GREENSBORO, N.C. – In the final routine of the meet, Lali Dekanoidze earned a perfect 10.0 to cap off one of the best performances in North Carolina gymnastics history on Friday night at the 2025 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships in Greensboro, N.C. Competing inside First Horizon Coliseum, the Tar Heels finished third with a score of 197.225. […]
GREENSBORO, N.C. – In the final routine of the meet, Lali Dekanoidze earned a perfect 10.0 to cap off one of the best performances in North Carolina gymnastics history on Friday night at the 2025 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships in Greensboro, N.C.
Competing inside First Horizon Coliseum, the Tar Heels finished third with a score of 197.225. That is the third best team score – and the fifth 197.0+ – in school history, plus the highest in the Danna Durante era.
Stanford won the meet with a final tally of 197.775 followed by Cal in 197.650 as the runner-up. NC State trailed UNC with a score of 196.500 as Clemson (196.175) and Pitt (195.8) rounded out the field.
Dekanoidze, who stole the show with her perfect 10.0 on bars, defended her title and was co-champion on her signature event. She broke her own school record and became the fourth gymnast in program history to reach perfection.
Also being crowned ACC co-champion was Gwen Fink on beam. Her score of 9.9 tied her career high for the fourth time this season.
The Tar Heels set a school record on bars, saving their best performance for their last rotation. UNC’s 49.475 surpassed the 49.45 done on March 5, 2004 – before most members of the team were born.
Postseason awards were announced following the meet with three Tar Heels being honored. Dekanoidze was named the ACC Specialist of the Year, JoJo Valahovic was selected as the ACC Newcomer of the Year and Durante was chosen as the ACC Co-Coach of the Year.
Additionally, several Tar Heels earned All-ACC Championship Team honors for finishing in the top six: Dekanoidze (T-4th, vault, 9.9), Dekanoidze (T-1st, bars, 10.0), Fink (T-1st, beam, 9.9), Valahovic (T-4th, beam, 9.875), Forbes (T-6th, floor, 9.9) and Valahovic (T-6th, floor, 9.9).
All-Around
Competing in her 50th career all-around performance, Knower totaled 39.25 across all four events. That came after a 9.875 on vault, 9.825 on bars, 9.675 on beam and 9.875 on floor. Her vault score was a season high. She also surpassed the 200-career-routine threshold, ending the meet with 203 on her resume.
Rotation One – Beam (48.975)
Jessica Naranjo led off UNC’s first rotation with a solid 9.85 to set the tone on beam. Valahovic went second with a strong 9.875. Knower produced a 9.675 from the fourth spot, as did Taylor Schulze in the anchor spot. Fink, going fifth in the lineup, had a team-high 9.9 to match her career best for the fourth time this season. Fink found herself on top of the podium in a three-way tie for first place.
1. Jessica Naranjo – 9.85
2. JoJo Valahovic – 9.875
3. Neve King – 9.625
4. Julia Knower – 9.675
5. Gwen Fink – 9.9
6. Taylor Schulze – 9.675
The Tar Heels totaled 48.975 in their opening rotation.
Rotation Two – Floor (49.35)
UNC’s momentum continued to build on floor. Naranjo started off with a career-high 9.875, bettering her 9.85 done three times earlier this season. Claire Stippich contributed a 9.8 in the second position. Back-to-back 9.9s followed from Valahovic and Kaya Forbes in the respective third and fourth slots: Valahovic tied her career-high 9.9 for the third time this year while Forbes earned that score for the second meet in a row. Knower’s 9.875 in spot No. 5 also counted.
1. Jessica Naranjo – 9.875
2. Claire Stippich – 9.8
3. JoJo Valahovic – 9.9
4. Kaya Forbes – 9.9
5. Julia Knower – 9.875
6. Bella Miller – 9.775
UNC’s 49.35 marked the highest floor score on the road in the Durante era and second best this season.
Rotation Three – Vault (49.425)
Knower kicked things off on vault with a season-high 9.875, crushing her previous top mark of 9.8 done three times earlier in the 2025 campaign. Paige Prejean followed with a season high of their own, as their 9.85 in the third spot topped the 9.8 from Feb. 23. Dekanoidze went fourth and received a season-high 9.9, eclipsing her 9.875 from a month ago. Valahovic added a 9.875 in the fifth slot and Forbes anchored in 9.925. Not only was Forbes’ 9.925 a career high, but it moved her up to be tied for third all-time in school history. She placed third overall for a podium finish.
1. Julia Knower – 9.875
2. Elly King – 9.775
3. Paige Prejean – 9.85
4. Lali Dekanoidze – 9.9
5. JoJo Valahovic – 9.875
6. Kaya Forbes – 9.925
The Tar Heels’ 49.425 is the third highest vault score in program history – trailing two scores from 2004 – and the best in the Durante era.
Rotation Four – Bars (49.475)
From the second spot, Neve King had a career-high 9.85, erasing her previous best of 9.825 from Feb. 9. Stippich also recorded another 9.85 in the third slot. Fink’s second 9.9 of the night came from the fourth position, which matched her personal record for the third time in her career. Isabelle Schaefer kept things going with a strong 9.875 in the fifth spot. Then, in the final routine of the night, anchor Dekanoidze earned a perfect 10.0. She defended her title in a two-way tie for the top spot, breaking her own school record in the process and becoming the fourth gymnast in program history to earn a 10.
1. Julia Knower – 9.825
2. Neve King – 9.85
3. Claire Stippich – 9.85
4. Gwen Fink – 9.9
5. Isabelle Schaefer – 9.875
6. Lali Dekanoidze – 10.0
Carolina’s 49.475 set a new program record, bypassing the 49.45 done on March 5, 2004. It is the only school record not from 2003 or 2004.
Up Next
The 25th-ranked Tar Heels now await their NCAA Regional fate. The NCAA Selection Show will air on ESPNU on Monday, March 24, at noon ET. The championship features a field of 36 teams determined based on their national qualifying score. The NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Committee seeds teams 1-16, and the remaining teams are placed geographically at one of the four regional sites.
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