She lands and her Tar Heel teammates erupt in applause. Gymnastics is cheering, high-fives, hugs, tears, sweat, pain, encouragement and rejoicing. Gymnastics is all about teamwork, and no group personifies the idea of a team better than Carolina's women's gymnastics team. Hours of practice, numerous dinners at Lenoir, long van trips along the East Coast and nights spent connecting with each other make this group of 13 women one of the closest teams at the University, despite the individual nature of their sport. Most team members train in three out of the four events, while a select few train in all four.
Competitors receive individual scores in each event in which they participate.
These individual scores are added together to make up a team score. It is not necessarily the quest for a high team score that feeds the encouragement given by members of the team, but instead a truly sincere wish to see each other improve and succeed. Minn. The willingness of each person to see her teammates succeed is evident in the clapping and shouts of support that ring through Fetzer Gymnasium during practice. The team practices approximately three and a half hours a day, four days a week. Practice begins with team running followed by concentration on events.