North Carolina State University Athletics
Gymnastics Finishes 24th in Final 2007 Rankings
5/8/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
Raleigh, N.C. - The 2007 NC State gymnastics team came into the season with the slogan In It, To Win It’. The Wolfpack’s season lived up to its expectations, as NC State captured the 2007 EAGL Championship, its third conference title in school history.
Here are a few of the many highlights for the Pack this past season:
Advancing to the postseason for the 15th time in the last 16 years, the Pack scored its highest NCAA Regionals finish since1999, and finished the season ranked No. 24 nationally in the final rankings.
NC State finished the regular season ranked No. 22 in the www.troester.com/gym poll, with a RQS of 195.160. The Pack was one of only two teams in the EAGL ranked in the top-25 in the final rankings. NC State finished No. 14 nationally on floor with a RQS of 49.125. The Pack also ranked 25th on vault (48.905), 27th on bars (48.750), and 30th on beam (48.590). NC State led the EAGL on floor, was second on vault, bars and beam.
In what many around the Wolfpack program considered the toughest home schedule in school history, NC State finished 15th nationally in attendance with an average of 2,094 per meet. The Pack used the strong support of some great home crowds to accumulate a 10-4 home record this past season.
The NC State gymnastics team claimed the 2007 EAGL Championship with a team score of 195.475 March 30 at College Pack, Md. The Wolfpack won the conference title for the third time in league history, after having previously won back-to-back titles in 1999 and 2000. The Pack used its highest team score of the season on bars, a 49.100, in the final rotation to hold onto a lead it had throughout. NC State has now finished in the top-three at the conference meet a league record nine times in 12 tries overall.
Junior Leigha Hancock became the first NC State gymnast to earn a second EAGL event title, as she scored a 9.9 on beam for the win after winning vault last season. Hancock also finished third in the all-around (39.100). Freshman Taylor Seaman scored a pair of top-three finishes, as she was second on floor with a 9.9 and third on bars with a 9.85. Rachel Katz led the Pack on vault with her 9.825 for sixth.
Junior Leigha Hancock won an individual event title for the second year in a row at the EAGL Championship, as she claimed top honors on the beam with a season-best 9.9. Hancock is the first gymnast in school history to win a second event title at the EAGL Championship, and also is only the second gymnast to win the beam title at EAGL for the Pack (Jenny Sommer, 2000).
For the second year in a row, NC State head coach Mark Stevenson was named the EAGL Coach of the Year following the Pack’s first place finish at this years EAGL Championship. It marked his third time in the 12-year history of the league being honored, his first was in 1998.
Six members of the NC State gymnastics team were honored on the All-EAGL first and second teams announced at the conference’s annual banquet. The Wolfpack was recognized on one of the first-teams a total of six times, and had an individual on one of the various second-teams a total of two times.
Junior Leigha Hancock led the way for the Pack earning distinctions on three events for the second year in a row. Hancock earned All-EAGL first-team honors on both vault and beam, and was second-team on floor. She has now been honored a total of seven times by the EAGL in her first three seasons at NC State.
Senior Amanda Jones was named to the All-EAGL first-team for bars. Jones also earned the same honor for the 2005 season. Junior Heather Zolton earned All-EAGL first-team honors for the all-around, after earning second-team honors a year ago. Sophomore Ashley Shepard was honored for her work on floor for the second straight. Shepard earned All-EAGL first-team honors for floor this season, after being on the second-team for floor as a freshman last year.
A pair of freshmen also received EAGL honors. Taylor Seaman was named to the All-EAGL first-team for the all-around, while classmate Lauren Deuser was named All-EAGL second-team for the balance beam. NC State has now had at least one freshman on either the first or second-teams each of the past six years. Seaman and Zolton combined to give the Pack two members honored for the all-around for the second straight year.
Junior Leigha Hancock led the way in the EAGL this season, having won EAGL Specialist of the Week honors a league-high four times. Only one other gymnast was honored more than once this season. Hancock is no stranger to the award, as she won the same honor four times last season as well.
Freshman Taylor Seaman also earned an EAGL-best this season, winning EAGL Rookie of the Week honors a total of four times, including three weeks straight at the end of the season. The Pack has been quite familiar with Rookie of the Week honors, as back in 2005, three different NC State gymnasts won the award a total of six times.
The NC State gymnastics team placed 12 members on the 2007 EAGL All-Academic Team. The Wolfpack had 10 athletes reappearing on the All-Academic list, while two members were honored for the first time. Of the league-record 96 gymnasts, 17 were honored for the fourth time in their careers, including five members from NC State. Crisann Calvo, Amanda Jones, Rachel Katz, Brooke Outland, and Suzanne Price of North Carolina State were all named to the EAGL All-Academic Team for the fourth time straight year. Here are the Pack’s members honored: Elyse Adams (Biological Sciences), Crisann Calvo (Psychology), Lauren Deuser (Textiles), Amanda Jones (Accounting), Rachel Katz (Nutrition), Jamie Mula (Psychology), Brooke Outland (Political Science), Mackenzie Payne (Biological Sciences), Suzanne Price (Mechanical Engineering), Ashley Shepard (Microbiology), Lauren Singer (Communications), Luci Vance (Textiles).
