Gymnastics Pink Meet Guide • No. 12 North Carolina

Meet 5: Clemson vs. North Carolina

• Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, 7 p.m. ET
• Littlejohn Coliseum – Gates open one hour prior to the meet
• Tickets: Click Here
• TV: ACCNX
• Live Scoring: Click Here
• Clemson Meet Notes: Click Here (PDF)
• Promotions: “Pink Meet” – Fans Encouraged to Wear Pink! 

In Arena? Check out what’s going on!

CLEMSON, S.C. – The 16th-ranked Clemson Gymnastics team will match up with its fourth consecutive ranked foe when No. 12 North Carolina comes to town on Friday at 7 p.m. in Littlejohn Coliseum. Clemson will welcome its 100,000th fan into Littlejohn Coliseum during the event, which has been designated as the Pink meet. 

Clemson and North Carolina have matched up five times previously in duals and championships, with Clemson holding a 3-2 advantage.

COMPETING WITH THE BEST

• Including Friday, four of Clemson’s five meets have come against ranked opponents.
• So far in 2026, Clemson has competed against No. 8 Alabama, No. 9 Stanford, No. 12 UNC and No. 21 NC State.

SO FAR, SO GOOD

• Brie Clark has won floor in each of her four appearances in 2026 and has won beam in both road meets. She has 16 career floor and five beam event wins at Clemson
  • Clark ranks third in the nation in floor with a 9.925 average. She has a 9.900 or higher in all four meets this season.
  • Clark was named ACC Specialist of the Week on Jan. 27
• Ella Cesario became the first Tiger to compete in the all-around since 2024 when she earned a 39.275 against Stanford.
• Quinn Kuhl earned her first career event victories against Towson; Kuhl was named ACC Specialist of the Week on Jan. 6
• Tara Walsh has competed in twelve events in 2026, with eight of those scored a 9.850 or higher, including the 9.875s on floor
• Emma Malewski made her collegiate debut at NC State on bars in working back from an injury suffered two weeks prior and scored a 9.825 on bars at No. 9 Stanford

CLEMSON LOVES GYMNASTICS

• Clemson is ranked 8th in the nation in 2026 with 7,135 fans per meet.
• Clemson will welcome its 100,000th fan in just its 15th-ever meet during today’s meet.
• Clemson has ranked in the top ten in attendance nationally in each of its first two seasons in Littlejohn Coliseum with 41,843 fans in 2025 (8,368 per meet – 8th nationally); 42,542 fans in 2024 (8,508 per meet – 8th nationally)

THE HOWELLS JOIN THE TIGERS

• Clemson brought in Justin Howell and Liz Crandall-Howell in May 2025 to lead the program, making waves throughout the College Gym community
• Justin and Liz spent the past 13 seasons at Cal, where they finished in the top-20 12 times, top ten seven times, and were the National Runners-Up in 2024.

TOP 20 START

• The Tigers started the Howell era ranked No. 19 in the 2026 Preseason WCGA Poll, the program’s first time being ranked inside the top 20 of the WCGA poll.
• After week four, the Tigers rank 16th overall (196.231 average)

ACC TAKES NOTICE

The Tigers were picked to finish second in the ACC Gymnastics Preseason Coaches Poll after earning 25 points, just nine points behind the 2025 Champion Stanford (34 points).