This past weekend the UNH Wildcat Gymnastics team went to North Carolina for the NC State Tri-Meet against UNC and NC State. On top of that, they also faced off against UNC again on Monday evening. The ‘Cats came into the Weekend scorching hot, winning their last seven games.
The ‘Cats started the meet on the uneven bars. Freshmen Kylie Gorgenyi got off to a hot start as she tied for first place with a 9.800 in the event with one other UNC athlete. Junior Clare Hampford also added a strong performance with a score of 9.725 coming in fifth overall.
Next, the ‘Cats moved to the balance beam. Sophomore Hailey Lui came up with a strong performance scoring a 9.825 to share second place overall. Freshmen Robyn Kelley and Alyssa Worthington also had strong performances coming in fourth and fifth place respectively. The ‘Cats were in second place with a 97.225 trailing UNC headed to the fourth rotation.
The ‘Cats moved to the floor exercise in their third rotation. Senior Emma Winer continued to dominate in the event scoring a 9.900. Lui also performed well scoring a 9.875, with Ava Watkins anchoring and scoring a 9.825.
UNH had some ground they needed to make up in order to pull out the meet win heading into the fourth rotation as they moved to the vault. Gorgenyi came up clutch for ‘Cats again, scoring 9.850 to get the team started hot. Winer would also post a season high 9.800 to support Kelley scoring a career high 9.775 giving the ‘Cats a lift in the last rotation.
Once again, the ‘Cats were able to come from behind and pull out the win, scoring a 195.150 including a 48.825 on the final rotation to win the meet over both UNC and NC State.
Head Coach Lindsey Bruck Ayotte commented on the performance saying, “It was great to come out with a win at NC State…I felt each event got better and better”. The ‘Cats improved to 9-2 as well as 5-0 in the EAGL with the win.
The UNH gymnasts got one day of rest before heading to Chapel Hill to take on UNC again on Monday night. UNH trailed UNC all night as they were unable to pull out the win. The team looked good scoring a season high 195.650 road score but fell to UNC who scored a 196.000.
Gorgenyi scored a personal best 9.875 to tie for first on the uneven bars. Other freshmen Kelley and Worthington were able to place first and second respectively on the balance beam. Winer led the ‘Cats on the vault and floor with a score 9.775 and 9.875 respectively. Senior Riley Freehling was able to finish second in the All-Around with a total score of 38.700 as well.
Head Coach Bruck Ayotte commented “I am very happy with tonight’s performance. The team has been very consistent and continues to get better each meet”.
The ‘Cats will look to get revenge next weekend against UNC, as they face them at home on Sunday for the third straight match, this time in the Lundholm Gymnasium in Durham.
