North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State Tabbed as Preseason Favorite in EAGL
1/4/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
Jan. 4, 2011
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. --- NC State gymnastics earned three first-place votes to be named preseason favorite in the East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) poll, announced Monday by the league office.
Defending champion North Carolina was picked second, while West Virginia was selected third. Votes were cast by the league’s eight head coaches, who were not permitted to vote for their own teams.
NC State, league champions in 2009 and runners-up in 2010, earned 44 points to take the top ranking into the 2011 campaign.
"We held that first place spot all of last year until the conference championship," said NC State head coach Mark Stevenson. "My peers chose our team as the team to beat this year, and that makes me happy as a coach. It puts some added pressure on our team, but on the other hand, if we can't handle that pressure then we won't win it. That's the way it is in this sport. We certainly appreciate the ranking and hope that we can live up to it."
The Pack finished 17-6 last season and return defending EAGL floor champion Brooke Barr, and seniors Brittany Vontz and Brittney Hardiman, a trio that will be tasked with replacing All-American Taylor Seaman.
Vontz finished eighth place all-around at the 2010 EAGL meet, and earned All-Tournament first team honors in all-around and floor. Hardiman captured EAGL All-Tournament second team honors in floor last season, was named All-EAGL first team on vault and all-around in 2009, and finished 2008 as EAGL Rookie of the Year.
NC State adds seven newcomers in 2011, including six promising freshmen expected to contribute immediately to the Pack's success.
"We graduated two kids and brought in seven," said Stevenson. "Taylor [Seaman] and Lauren [Deuser] will be hard to replace, but I think we'll get strong performances from our newcomers. We've consistently shown that we're competing for the tournament title every year. Hopefully we'll be competing for it again, because that's our goal."
New Hampshire (32 points) and Maryland (23 points) round out the top five, while Pitt (21 points), George Washington (14 points) and Rutgers (8 points) were ranked sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively.
The 2011 EAGL season begins this weekend with five teams in action. NC State hosts the "Beauty and the Beast" intrasquad meet Friday, January 7 at 7 p.m. before nationally fourth-ranked Oklahoma comes to Raleigh to open the Wolfpack's season on January 14.
George Washington will host the 2011 EAGL Championship on Saturday, March 19, at 2 p.m., at the Charles E. Smith Center, in Washington, D.C.
NCAA Regional Championships will be held on April 2 at six different locations. The 2011 NCAA National Championships will be held April 14-16, in Cleveland, Ohio.
