Clemson gymnastics throws impressive opening party with historic win |
CLEMSON – The rain and cold didn’t keep the fans away, and Clemson gymnastics started with a bang Friday night in front of a crowd of over 8,000 people as the Tigers defeated William & Mary.
Clemson gymnastics coach Amy Smith was watching her team compete on the bars midway through, and looked up into the crowd and realized that people were sitting all the way to the rafters. She quickly turned her attention back to the meet, but she knew right away that all of the hard work and patience and had paid off. The Tigers defeated William & Mary, 196.325-190.050, to vault the program into competitive existence. Smith told us back in November that she wanted the meets to become a must-see event and said she wanted a party atmosphere to pair with championship-caliber gymnastics. I reminded her of that statement following Friday’s event, and she smiled in triumph. “Oh, my gosh. What do you guys think? Was it amazing? It was incredible. Just all of it, the crowd, the team, just the production that we put on,” Smith said. “Everything here, everything far exceeded all expectations. I'm blown away right now. “At one point, I looked up, and I'm like, there's people all the way to the top. And at the conclusion of the meet, I was saying how the crowd made it so special, it's like, we feel that energy. And it was just unreal. Just that they bought into all of that. It was a spectacular, fun night that felt like a party and just watching these incredible women do incredible things. So amazing.” The music was non-stop, the crowd cheered at all of the appropriate times, and the energy was there from warm-ups until the final awards were announced. Rebecca Wells, who was the first Clemson gymnast to officially compete and is the first All-Around Champion, tried to put the night into words. “It was so fun. The crowd was electric, and it just made the atmosphere insane tonight,” Wells said. “I could feel it on the floor, and honestly, on every event tonight. It just pumped us up so much and helped us a lot tonight We knew an idea of how many tickets were sold before, but I didn't think it was close to 8,000 people. Eight thousand people to me is insane, and we appreciate the support so much.” Brie Clark, Clemson’s first floor champion, agreed. “Yeah, you could really feel the love and support from all the fans, and it really added fuel to us,” Clark said. “We appreciate everybody who came out to support us because it was amazing. We were already excited, but it just added more excitement. It was so much fun.” Smith said that while she loves the atmosphere, she also wants people to know that Clemson has everything in place to build a consistent winner, starting with her inaugural team. “We've been saying this all along. We get to come out tonight and show the people who we are. And we've known,” Smith said. “We've known what's been going on in the gym. We know the grind that we've been doing. And there are a lot of doubters out there that were like, you’re a start up. It's going to take them a little time. And we knew that we were putting in the work and saw those girls day in and day out. And they took it so seriously. They understood the magnitude of what this meant, and they delivered tonight. That's not all we got. That's not all we got. Just so excited to get back at it next week and continue to build. We've been talking all year that our goal is to be a seeded team. I think tonight, we obviously came out of the gate showing that we are a top 16 team, a top 14. We're going to keep pushing and keep doing this because this was awesome.” The school release and recap Friday night marked a historic evening inside Littlejohn Coliseum as the Clemson Gymnastics program began its inaugural season in front of 8,018 fans. The Tigers defeated William & Mary, 196.325-190.050, to vault the program into competitive existence. Vault Redshirt senior Rebecca Wells was the first Clemson gymnast to compete in the Orange and Regalia by leading things off on the vault with a 9.725. Eve Jackson and Molly Arnold continued to raise the bar for the Tigers with a 9.75 and 9.775, respectively. Lauren Rutherford won the event by scoring the first 9.825. Madison Minner added a 9.60, and Trinity Brown rounded out the event with a 9.80 to bring the team score to 48.875 through the opening rotation. Bars The Tigers thrived on the bars clocking a 49.225, as each gymnast scored a minimum of 9.800 on the event. In her first collegiate routine, redshirt freshman Lilly Lippeatt scored a 9.900 to win the event. Kaitlin DeGuzman followed with an impressive 9.875 after sticking her landing. Both Eve Jackson and Lauren Rutherford posted strong routines with 9.825 scores in the second and fifth spots. Wells and Brown rounded out the Tigers with a 9.800 each. Following the second rotation, Clemson led William & Mary, 98.100-95.500. Beam Entering the third rotation, Lippeatt started things off with a 9.750. Jackson followed with a 9.775. Both Quinn Kuhl and Kielyn McCright added routines in the third and fifth spots. Wells highlighted the apparatus with a 9.875 to win the event, followed by Brie Clark notching a 9.850 to conclude the event. Clemson maintained a 147.050-141.925 advantage over William & Mary after the third rotation. Floor Clark had all of Littlejohn on their feet when she took to the floor in the fifth spot of the event. With Littlejohn rocking, the Daphne, Ala. native, clocked a 9.900 to win the event. Maggie Holman and Lilly Lippeatt started Clemson off strong in the final rotation posting back-to-back scores of 9.825. Molly Arnold and Lauren Rutherford continued their impressive Tiger floor debuts with 9.875 and 9.850, respectively. Wells concluded the event for the Tigers. Posting a 49.275 on floor, the Clemson Tigers defeated Williams & Mary to secure not only the first victory of 2024, but the first victory for the program’s history. Program Firsts First Gymnast to officially compete: Rebecca Wells First 9.900 Score: Lilly Lippeat (Bars) First All-Around Champion: Rebecca Wells First Vault Champion: Lauren Rutherford First Bars Champion: Lilly Lippeat First Beam Champion: Rebecca Wells First Floor Champion: Brie Clark The Tigers continue their inaugural season on January 21 at 4 p.m. inside Littlejohn Coliseum on ACC Network. The meet will mark the beginning of ACC action when Clemson welcomes Pitt to town.
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