Towards the end of every season for any varsity sport, comes an opportunity to represent your school at the national level. It is a time for those who never faced each other during the season, to showcase what they have been working on all year. Freshman gymnast Stephanie Ouellette was proud to be that representative for Wolfpack gymnastics at the NCAA National Championship in Cleveland, Ohio this past weekend.
“It was a lot of fun I really enjoyed it,” Ouellette, a freshman in First Year College, said. “It was really cool to watch something so big like NCAA Nationals. I have friends that are club competitors around the country and watching them is an honor. The fact it was televised made it even more exciting.”
This was Stephanie Ouellette’s first year competing for N.C. State and she has been noted as one of the top-performing freshman on coach Stevenson’s squad this year. Her high-scoring all-around routines have allowed for State to be one of the top overall ranked schools in the EAGL conference.
Competing as an individual, Ouellette finished 28th overall with her 38.775 in the all-around at the NCAA Championships, setting a school record for the best all-around score by a freshman at nationals.
“My experience from this weekend gives me hunger and drive to do better,” Ouellette said. “After watching the girls, it makes me want to push myself harder as well as my team. Seeing how other girls did and how they felt while performing makes me want to be there again next year.”
Ouellette’s season-highs include a 9.725 on beam, and 9.8s on vault and bars. In the floor exercise, Ouellette posted a career-best 9.9 at UCLA, 9.85s on three separate occasions, and notched scores of 9.825 five times.
“I was very excited, it made me feel happy to know I had what it takes to make it to this stage,” Ouellette said. “It was really neat to be a part of. You could just see how cool it was to watch girls from all over the country.”
By qualifying for the NCAA Championships, Ouellette gives the Pack four consecutive years of individual qualifiers and represents the eighth all-time to pull the feat. Coach Mark Stevenson has been successful at preparing his team for the national level. Last year he had the opportunity to send Taylor Seaman, as an individual competitor, to the national level, giving State the joy of receiving 7th place.
“It’s really possible for all of us from N.C. State to go next year,” Ouellette said. “We have all the same skills and talent, as the performers at Nationals did. We are a good team, we need to work on putting things together, and we are just as good as any other team out there. It just takes perfection and consistency with routines.”
Although most spectators might assume competing at nationals might be different, it requires the same mentality and focus that is needed for any other meet. Competitors must go into each event with the mindset that consistency and perfection is necessary. Ouellette fought through it all as she competed weekend after weekend, finishing the season on a well-deserved note.
“I didn’t perform exactly how I wanted to,” Ouellette said. “I wish it had gone better. I was really tired, and it had been 13 meets in a row for me with no break. Most girls got to take a break, go to optional practices; however, I was still training while everyone else was rested.”
The season for State gymnastics is over as the team moves into the offseason, preparing routines and staying fit to continue in the 2011-2012 season.
