(Photo: Marlee Smith/WCSN)
The No. 20 ranked Arizona State Gymnastics team defeated its rival Arizona in a heated matchup on Saturday night. For the sixth straight year, the Sun Devils were able to top the GymCats in a face-off between the two teams.
The Sun Devils were looking to follow up their best performance so far this season after scoring a season-high 196.550 and scoring above 49.000 in each event in their previous meet against Oregon State.
The night started off well for ASU on the bars. Each of the routines counted towards the final total scored above 9.800. This included a 9.900 from junior Hannah Scharf – her first appearance of the season in the event. Sophomores Sarah Clark and Emily White also helped bring in an event score of 49.200 with a pair of 9.850s.
At the same time, Arizona put up consistent but underwhelming performances on the vault. Junior Malia Hargrove was the only Wildcat gymnast to score at least a 9.800 on the event, putting up a 9.825. After the first rotation, ASU positioned themselves well for the rest of the meet by taking an early 0.325 point lead.
In the second rotation, ASU continued to outperform its opponent, putting up a 49.275 on vault. Competing on the most difficult vault of the competition, freshman Alex Theodorou scored the second 9.900 of her collegiate career. She would tie for first on the event with Scharf who also scored a 9.900, helping ASU stretch its lead to 0.600.
Despite a couple of mistakes during their rotation on bars, the GymCats were able to improve upon their score from the first rotation, reaching the 49.000 mark. This score came by way of a pair of 9.825s from sophomores Elena Deets and Bailey McCabe, which was joined by a 9.875 from freshman standout Alysen Fears.
In the third rotation, Arizona gained some momentum, proving to all the fans at McKale Memorial Center why the beam is its best event. The Wildcats once again surpassed their event scores from the first half of the meet with a 49.175. Despite a few small wobbles and balance checks, it was Arizona’s turn to produce a rotation in which all of its counted scores passed the 9.800 threshold. The top score on the event for the Wildcats came from junior Sirena Linton, who scored a 9.875.
While the GymCats excelled on the beam, the Sun Devils crumbled on floor. After sophomore Jada Mangahas’s routine received a score of 9.575, ASU was forced to count an uncharacteristic 9.725 from Scharf. That score was the result of messy landings on her first and third passes. The shaky executions would stop the Sun Devils from scoring at least 49.000 on each event for two meets in a row, as their total event score came in just shy at 48.950.
Despite the mistakes, ASU saw a redeeming 9.825 performance from Theodorou, who scored 9.650 and 9.200 in her last two tries at the event. Clark also added another solid routine to her outing with a score of 9.875.
With the meet and rivalry pride on the line, the GymCats attempted a storming comeback in the final rotation. Fears and Hargrove showed out once again, putting up twin 9.900s to try to give their team the victory. Sophomore Caroline Herry and freshman Emily Mueller refused to be left out of the equation, scoring a 9.875 and a 9.850, respectively.
The Sun Devils, looking to fight off the Wildcats, started the beam strong with a 9.850 by senior Megan Thompson in the leadoff spot. White got a piece of the action scoring her own 9.850 as well. ASU senior Jasmine Gutierrez would contribute a roaring 9.900 to help push the Sun Devils ahead even more.
ASU would take the meet, beating its season-high set last week with a score of 196.600. Arizona would also achieve this feat, besting its season-high from last week with a score of 196.400.
Not only did ASU win the overall matchup, but the Sun Devils were also able to win the individual event titles on three of the four apparatuses.
ASU will return to Desert Financial Arena to take on the faltering No. 16 UCLA Bruins on Feb. 20 at 3:00 p.m MST.
