(Photo: Karli Matthias/WCSN)
On Friday, the No. 17 Arizona State Gym Devils traveled to Sacramento, California to compete in their final meet of the season before the Pac-12 Championships.
The other squads involved were Oregon State, Sacramento State and UC Davis. Of the three teams competing against ASU, Oregon State went into the meet with the highest ranking, No. 13, and they did not disappoint.
The Gym Devils came out strong, starting the meet on the floor exercise where they scored a 49.150; however, unfortunately, this was their highest event total on the day. Five-time Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Week Cairo Leonard-Baker led the effort with a 9.900 alongside a 9.875 from junior Anne Kuhm. On what would prove to be ASU’s best event on the day, actually was only the third best team score on floor from the meet.
In the second rotation Arizona State moved to the vault, which has given it trouble consistently this season. The squad was able to overcome a missed routine but could not earn any scores higher than Leonard-Baker’s career-high-tying 9.850. Junior Kaitlyn Szafranski earned a career-high 9.800 on the event as well. Scoring a 48.950 as a team, ASU earned a second place finish on the event.
Next the Gym Devils took to bars, where they posted their lowest event total of the competition with a 48.725. The team did not compete at its normal rate and saw no scores higher than a 9.800 on the event. Leonard-Baker had her first missed routine of the season, as she fell on the apparatus and earned a 9.300. No Gym Devil earned a score higher than Kuhm’s 9.775 on the event.
In the final rotation, the ASU bounced back on beam. Posting a 49.075 on the apparatus, the team earned second on the event to secure a second place finish in the meet. Led by a career-high 9.875 performance from Kuhm, along with another 9.875 from sophomore Ashley Szafranski, ASU finished the competition strong.
Although no individual or team event titles were won by the Gym Devils, consistently picking up their teammates after missed routines allowed them to still take second in the meet with a 195.900.
Oregon State took home first with a final tally of 196.850 with Sacramento State coming in third with a 195.275, and UC Davis taking fourth with a 194.475. Oregon State’s McKenna Singley took home the all-around title with a score of 39.400 while Kuhm came in third with a 39. 325.
Now that the regular season has come to an end, Arizona State will compete in the early session of the Pac-12 Championships in Tucson, Ariz. Saturday, March 24.
