Auburn and Bowling Green at North Carolina

Note: N.C. State was originally supposed to compete at this meet but withdrew on Jan. 3 due to COVID protocols.

Recap

The Big Storyline: Olympic all-around champion Sunisa Lee made her anticipated collegiate debut, posting a 9.775 on bars and a 9.875 on beam. In addition, two freshmen from North Carolina—Julia Knower and Lali Dekanoidze—were also impressive in their debuts, with Knower winning beam with an impressive 9.925 and Dekanoidze taking the bars and all-around titles.

Implications: North Carolina’s score here is higher than all but one of its scores from 2021. With still much room to improve, the Tar Heels are showing that they shouldn’t be counted out of the conference or regional conversation this year. 

Records: North Carolina’s 195.700 is its highest season opening score in program history.

Preview

Current Rankings: No. 14 Auburn and Bowling Green at No. 35 North Carolina

Why You Should Make Time to Tune in: Danna Durante’s long-awaited return to college coaching is reason enough to watch this meet, but it also marks the collegiate debut of Olympic all-around champion Sunisa Lee. 

Need More Proof? Auburn missed out on the 2021 postseason due to COVID protocols, and if its preseason training footage is any indication, it’s aiming to rebound in a big way this year. All eyes will understandably be on Lee, but her classmate Sara Hubbard has a powerful Yurchenko one and a half that earned multiple perfect 10s during her level 10 career and made our list of Most Anticipated Level 10 Freshmen on Vault. North Carolina freshman Lali Dekanoidze also made that list; the former five-star recruit is poised to be an all-around sensation for the Tar Heels. Also keep an eye out for Bowling Green’s Dahlia Solorzano-Caruso. The junior transfer earned multiple conference and USAG All-America honors and won the 2021 USAG national all-around title during her time at SEMO, and could help change the Falcons’ fortunes in 2022.