(Photo: Marlee Smith/WCSN)
Following a season-low 194.825 team score during a quad-meet at Denver, the No. 21 Arizona State Gym Devils look to bounce-back for their final home meet of the regular season as they take on the No. 14 BYU Cougars and the No. 28 West Virginia Mountaineers.
This meet will also recognize students in Barrett, the Honors College including ASU gymnasts Corinne Belkoff, Jessica Ginn, Kaitlin Harvey, Katelyn Lentz and Heather Udowitch.
During their last outing, the Gym Devils fell short to Denver (197.625) and Nebraska (196.2250) but were able to defeat Pittsburgh (194.2000). However, the last time the Gym Devils competed in Wells Fargo Arena they earned a season-high 196.625 against Oregon State.
As for BYU, they are coming off a season-high 197.000 win against No. 13 Boise State, and West Virginia is coming off a 196.100 second-place finish in a tri-meet with Ohio State and Temple.
Earlier this season, the Gym Devils competed in a tri-meet with BYU and California, and although they fell short to the Golden Bears, they were able to defeat the Cougars 195.700-194.975. As for the Mountaineers, this will be the first time the Gym Devils will face them this season.
On an event-by-event basis, all teams are ranked closely on the vault with BYU coming into the meet ranked No. 19 followed by ASU at No. 21 and West Virginia at No. 23. For ASU, Morgan Wilson has been a key and consistent vaulter for the Gym Devils with a season-high of 9.900 in two meets and has gone 9.800+ eight times this season.
One key vaulter for BYU is Shannon Evans. In her most recent meet, Evans scored a 9.900 against Boise State and averages 9.800+ for the season. For West Virginia, Kira Koshinski has been WVU’s highest scoring vaulter, going 9.90+ five times this season, with a season-high of 9.950.
As a team, the uneven bars has been ASU’s most consistent event this season going 49.000+ in eight straight meets. The Gym Devils are currently ranked No. 19 on the event and are led by sophomore Cairo Leonard-Baker who is No. 10 in the country with an average of 9.90. Leonard-Baker has gone 9.925+ five times this season with a season- and career-high of 9.975.
For the Cougars, they are ranked just ahead of ASU at No. 18 and will rely on Evans yet again who averages a 9.858 with a season-high of 9.950 as well as Helody Cyrenne who has gone 9.90+ three times this season. For the Mountaineers, they come into the meet ranked No. 32 on the event, and will look to Esperanza Abarca who has been their most consistent bar worker this season with a 9.800 average.
On the balance beam, ASU has had its fair shares of ups and downs this season with a season-high of 49.325 but most recently had to count a fall in its last meet and will look to regain consistency before heading into the Pac-12 Championships. For the Gym Devils, Justine Callis has been a strong anchor for the beam lineup scoring 9.800+ in all but one meet this season with a season-high of 9.925.
For BYU, the balance beam is their highest ranked event as a team at No. 13, and Cyrenne is coming off a season-high of 9.925 against Boise State. As for West Virginia, Koshinski leads the Mountaineers yet again along with Abby Kaufman and Taylor Sell who all scored a 9.825 in their last tri-meet.
While the Gym Devils lowest ranked event is the floor exercise at No. 28, Leonard-Baker along with seniors Corinne Belkoff and Kaitlyn Szafranski have found recent success going 9.850 or higher in the past two meets.
On the floor, Evans unique Super Mario Bros. themed floor routine, leads the Cougars with a 9.910 average. In her most recent meet, Evans earned a 9.950 and is currently ranked No. 21 in the individual standings. The Mountaineers highest-ranked event is the floor at No. 13 and is led by Koshinski who is individually ranked No. 17 in the country with a 9.905 average. Koshinski has scored a 9.900 or better seven times this season with a 9.875 in her most recent meet.
In the all-around, it will likely be a battle between Leonard-Baker, Evans and Koshinski. Leonard-Baker is currently ranked No. 25 in the all-around with a 39.320 average, and Evans is ranked No. 15 with a 39.445 average. Koshinski has only competed in the all-around twice this season but scored a 39.350 in the tri-meet with Ohio State and Temple.
The meet is slated to begin at 6:30 p.m. in Wells Fargo Arena and will be streamed live via Pac-12 Plus.
