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The Daily Tar Heel

Saturday sports roundup: Softball struggles, gymnastics team defeats Temple and more

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First-year Hannah Nam sticks her landing after performing her balance beam routine during a meet against George Washington in Carmichael Arena on Friday Feb. 28, 2020. The Tar Heels placed first against the Colonials.

With several of North Carolina's fall sports teams adding spring seasons to their 2020-2021 schedules, The Daily Tar Heel will be recapping some of the action from this spring's busy weekends in roundups every Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Gymnastics: UNC, 2nd, 194.950

The North Carolina gymnastics team traveled to Raleigh on Saturday and competed against conference opponents N.C. State and Temple in a tri-meet. The Tar Heels finished second to N.C. State with a final score of 194.950 for their first conference loss of the season. 

The Tar Heels began the first rotation on the floor exercise and jumped to a narrow lead over their two opponents with a score of 48.900. Sophomores Hannah Nam and Elizabeth Culton led the team in this rotation, both scoring 9.825. 

But the Tar Heels fell behind the Wolfpack after the second rotation and never reclaimed the lead. UNC scored 48.900 on the vault, 48.925 on the uneven bars and 48.275 on the balance beam in the following rotations.

Culton and sophomore transfer Brianna Greenlow were standouts for the Tar Heels, as Culton placed second with a 39.275 and Greenlow placed fifth with a 38.375 in the all-around results. 

UNC will travel to Williamsburg, Virginia, looking to finish strong in its first of two meets against William & Mary on Saturday, March 6, at 1 p.m. This meet and the next one against the Tribe in Chapel Hill on March 13 will close out the regular season before the EAGL Championships begin on March 20.

Asheebo Rojas, staff writer

Softball doubleheader: No. 4 Alabama 2, UNC 0; Alabama 4, UNC 0

The UNC softball team (5-4, 4-1 ACC) struggled against No. 4 Alabama (13-0) on the second day of the Crimson Classic in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. 

In the first game, Alabama’s Lexi Kilfoyl pitched a no-hitter, and the Crimson Tide won, 2-0. UNC junior Hannah George pitched her second complete game of the season in the close loss. 

In the second game, UNC again struggled to get on base, and Alabama scored four unearned runs in the fourth inning, which led to a 4-0 Crimson Tide victory. Fifth-year pitcher Brittany Pickett led the Tar Heels in the second game, as she pitched a complete game and was one of two UNC players to get a hit in the game. Pickett has won four out of her five complete games so far this season. 

UNC will look to finish the tournament strong on Sunday, Feb. 28, at 11:30 a.m. with a game against the Memphis Tigers (0-4). 

Michael Meares, staff writer

Indoor track and field ACC Championship: UNC men, second; UNC women, ninth

The UNC men’s and women’s track and field teams placed second and ninth, respectively, at the ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships this weekend. 

There were strong performances from the men’s team in the final events on Thursday and Saturday. Troy Yearwood's distance of 21.08 meters, and James Joycey's distance of 20.41placed second and third, respectively, in the weight throw on Thursday. 

On Saturday, Brandon Tubby and Thomas Ratcliffe finished first and second, respectively, in the mile run with both of them breaking the four-minute mark. Daniel McArthur won his third consecutive ACC indoor title in the shot put with a distance of 20.69 meters. 

Isaiah Palmer finished second in the 400-meter and third in the 200-meter with times of 45.97 and 20.96. The men’s 4x400 relay team, consisting of Palmer, Ryan Saint-Germain, Craig Saddler II and Onyedikachi Ohia-Enyia took home first place on Saturday. 

There were some standout performances on the women’s team as well. Anna Keefer earned second place in the 200-meter with a time of 23.56. Emmeline Fisher finished fifth in the mile, Jill Shippee finished fifth in the weight throw, Sydney Banks finished fourth in the high jump and Paige Hofstad finished sixth in the 5000 meters.

Isaiah Lucas, staff writer 

Men's swimming ACC Championship: Sixth place

The UNC men's swimming team jumped out to a strong start on the first day, ending Wednesday first overall among the 12 teams with 304 points. 

The Tar Heels continued to shine throughout the second day of the championships, putting up solid scores in the freestyle relay and trials. Though North Carolina was able to continue its solid results, the team dropped from first to fourth in a close overall standings. 

The third day of the championships were a falling point for the Tar Heels, where they began to post mediocre results compared to their early success. North Carolina registered relatively low success in individual events with the exception of the 100-yard breaststroke. In the team 400-yard medley relay, the Tar Heels got back on track, finishing fifth to keep their overall ranking at five, only dropping one spot from the day before.

In similar fashion to the third day, the Tar Heels continued to struggle in individual events on the fourth day, and only accounted for an eighth-place finish in the final relay of the meet. In the final day of competition, the Tar Heels dropped from fifth place to sixth, ending their best run in the tournament since 2016 and placing them in the middle for the ACC standings. 

Junior Anton Down-Jenkins helped keep North Carolina in the top half of the ACC competitors with his first-place finishes in both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives as the Tar Heels' top athlete.  

Ike Bryant, staff writer

@dthsports | sports@dailytarheel.com