Senior Class Sees Year Of Displacement As Positive Opportunity

NC State vs. Penn State
Sat., Jan. 9, 2016 @ 4 p.m.
Rec Hall- University Park, Pa.
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RALEIGH- For four of NC State's gymnastics team members, the start of their last season with the Wolfpack is just one day away. One day away from their last year of competition, traveling and bonding with teammates.

For this year's senior class, their final season with the Wolfpack will be unique due to the renovation of Reynolds Coliseum. Normally, the NC State gymnastics team hosts roughly five meets every year inside its home venue. This year, the team will only host one event inside Broughton High School- the Wolfpack's temporary home until Reynolds' renovation is complete in the fall of 2016.

Aubrey Hine, Courtney Turner, Brittni Watkins and Michaela Woodford represent the senior class on this year's team, and all attest that the team is ready for its season to finally begin.

"We're at the point now that we're really eager to see the results from what we've put into practice. All of the hard work we've put in since August is going to pay off now and I think that's what we're excited for," said Turner.

With five months of preparation for the season, the squad has seen vast improvement from the first day of offseason practice up to their most recent intrasquad that took place right before the holiday break.

"The offseason has gone really well. Everyone has worked really hard and you can start to see now as the meet is quickly approaching how well everyone is doing. Everyone is starting to hit routines, stick dismounts and look more confident and ready to compete this weekend," added Hine.

The four gymnasts bring depth and experience to the squad. Watkins and Woodford represent the Pack in all four rotations, while Hine is a beam and floor specialist and Turner a bars specialist.

Watkins and Woodford qualified for last year's NCAA Championships, the first time in program history NC State has sent two to the national meet. All four have been a part of at least one of the three squads that have made appearances at the NCAA Regional Championships during their tenure.

The experience of their college gymnastics careers differs for all four seniors, which they believe helps when it comes to leading their team in the best direction possible.

"We try to lead by example because we are seniors and the rest of the team does look up to us, but we also try to verbally encourage the younger girls when not only when they need a push but also when they're doing well," explained Hine.

"As a class as a whole we have different leadership styles as well, so I think that helps us reach out to everyone on the team," Turner added.

The team returns 12 from last year's squad, as nine of them saw action in the 2015 season. With the recent addition of Alexa and Paris Phillips, NC State has four freshmen on its roster, who all have potential to make rotation lineups.

"Now that we have so many more girls that have so much talent, as well as all of the girls that we had last year, it's going to make it hard for the coaches to decide who they want in the lineups. It's not about who can do a routine, it's about who's going to hit the routine," said Watkins.

With the talent among this year's program, making the travel squad is a key motivator for the gymnasts.

"We have a lot more depth on this year's team than any other team we've been a part of. It's awesome to be in such a competitive environment day in and day out when we're training," explained Woodford.

Despite the Pack competing on the road for the majority of the season, the team sees their displacement from Raleigh as a positive that can help result in a strong season.

"I think it's actually better that we will be traveling so much because we are closer when we travel as a team. We go to dinner as a team the night before and hang out together the day of, which makes us closer as a whole. I think it'll be easier to stay close throughout the entire season," mentioned Woodford.

"It gives us the opportunity to form the bond that we need to be a strong team too," Turner added.

Looking ahead to what the team wants to accomplish, the gymnasts have set goals for the team that they believe will help result in strong and consistent performances throughout the year.

"Most of our goals are smaller things like sticking landings and showing off your confidence when you're competing. The little things really add up and that's what sets teams apart from others," said Hine.

These smaller goals are what they believe will put NC State in a prime position to achieve what they want in postseason competition.

"One goal each meet is not to beat the other team, but to beat ourselves in every event. We want to improve on our score on each event in every meet and not focus on beating the team we go up against," Watkins added.

Senior Class Sees Year Of Displacement As Positive Opportunity

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Players Mentioned

Aubrey Hine

Paris Phillips

Courtney Turner

Brittni Watkins

Michaela Woodford