North Carolina State University Athletics
Pack Concludes Final Tuneup for 2011
1/7/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
Jan. 7, 2011
RALEIGH, N.C. --- NC State gymnastics completed a dress rehearsal for the 2011 season Friday night, hosting the Beauty and the Beast meet at Reynolds Coliseum.
For the first time this year, Wolfpack gymnasts competed in front of judges, getting their first taste of what to expect in the coming months.
“I was really pleased with everything we did tonight,” said NC State head coach Mark Stevenson. “It was their first time in front of judges and that’s really important to me, because that usually adds a little more jitters to everything that’s going on.
“Our goal here was to get ready for next week with the number four team in the country coming in, and I think we made some steps forward heading into that competition. We’re excited about it, and really excited about next week.”
High scores from the meet included 9.85s from senior Brittany Vontz on vault and junior Jess Panza in the floor exercise.
Panza contributed a team-high 9.725 on the beam, while sophomore Rachel Fincham impressed coaches and fans alike with a 9.8 on the bars to lead the Wolfpack.
“We have some room to improve,” said NC State assistant Colleen Johnson. “We had some misses probably caused by nerves. Fortunately it was tonight, and not against Oklahoma next weekend.
“On a positive note we had some really good routines. Brittany Vontz’s vault has come a long way, Jess Panza did a beautiful floor routine and beam routine, and Rachel Fincham did a gorgeous bar routine.”
Beauty and the Beast included NC State gymnastics and wrestling competing simultaneously in Reynolds Coliseum, and generated proceeds to benefit Spare Some for Autism. For more information on the charity, please visit SpareSomeForAutism.org.
Next Friday, January 14, NC State hosts nationally fourth-ranked Oklahoma at Reynolds Coliseum, scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. The meet will be streamed live on GoPack All-Access.
Players Mentioned
