Pack Gymnastics 2017 Season Preview

The NC State gymnastics team is set for its 2017 season inside the newly renovated Reynolds Coliseum with an experienced squad of 11 returners from last year's team, along with four highly skilled and talented freshmen.

Of the 11 members returning, juniors Chelsea Knight and Nicole Wild both advanced to the NCAA Regional Championship last season. Knight was selected on vault and finished seventh with a 9.85, and Wild finished 32nd on beam with a score of 9.675.

In addition to Knight and Wild, seven other returners played valuable roles in helping the Wolfpack to have a successful regular season. In 2016 NC State posted a 196.175 at George Washington, which is the 13th-best team score in the program's 36 years of history. The team additionally posted a combined five top 20 scores on vault, bars and beam.

From a schedule standpoint the Pack faced the adversity of competing on the road in nine of its 10 meets, but managed to defeat four top 25 teams and held a 6-0 record against conference opponents. The Pack was the only team in the EAGL conference to hold an undefeated record.

Several members were additionally recognized by the conference for outstanding athletic and academic efforts, as six were named to the 2016 All-EAGL Team and 11 landed on the 2016 All-EAGL Scholastic Team.

In regard to new faces on the team, Alexis Beucler, Melissa Brooker, Drew Grantham and Hailey Mesmer make up the Pack's freshmen class. Beucler, Brooker and Grantham all have extensive resumes from their junior competition days, as all are Junior Olympic National qualifiers and hold multiple titles at the state and regional levels. Mesmer additionally holds several top-three finishes at the state and regional championships.

Among the upperclassmen mix, Amanda Fillard will play a valuable role with strong routines on vault, bars and beam. Last season she competed on all three rotations for the Pack in every meet and notched career highs on bars (9.875) and beam (9.875).

The team also returns a strong sophomore class that made a large impact on the team's success in 2016. Despite missing the second half of the season due to injury, Caitlyn Fillard posted high scores on vault, beam and floor in the first five meets of the season with potential to contribute on those events again this season. Twins Alexa and Paris Phillips joined the squad one week before the first meet of the 2016 season, but managed to land among the vault and floor rotations in all 10 meets. They are slated to return on both events with the potential to also contribute on bars and beam.

With the excitement of coming home to Reynolds, the program will rely on its combination of fresh talent and experienced upperclassmen to lead the Pack. NC State will face another challenging schedule this season, as 12 of its opponents finished in the top 50 of the final Road To Nationals poll last year and five of those teams are listed in the top 25 of the 2017 preseason poll. The team will open its season with No. 5 Florida Jan. 8 at 2 p.m. inside the newly renovated Reynolds Coliseum.

Players Mentioned

Alexis Beucler

Melissa Brooker

Amanda Fillard

Caitlyn Fillard

Drew Grantham

Chelsea Knight

Courtney Leighton

Hailey Mesmer

Paris Phillips

Hannah Sobhan

Nicole Wild

North Carolina State University Athletics