(Photo: Marlee Smith/WCSN)
Coming off of two straight home duals at Desert Financial Arena the Arizona State Gym Devils traveled to Salt Lake City to take on the No. 5 Utah Red Rocks at the Huntsman Center. Taking on Utah is not a small task, with thousands of fans in attendance to watch and cheer on the home team. Naturally that caused a lot of pressure for the young Arizona State team.
That pressure seemed to have an effect on the Devils as they had a tough start to the meet on bars. Through the first four performers, ASU did not have a score higher than 9.625. Freshman Gracie Reeves though hit a career-high 9.800.
Arizona State ended up with 47.775 on bars after ultimately having to count multiple falls. One definite positive for the Sun Devils coming out of the first rotation is the continued presence of junior Cairo Leonard-Baker. Coming off of a recent ankle injury, she scored a 9.925 on bars against UC Davis and continued to be a strong performer on bars in this meet with a 9.825 which was the best score of the day for ASU on that event.
On the other side the Red Rocks started out flying high on vault. They didn’t have a score lower than a 9.725 for their first four performers, but closing out the rotation, Alexia Burch and Kim Tessen hit big with a 9.950 and 9.925, respectively.
When the teams swapped bars and vault the story was similar for Utah. The Red Rocks continued to perform well and get the high scores expected from them. Cristal Isa and Hunter Dula each put up 9.925s to for a total score of 49.275 for Utah.
Arizona State looking to bounce back from bars, had a stronger performance on vault. Freshman Hannah Scharf put up a 9.800 while Leonard-Baker scored a season-high 9.825, both sticking their vaults to push their team to a 48.750 total score. Going into the third rotation, Utah was leading 98.425 over ASU’s 96.525.
Utah continued to perform at the high level their No. 5 ranking would suggest when the teams progressed in to the third rotation. More strong scores, this time on beam, gave them a total of 49.300. Three gymnasts scored a 9.875 while Emilie LaBlanc put up a 9.900.
Meanwhile, the Gym Devils put in a good performance on floor in what has proved to be one of ASU’s strongest events this season. Freshman Juliette Boyer tied her career-high of 9.825 while Scharf received her career-high score of 9.850. Senior Jessica Ginn hit a 9.850 to continue to lead the floor lineup for ASU. Ginn has not scored less than a 9.825 yet this season. The Gym Devils put up a 48.925, their best event total of the meet.
Arizona State finished off the dual with great performances on beam. Sophomore Megan Thompson started it off with a career-high of 9.825. She was then followed up by freshman Isabel Redmond with a 9.750, and freshman Gracie Reeves scoring a 9.775, both tying career-highs.
While the Devils were doing well on beams, Utah maintained its lead with stellar floor performances. Adrienne Randall and Maile O’Keefe each earned a 9.875 while Isa and Abby Paulson led the way with 9.900s.
At the end of the fourth rotation the Gym Devils scored a 48.850 on beam while the Red Rocks scored a 49.325 on floor. This secured the Red Rocks the win on the night by a score of 197.050 to 194.200.
The Huntsman Center is by no means an easy place to go to and compete. First of all, Utah have an enormous crowd cheering them on. Then add on to that the skill the Red Rocks possess, and teams quickly find themselves in one of the toughest duals of their season.
This time around the Red Rocks were on fire, performing close to the top of their game. They scored 49 and above on every single rotation. They also got a team score above 197 for the second straight meet.
The Gym Devils weren’t as strong as they have been this season on bars. However, they showed good spirit to fight back as they had very strong performances on all three of vault, floor and beam.
Utah showed the large crowd their No. 5 ranking isn’t a mistake with a very solid performance. Differently the young Gym Devils team came in and showed they still have a little bit of work to do, but ASU did show a willingness to keep going even in tough environments like the Huntsman Center which is a valuable skill to have down the line.
Utah is now 5-0 on the season and 1-0 in Pac-12 while Arizona State move to 3-3 on the season and 0-1 in the Pac-12. The Gym Devils Annual Salute to Service meet takes place next Saturday against the No. 10 California Bears. The action kicks-off at 4p.m. in Desert Financial Arena.
