GW was narrowly beaten out for second place in the three-team N.C. State Hearts Invitational Saturday at Reynolds Coliseum.

The Colonial women finished with a team score of 189.650, but the University of North Carolina finished less than a point ahead of GW with a total of 190.450 to take second place. North Carolina State University won the competition with a final team score of 194.325.

GW started off with a strong performance on the vault. Senior co-captain Alexis Hrynko won the event with 9.85 and was the only individual not from N.C. State to win an event at the meet. The Colonial women finished the first rotation with a score of 48.225. That total was good enough for second place at the time, just two-tenths of a point behind N.C. State.

The success of the Colonial women was short-lived, though. After a team score of just 45.125 on the uneven parallel bars, GW fell more than three points behind N.C. State and almost two points behind UNC. Three Colonial women registered scores on the bars of less than 9.0.

With its hopes of winning the meet all but gone, GW came back strong with a solid performance on the floor exercise, and nearly caught the Tar Heels for second place. Freshmen Stephanie Goldsmith and Darden Wilee, and sophomore Erica Lewy all scored better than 9.7 in the final rotation of the meet.

In the individual all-around competition, Wilee finished in third place with a total of 38.55, less than three-tenths of a point behind all-around winner Stephanie Wall of N.C. State. Hrynko finished fourth with a score of 38.225.

The Colonial gymnasts return to the Smith Center Friday at 7 p.m. for a meet with Rhode Island.