North Carolina State University Athletics
Gymnastics Opens Season at Auburn
1/11/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
The future looks bright for NC State gymnastics. The Pack will have one of its most talented teams for the 2007 season, to go along with one of the most challenging schedules in school history. That tough schedule starts this weekend, as the Wolfpack open the 2007 season at Auburn on Friday night.
Coach Mark Stevenson heads into his 27th season at the helm of the Wolfpack program, and this year could be a special season. The Wolfpack returns four gymnasts that nabbed EAGL honors last year, and welcomes in a freshmen class that could turn out to be one of the strongest NC State has had recently.
Coach Stevenson on the 2007 team:
“I think the quality of gymnastics will be better compared to last season because we only lost one person that competed. I think one thing that you have to consider about if your team is better, is whom you are competing against. I think we are facing something like nine of the top-15 teams from last year in the regular season. So even though I think we will be better, we could lose a couple of more meets, but it will make us a lot better for the EAGL Championships and then the NCAA Regionals.”
On the Pack’s schedule:
“I believe the experience you get walking out onto the floor and competing against that quality of routines does nothing but enhance your team. You will work harder in order to get better, and those scores will go up. I think we have gotten better over the last few years, and competing against these types of quality teams will just make us better. I don’t think it gets any harder than starting the season at Auburn, then the first home meet features defending national champion Georgia, and top-25 teams Iowa and Ohio State.”
On this years depth:
“Our goal every year is to have 10 kids that can go out and compete for a 10.0 on their routines because of injuries and what not we will need all of those kids throughout the season. We feel really good right now because we are over that number on all four events. The quality of our top girls has gotten better, and the quality of all the routines in general has improved. Hopefully this season we will not just have one or two top routines on each event, but having four or five top routines will help increase our scores.”
On senior Katie Ozburn:
“We feel that Katie will make a huge impact for us on balance beam. She was a little up and down last year, but in practice and simulated meets leading up to this season she has been very consistent and is very beautiful on beam.”
On senior Rachel Katz:
“Rachel ran into a problem where she hurt her ankle in a meet at California and it has taken her almost until now to get back to 100 percent. I really see her back in the floor lineup for us, and getting quality scores. She has been a starter on bars, and has been one of our most consistent performers. Vaulting is her strongest event, and we see her as once again one of our top routines there.”
On senior Amanda Jones:
“We saw last season what we missed with Amanda out of the lineup. I think she missed a routine in her first meet back, but then went the rest of the season without missing another. She might be competing in the all-around, and is looking really good on bars and beam thus far. We’ve been holding her back some on floor, but she has started back and her routine looks really nice.”
On senior Crisann Calvo:
“Crisann did a good job early in the season for us last year filling in on both floor and bars. I think she is in the running for bars, and will be ready to go on floor if we need her.”
On senior Arien Stainback:
“Arien is coming off of her second ankle surgery, and only started to get back into the swing of things in late October. She has been working hard on beam, and we are hoping that her ankle just holds up.”
On seniors Brooke Outland and Suzanne Price:
“Both Brooke and Suzanne have full routines, so there is an opportunity for us to put them into the lineup if we needed too. Both are working on bars, and I do expect to see them compete sometime during this season for us.”
On junior Leigha Hancock:
“We are working really hard on getting her bar routine together so she can compete in the all-around. Leigha decided during her freshman year that she wanted to be really good, and we have found out that once she decides to do something she does it and does it very good. Obviously she won awards for both floor and vault last year, and on beam she finished 12th in the rankings.”
On junior Heather Zolton:
“I think Heather will be one of our top kids in every event. Everytime she goes up on a routine, we know we can count on her. She is just a really good gymnast and a really good competitor. She does some unique skills, and she is just a really good performer.”
On junior Kelsey Lee:
“I really see Kelsey doing the all-around at some point this year. Her beam has really improved, and I think we finally found a vault for her to use her outstanding skills on. Overall, Kelsey will make a big impact. She is one of our better bar workers, as well as floor.”
On junior Laurie Singer:
“Laurie will be doing bars this year. We moved her off the other events because she had a couple of knee surgeries before she even got here. She has some really hard skills, and all she has to do is get some experience for a good routine to come through.”
On sophomore Elyse Adams:
“Elyse will be out for the year. She went up on bars a few times in the fall to do swings and stuff, and that was a big step. She didn’t have to have surgery, but the muscles are so stretched in her elbow that they put a brace on her to help support the elbow.”
On sophomore Dru Davis:
“I think Dru will sort of have the same role she had last year, filling in on events and having the chance to land in the lineup on any event. Her beam has come along really well, and her bars are improving. I think she could be a regular on floor, because her tumbling is really good.”
On sophomore Ashley Shepard:
“Ashley did such a god job as a freshman on floor last year, so she will be right there again this season. There is also a good chance she will do some vaulting. She is working hard on bars as well, so we really like what we see from her in the gym.”
On sophomore Mackenzie Payne:
“Mackenzie is working all the events, and getting a lot better. I see her having the potential to do vaulting down the line this year. The vault just has to get consistent, and a lot of that just has to do with experience.”
On sophomore Lauren Spence:
“Lauren is doing pretty well on both beam and floor. She had a problem with her foot being injured, but things are coming along well now. We held her out for a few weeks, but she came back and continues to work hard.”
On sophomore Luci Vance:
“Luci will be doing floor and beam for us this year, there is no doubt in my mind. I don’t know if she will start for us everytime, but we will need her on those events throughout the year. She had to overcome a shoulder injury, but she has a really good style on both of those events.”
On sophomore Jamie Mula:
“Jamie came around Christmas last year after transferring from Auburn. We thought that she would be doing vault for us, but she had to have surgery, and it will take her a full year to recover.”
On freshman Taylor Seaman:
“Taylor as an all-arounder this season will really make an impact. She will be one of those kids that are just a great performer and really enjoy going out and putting a show on for you. She has some of the best skills of anybody on the team, and she will be a joy for everybody to watch.”
On freshman Olga Bodrikova:
“Olga is a great kid, that I’m sure will do well. Over the summer she had some wrist problems, and it was discovered that she had some cracks. So we’ve been trying to get her healed up, and really haven’t seen too much of her in practice. She’ll make an impact this year on beam, and maybe floor.”
On freshman Lauren Deuser:
“I think Lauren will be a big surprise for us this year. She has learned so much this year in the short amount of practice, and I could see her started on three events from the first meet on.”
Coach Mark Stevenson heads into his 27th season at the helm of the Wolfpack program, and this year could be a special season. The Wolfpack returns four gymnasts that nabbed EAGL honors last year, and welcomes in a freshmen class that could turn out to be one of the strongest NC State has had recently.
Coach Stevenson on the 2007 team:
“I think the quality of gymnastics will be better compared to last season because we only lost one person that competed. I think one thing that you have to consider about if your team is better, is whom you are competing against. I think we are facing something like nine of the top-15 teams from last year in the regular season. So even though I think we will be better, we could lose a couple of more meets, but it will make us a lot better for the EAGL Championships and then the NCAA Regionals.”
On the Pack’s schedule:
“I believe the experience you get walking out onto the floor and competing against that quality of routines does nothing but enhance your team. You will work harder in order to get better, and those scores will go up. I think we have gotten better over the last few years, and competing against these types of quality teams will just make us better. I don’t think it gets any harder than starting the season at Auburn, then the first home meet features defending national champion Georgia, and top-25 teams Iowa and Ohio State.”
On this years depth:
“Our goal every year is to have 10 kids that can go out and compete for a 10.0 on their routines because of injuries and what not we will need all of those kids throughout the season. We feel really good right now because we are over that number on all four events. The quality of our top girls has gotten better, and the quality of all the routines in general has improved. Hopefully this season we will not just have one or two top routines on each event, but having four or five top routines will help increase our scores.”
On senior Katie Ozburn:
“We feel that Katie will make a huge impact for us on balance beam. She was a little up and down last year, but in practice and simulated meets leading up to this season she has been very consistent and is very beautiful on beam.”
On senior Rachel Katz:
“Rachel ran into a problem where she hurt her ankle in a meet at California and it has taken her almost until now to get back to 100 percent. I really see her back in the floor lineup for us, and getting quality scores. She has been a starter on bars, and has been one of our most consistent performers. Vaulting is her strongest event, and we see her as once again one of our top routines there.”
On senior Amanda Jones:
“We saw last season what we missed with Amanda out of the lineup. I think she missed a routine in her first meet back, but then went the rest of the season without missing another. She might be competing in the all-around, and is looking really good on bars and beam thus far. We’ve been holding her back some on floor, but she has started back and her routine looks really nice.”
On senior Crisann Calvo:
“Crisann did a good job early in the season for us last year filling in on both floor and bars. I think she is in the running for bars, and will be ready to go on floor if we need her.”
On senior Arien Stainback:
“Arien is coming off of her second ankle surgery, and only started to get back into the swing of things in late October. She has been working hard on beam, and we are hoping that her ankle just holds up.”
On seniors Brooke Outland and Suzanne Price:
“Both Brooke and Suzanne have full routines, so there is an opportunity for us to put them into the lineup if we needed too. Both are working on bars, and I do expect to see them compete sometime during this season for us.”
On junior Leigha Hancock:
“We are working really hard on getting her bar routine together so she can compete in the all-around. Leigha decided during her freshman year that she wanted to be really good, and we have found out that once she decides to do something she does it and does it very good. Obviously she won awards for both floor and vault last year, and on beam she finished 12th in the rankings.”
On junior Heather Zolton:
“I think Heather will be one of our top kids in every event. Everytime she goes up on a routine, we know we can count on her. She is just a really good gymnast and a really good competitor. She does some unique skills, and she is just a really good performer.”
On junior Kelsey Lee:
“I really see Kelsey doing the all-around at some point this year. Her beam has really improved, and I think we finally found a vault for her to use her outstanding skills on. Overall, Kelsey will make a big impact. She is one of our better bar workers, as well as floor.”
On junior Laurie Singer:
“Laurie will be doing bars this year. We moved her off the other events because she had a couple of knee surgeries before she even got here. She has some really hard skills, and all she has to do is get some experience for a good routine to come through.”
On sophomore Elyse Adams:
“Elyse will be out for the year. She went up on bars a few times in the fall to do swings and stuff, and that was a big step. She didn’t have to have surgery, but the muscles are so stretched in her elbow that they put a brace on her to help support the elbow.”
On sophomore Dru Davis:
“I think Dru will sort of have the same role she had last year, filling in on events and having the chance to land in the lineup on any event. Her beam has come along really well, and her bars are improving. I think she could be a regular on floor, because her tumbling is really good.”
On sophomore Ashley Shepard:
“Ashley did such a god job as a freshman on floor last year, so she will be right there again this season. There is also a good chance she will do some vaulting. She is working hard on bars as well, so we really like what we see from her in the gym.”
On sophomore Mackenzie Payne:
“Mackenzie is working all the events, and getting a lot better. I see her having the potential to do vaulting down the line this year. The vault just has to get consistent, and a lot of that just has to do with experience.”
On sophomore Lauren Spence:
“Lauren is doing pretty well on both beam and floor. She had a problem with her foot being injured, but things are coming along well now. We held her out for a few weeks, but she came back and continues to work hard.”
On sophomore Luci Vance:
“Luci will be doing floor and beam for us this year, there is no doubt in my mind. I don’t know if she will start for us everytime, but we will need her on those events throughout the year. She had to overcome a shoulder injury, but she has a really good style on both of those events.”
On sophomore Jamie Mula:
“Jamie came around Christmas last year after transferring from Auburn. We thought that she would be doing vault for us, but she had to have surgery, and it will take her a full year to recover.”
On freshman Taylor Seaman:
“Taylor as an all-arounder this season will really make an impact. She will be one of those kids that are just a great performer and really enjoy going out and putting a show on for you. She has some of the best skills of anybody on the team, and she will be a joy for everybody to watch.”
On freshman Olga Bodrikova:
“Olga is a great kid, that I’m sure will do well. Over the summer she had some wrist problems, and it was discovered that she had some cracks. So we’ve been trying to get her healed up, and really haven’t seen too much of her in practice. She’ll make an impact this year on beam, and maybe floor.”
On freshman Lauren Deuser:
“I think Lauren will be a big surprise for us this year. She has learned so much this year in the short amount of practice, and I could see her started on three events from the first meet on.”
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