(Photo: Karli Matthias/WCSN)
It’s going to be another Top-25 showdown as the No. 13 Arizona State Gym Devils (6-4, 3-3 Pac-12) make the trip up north to take on the No. 25 Minnesota Gophers (8-3, 5-2 Big Ten).
ASU is coming off a big win against in-state rival University of Arizona (196.725-195.025) and is hoping to carry that confidence with them throughout these next string of road meets.
Head Coach Jay Santos’ squad will be led by all-around dynamic duo: five-time Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Week Cairo Leonard-Baker and 2012 French Olympian Anne Kuhm. Leonard-Baker won the all-around title during her last outing recording a 39.475 while Kuhm followed close behind finishing with a 39.450.
This week Leonard-Baker joined Utah’s MyKayla Skinner and California’s Toni-Ann Williams as just one of three gymnasts in Pac-12 Conference history to earn the award five or more times. Leonard-Baker also became the second Gym Devil in program history to capture the prestigious honors on five separate occasions, joining 2004 national champion and five-time All-American, Ashley Kelly.
While this was Leonard-Baker’s fifth award in her rookie year, the Oakland, California native says she still gets as excited to hear her name the fifth time as she did the first time.
“It still feels good every time I hear it because I know it could be a one and done thing,” Leonard-Baker said. “It feels good knowing that each week I’m still doing well, and I haven’t had a drop-off or anything like that.”
After eight weeks of competition, the Sun Devils moved up four spots to the No. 13 position on the Road to Nationals standings. ASU also ranks in the top-25 on each event, sitting at 18th on vault (49.020), 16th on bars (49.085), 13th on beam (49.085), and 20th on floor (49.140).
While Arizona State leads in the rankings on every event, but Minnesota will be looking toward their own star freshman, Lexy Ramler, who is capable of going 9.875+ on every event.
Last week, ASU swept all four event titles at the Territorial Cup with Leonard-Baker adding a pair of event titles on bars (9.875) and floor (9.975), Kuhm capturing the vault title with a 9.900, and junior Justine Callis, earning her first event title of the season with a career-best 9.900 on beam. The Sun Devils will be looking toward them again to bring the squad to victory against the Gophers.
Following the match-up at Minnesota, the Gym Devils will cap off their regular season with two additional road meets- at Oklahoma with Denver and Arkansas (March 9) as well as at Sacramento State with Oregon State and UC Davis (March 16) – before traveling south to Tucson for the 2018 Pac-12 Championships, on March 24.
While these meets seem to bring a lot of pressure, junior Justine Callis says she is excited to compete in big environments such as Oklahoma and has learned to thrive off the pressure.
“At this point, I almost prefer the big meets with the ranked teams because it puts the pressure on it, and we have this saying that ‘pressure is a privilege,'” Callis said. “Cairo and I especially enjoy the pressure, so I think it’s a lot of fun because it kind of forces us to let it sink it and take in the moment.”
Catch the Gym Devils in action as they head to Minneapolis to face the No. 25 Minnesota Gophers. The competition is slated to begin at 4 p.m. Saturday, March 3, at Maturi Pavilion.
