Since I am sick-as-a-dog, I will not be able to venture down I-40 and see the 24th ranked Lady Wolfpack (6-5) host Penn State (#18), Kent State (#25) and William & Mary today at 7 p.m. at the Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, NC.
North Carolina State will be trying to rebound from road losses last week to the University of Georgia (#1) and the University of North Carolina (#21), which lost a close meet at West Virginia University last night.
But, the Lady Wolfpack had some promising results last weekend.
Freshman Brittany Vantz, of Lincoln, Neb., posted a 9.75 on bars and senior Leigha Hancock, of Suffield, Conn., scored a team best 9. 825 on balance beam in Athens, Ga.
Against UNC, freshman Brittney Hardiman, of Apopka, Fla., scored a 9.825 on vault and a 9.775 on balance beam, which made her the conference rookie of the week.
In an article on the gopack.com web site, Hardiman told Tim Peeler that it was Keri Strug's inspirational one-legged vault at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta which made her want to become a gymnast:
"To me, that was amazing," Hardiman said. "I wanted to do that. I wanted to have the world look at me that way."
Hardiman will have her chance to perform a stunning vault this evening, let's hope it will not have to be performed with a leg injury!
The Wolfpack face the University of Michigan in Raleigh at 7 p.m. on Feb. 22
The UNC Tarheels face another ranked squad in the University of Florida that same night in Chapel Hill, NC.
No entry about the Wolfpack gymnastics team would be complete without mentioning junior Mackenzie Payne, who is from my hometown of Roanoke, Va. She is a graduate of the Roanoke Valley Governor's School, where my sister went, but I'm not sure Lale ever perfected a back flip.
And, there is also one Ashley Shepard of Rock Hill, SC, who went to Northwestern High School where my cousin Mike (see previous entry) went to school. I saw Ashley perform a remarkable floor exercise at a meet last year.
I would also like to see William & Mary perform well tonight. They are the last remaining Virginia university with a women's gymnastics program. James Madison University lost their team last year.
Today is a big day for North Carolina State athletics as the men's basketball team plays Clemson at 3 p.m. at the RBC Center in Raleigh. I must say I am not sure who to root for here as the Tigers coach Oliver Purnell once coached my alma mater Radford University, which used to have a gymnastics team too.
My friend Engin Atsur, who was last year's team captain, played guard for the Wolfpack last year. I would suspect that he probably didn't have any time to date any of the gymnasts..........
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