(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)
On Friday, the No. 12 Arizona State Gym Devils (6-5, 3-3 Pac-12) will take on three top-15 opponents, including the No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners (9-1, 2-0 Big 12), who are hosting the meet.
ASU has made its way back inside the top-12 for the first time since week four of the season and looks to take advantage of the big stage in front of them.
Along with their national rank holding inside No. 20 for nine consecutive weeks, the Gym Devils enter this star-studded quad-meet inside the top-20 on each individual event, sitting at 14th on beam, 15th on bars, 18th on floor, and 20th on vault.
While Arizona State has seen success this year that it has not in recent times, the home team in this week’s matchup has been nothing but successful. Oklahoma is consistently one of the best teams in the country and this year has been no different. The Sooners have sat atop the Road to Nationals standings for seven consecutive weeks and show no signs of stopping now. Not to mention, OU has won the NCAA National Championship three out of the last four seasons.
One of the other top squads to be featured on Friday is the Arkansas Razorbacks (3-8, 2-5 SEC). This is not a perennial powerhouse among the ranks of Oklahoma, but Arkansas currently has a regional qualifying score (RQS) of 196.600 which is the best in program history. The Razorbacks currently sit at No. 10 nationally.
The final team ASU will have to worry about is the University of Denver (12-3-1, 1-0 Big 12), which is currently ranked No. 15. While it cannot boast the best season in school history, Denver earned a 197.300 in their last meet which comes in as its third-highest total ever.
As earlier mentioned this meet will be filled with talent, starring three of the top-10 all-around gymnasts in the nation in Maggie Nichols of OU, Maddie Karr of Denver, and Cairo Leonard-Baker of ASU.
While Leonard-Baker is the clear star for Arizona State, with 12 individual titles and the tenth spot in the all-around rankings, the emergence of Anne Kuhm has been evident of late. The former French Olympian has jumped up to No. 32 nationally in the all-around and has been producing consistent and easy 39.200s or better as of late.
Other than Kuhm and Leonard-Baker, several other gymnasts have stepped up to keep the team going through injuries to key athletes. Junior Justine Callis has found a groove on beam, junior Morgan Wilson has proven herself on events other than vault, and junior Corinne Belkoff scored well in her season debut on floor.
For the Sooners, there is basically no fault in any of their lineups as Oklahoma is home to many of the nation’s top collegiate gymnasts. Nationally, Nichols currently holds second on vault, first on bars, first on beam, second on floor, and first in the all-around. Last year the former World Championships gold medalist became the ninth gymnast in NCAA history to complete the “GymSlam” by posting a perfect 10.0 on every event. She earned seven perfect 10.0s last season and has posted four so far this season.
Also for OU, Brenna Dowell is tied with Nichols for the No. 2 spot on vault while Nicole Lehrmann holds the No. 7 spot on bars.
The Razorbacks will lean on sophomore Jessica Yamzon and freshman Sarah Shaffer, who have been consistent competitors in the all-around this season. Both gymnasts rank in the top-40 nationally in the all-around.
As for the Pioneers of Denver, Karr holds top-20 rankings in three out of four events. The sophomore sensation is also ranked the No. 7 all-around gymnast. Denver will also look to freshman Mia Sundstrom who has competed in the all-around in every meet this year.
The Gym Devils will need to keep this team-wide production going the rest of the season, particularly on Friday, if they hope to beat some of the nation’s best squads.
The top-15 quad-meet will begin at 5:45 p.m. Friday, March 9 at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Oklahoma.
