The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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in January, but briefly dropped from the nation's top 25 after a disappointing perfor- mance at the EAGL Championships — a meet where the program has placed among the top two nine times in 16 years. How- L ■ PREVIEW WOMEN'S GYMNASTICS ever, in the spring of 2011, they finished sixth with the team's second-lowest score of the season, 193.450. After a disappointing result at the con- ference meet, the Wolfpack turned the roller-coaster ride around at the NCAA Athens Regional and nabbed its best score (194.750) at a regional meet since 1999. The squad missed a bid to the NCAA Championships with a fourth-place finish, but much more than just a high score was achieved. "It was progress, more than I've ever experienced on the team," senior Jess Panza said of last year's postseason turnaround. "When I came in as a freshman, everybody at regionals would always say, 'Beam is our downfall, we always lose it on beam because somebody always falls.' It was like it was already decided, so it was always in the back of people's minds. "Last year, it was so liberating to fight that and have everybody stay on the beam. Not only did we put up a great score, we accomplished something that the team has been trying to accomplish for years, even before I got here. It was amazing to be a part of that, but I know that we are capable of more than that. I know that we are ca- pable of being in the top two [which would earn an NCAA bid], so we're definitely working towards that this year." The team was able to extend its streak of qualifying an individual for the NCAA Championships to four straight seasons after rookie Stephanie Ouellette posted a sixth-place finish in the all-around at the NCAA Athens Regional. The rookie went on to finish 28th overall at nationals and set a school record for the best all-around score by a first-year competitor at the meet. "Stephanie is one of probably three or four kids over a 32-year period that has really stood out as a freshman," said Mark Stevenson, the only coach in program his- tory. "Stephanie has a tremendous amount of potential to continue to get better. She has already improved a lot from last year because her form is like night and day from last year." 52 ■ THE WOLFPACKER Last year, Stephanie Ouellette became the Pack's first freshman since 1993 to qualify for the NCAA Championships as an individual and recorded the program's fourth-best NCAA score of all time. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE MEDIA RELATIONS NC State's Gymnastics Team Is Looking To Qualify For The NCAA Championships ON THE WAY UP BY RYAN TICE ast year was a season full of highs and lows for the NC State gymnas- tics team. The squad opened the campaign ranked No. 10 nationally