Arizona State finishes last in the second round of NCAA Tempe Regional

(Photo: Mia Gonzalez/WCSN)

TEMPE – Arizona State gymnastics head coach Jay Santos saw something he didn’t like during his team’s warmups for the vault. Freshman Kylee Bromley was slated second for the Sun Devils, but Santos looked at every turn she did before the team competed on the vault and thought something was lacking. He put freshman Robyn Wilson in Bromley’s place, but the late substitution resulted in one of the lowest scores for the Sun Devils.

The scratch by Bromley was followed by another mishap for the Sun Devils (11-8, 2-3 Big 12) in the second round of the NCAA Gymnastics Regionals on Thursday at the Desert Financial Arena.

Sophomore Halle Braaflat took two deep breaths then sprinted toward the vault and ran past the table. Braaflats’ last-second decision bought her time to regain herself and try again; she didn’t touch any of the equipment, allowing her a second chance.

Braaflat didn’t hold back in her next attempt, but it wasn’t enough for her team to pass the other three teams competing in the second session of the Tempe Regionals. Braaflat and Wilson scored 9.725 and the Sun Devils finished last in the competition at 196.050.

“You never want it to end, but if we’re gonna end, I want it to end on days like this where they went out as strong as they possibly could,” Santos said. “They’ve got nothing to be ashamed about tonight.”

The Sun Devils had a quick turnaround, facing No. 3 Florida, No. 14 Cal Berkeley and Penn State. The previous day, the team narrowly defeated Arizona 195.425-194.900. At the end of the meet, Santos said that the team would focus on receiving rapid treatment from the athletic trainers and rest to put together a better performance.

The rest paid off to give the team its highest scores in the first rotation at the balance beam. The Sun Devils scored 49.100 points for their highest score in the meet, third overall, but the other teams did even better.

Florida sophomore Skye Blakely had an entry score of 10.000 for her routine on the uneven bars and executed it flawlessly for a perfect score.

“A couple of things were not great here or there,” Santos said. “There’s plenty of room for them to improve and things like that, but there almost always is.”

The Gators’ first session on the vault was a display of dominance for the meet. The team scored 49.600 points and applied extra pressure on the Sun Devils, making Santos substitute his all-around freshman.

“This is one of those meets where if something really looks off, like, we are making a change,” Santos said. ”We don’t have time to mess around with it and get it right. If it’s not on today, then we’re going to make a change … it’s never anything personal.”

With the Sun Devils being eliminated from the NCAA championships, the younger gymnasts head into the offseason looking to improve their technique to be more competitive for the following season. Freshman Safia El Mammann said that she wants to focus on “cleaning up everything” while maintaining what she did well this season.

“Florida’s one of the best teams in the country, Cal’s super strong, Penn State’s great,” Santos said. “They were very competitive in the meet. I’m hoping they can see that, believe in that, and then, okay, what’s the next step? What’s the next evolution of being even more competitive and stuff like that? I hope they continue the growth.”