Negrete. With her first 9.900 points of the season, Negrete set the highest of the two teams with her impressive routine. The final event brought the visiting team’s score to 194.225 but was unable to get past the formidable, nationally ranked Bulldogs.
The group will travel to West Valley City, Utah, for a quad meet with Brigham Young, Cal and Michigan State. This meet will feature a new member of the ACC gymnastics program in Cal, who is set to join the conference next year. The quad meet will be held on Saturday, January 13 and is scheduled to start at 9pm EST. The meet will be broadcast on ACCN, marking NC State’s first nationally televised gymnastics meet this year, with three more set to air on the channel throughout the season.