An early season check-in with UNC women's gymnastics

Danna Durante has high hopes for the four sophomores on the North Carolina women’s gymnastics team, but the head coach said she needed to tweak their mindset.

Assistant coach Marie Denick asked the sophomores if it felt arrogant to say they wanted to earn a spot in a given event. They all nodded, so Denick and Durante corrected them.

“What it is, is, ‘I believe in my ability,’” Durante said. “‘I believe in my work ethic, and I believe in our ability as a staff and a team to get me prepared to compete.’”

Durante said it has been fun to watch her sophomores transform their mindset. And, it’s bearing fruit: in UNC’s home opener, the sophomores stepped up to help deliver a second-place finish. While UNC prepares for the inaugural ACC women’s gymnastics season, Durante will continue to challenge the class of 2026 to see themselves through her eyes.

Kaya Forbes was one of the sophomores Durante encouraged to make a stronger impact in year two.

Her response? Posting the best floor exercise and second-best vault scores for UNC in its home opener on Friday.

“[Forbes] was better on Friday than she was maybe at any point last year,” Durante said.

In Durante's words, Forbes’ biggest issue was not physical or technical, but instead her self-belief. She was timid. She struggled to make adjustments in her routines on road trips when the bars, floor and arena all felt different.

Now, Durante sees that when Forbes is critiqued by her coaches, she looks them in the eye, takes a deep breath and soaks it in. Adapting is becoming a habit for her.

“She's realizing she's good enough at even probably 75 percent to do a level of work that is incredible,” Durante said.

These are the transformations which Durante hopes will bolster UNC’s depth behind its stars like junior Lali Dekanoidze.

Last season, Dekanoidze set a program record score for bars at 9.975. She ended the season as just the fifth Tar Heel in program history to win WGCA All-American honors, adding to her conference championship on bars. Junior Julia Knower also won a conference co-championship on the floor exercise.

UNC was voted favorites with N.C. State to win the ACC title in the preseason coaches poll. For the Tar Heels to separate themselves from the Wolfpack, they will bank on gymnasts outside of Dekanoidze and Knower to make an impact.

Going into their first meet, the Tar Heels were not fully healthy, with a couple of injuries to first-years and another team member contracting COVID-19. UNC could only field five floor exercise competitors instead of a full six as a result.

A few errors meant the Tar Heels’ floor score was the lowest of any team at the meet. Despite this, Forbes posted the second-highest floor score of anyone at the meet and fellow sophomore Amy Wozniak also recorded a strong performance with UNC's second-highest score in the floor event.

Durante insisted that there is no panic. With the team already flexing some of its newfound depth, she knows her team will get even more of its depth back.

“Someone said to me yesterday, ‘The rising tide raises all ships,’” Durante said. “And I love that.”

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