Gymnastics places second at Florida meet to close regular season

In its last meet before the postseason, No. 18 NC State gymnastics traveled to Florida to take on the Gators, Iowa State and LIU in one final quad meet of the 2024 regular season. Posting a score of 196.825, the Pack took home second place behind No. 4 Florida.

With two wins and a loss in the meet, NC State finishes the year with a 16-6 record. In its first year back in the ACC, the red-and-white went an unblemished 6-0 against conference opponents and went 9-0 at home. The gymnastics squad is one of the many underrated teams here at NC State, and all year it’s shown it has what it takes.

Leading the Pack was graduate student Chole Negrete who posted a first-place beam score of 9.925, a season-best, and a 9.925 on vault, this time a personal best. In total, Negrete posted 3 scores in the 9.9+ range, showcasing her experience.

The Wolfpack started the night on the bars, and sophomore Kailee Adomaites posted a score of 9.725 in the team’s first run. NC State had three gymnasts post scores of 9.8 or greater thanks to freshman Katie Harper and graduate students Alexis Ortega and Emily Shepard. Shepard gave the Pack its best score on the bars with a 9.825.

NC State’s highest scoring event came next on the beam where the team posted a 49.375, just 0.1 off tying its season-high score for the event. The highest individual score of the night also came on the beam with Negrete’s 9.925. The score gave Negrete enough to be part of a three-way tie for first place and gave her her 10th first-place finish of the season.

Shepard, Ortega and junior beam specialist Macy Jennings all scored 9.875s with Harper coming in just at the back of the group with a 9.825.

As a group, the Pack’s second event scoring at least a 49.300, came on the floor exercises. Senior Krista Zultevicz earned the first 9.900 or higher score of her career in the third rotation. She tied with Negrete who also tallied a 9.900. NC State had two freshmen score on the floor when freshmen Maddie Hall and Katya Edwards put up a 9.825 and 9.800, respectively.

In the fourth and final rotation of the night, the Wolfpack scored a 49.250 on the vault, tying its season-high score. With a 9.925, Negrete earned a career-best on the vault and put up NC State’s best individual vault score of the season. Her 9.925 was enough to get her on the podium in a tie for second place.

Sophomore Meg Adler totaled a 9.875 earning a personal best and Zultevicz posted a season-high 9.850 in the event as well. To round out the scoring, Ortega posted a 9.800 as she has consistently improved to get in the 9.800 or higher in the final few meets of the season.

With the conclusion of the regular season, the Pack has its eyes set on the ACC Championships where it will be the one seed. NC State will compete against Pitt, Clemson and UNC in the first ACC championship since 1984. The event will take place on Saturday, March 23, at 7 p.m,