UNC shakes off rust to dominate meet

High scores were a low priority this past weekend for gymnastics head coach Derek Galvin at the seven-team George Washington Invitational.

Working his team back into shape and tightening up its performances after Winter Break were of more pressing concern to the North Carolina coach.

But despite the lack of emphasis on points, the Tar Heels (6-0) went ahead and won the Invitational — in dominating fashion, no less.

UNC won every event. The team featured juniors Courtney Bumpers and Mikel Hester and senior Olivia Trusty as the top three all-around performers at the invitational.

“Our form and execution was a little bit stronger than I anticipated,” Galvin said. “We were hoping to have that level of execution by this coming weekend, and we’re already ahead of that.”

Bumpers, last year’s national champion in the all-around, placed first on bars and beam. Trusty was tops on both the floor and vault, where she posted the meet’s best individual score of 9.825.

The early-season tournament also proved to be a success for Hester, who finished no worse than ninth in any event, including third place on the floor.

“The first meet, you try to go out and stay on your feet and not fall,” Hester said. “Now we’re trying to execute the best we can. … It’s a different mind-set we’re going for.”

The Invitational served as the debut of Shawna Kelly and Alice Xu, two freshmen who contributed to the Tar Heel victory. Kelly finished fourth in vault, while Xu’s best place was tied for 16th on the beam.

“It was the first competition of the season, and it’s great that we were all able to come together and do really well at that first meet so that as a team we could win,” Bumpers said.

The endurance factor which troubled Galvin heading into the weekend proved to be more of an issue for the other six teams at the invitational, but Galvin said he still sees room for improvement.

“Gymnastics is a sport where if you take four days off, it takes five days after that to get back in shape,” Galvin said. “We’ve got work to do before we get back to where we were before exams.”

UNC travels to William & Mary Friday night to take part in the first of five head-to-head meets. The Tribe finished last at Sunday’s event, but they're still considered a formidable opponent at home.

For Galvin and the Tar Heels, the focus remains on crisper routines and daily improvements at practice.

“Let's make a step forward from where we were yesterday,” Galvin said.

“If we keep doing that, then the scores that we want will come into play later on.”

For William & Mary and the rest of college gymnastics, better scores by the Tar Heels are a frightening thought.

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.