(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)
The No. 14 Arizona State Gym Devils (4-1, 1-0 Pac-12) will host the No. 29 California Bears (4-2, 1-1 Pac-12) on Sunday at noon in Wells Fargo Arena.
Coming off of two consecutive road wins, the Gym Devils look to stay in the top four of the league by taking advantage of their Pac-12 home opener.
Speaking to her passion for competing in Tempe, junior Justine Callis, who posted a career high on beam last week, said, “I love being at home, I love being in front of a home crowd. They’re so supportive and everybody gets really loud.”
Up to this point, the Gym Devils stand at 4-1 boasting an average score of 195.800 with all four wins coming over top-20 opponents.
By event, ASU ranks No. 15 on bars and beam, No. 20 on floor, and No. 21 on vault. Meanwhile, Cal comes in at No. 17 on beam, No. 24 on floor, No. 31 on vault, and No. 47 on bars. The Bears average 194.892 per meet, and even their highest score is still less than the average of ASU.
Sun Devil standout-freshman Cairo Leonard-Baker was the first gymnast in program history to win an All-Pac-12 honors two weeks in a row, as she earned Freshman of the Week for her performances in West Virginia and Stanford. She is the highest scoring all-around freshman in the country but is still looking to improve.
“Its coming in everyday thinking I’m gonna beat myself,” Leonard-Baker said. “I got this score, I can get this score, and obviously there’s things I can work on.”
As Leonard-Baker looks to lead the Gym Devils, California has a leader of their own who knows a thing, or six, about being Pac-12 Freshman of the Week. Senior Toni-Ann Williams won the award six times in her first collegiate season and went on to compete in the 2016 Olympics for Jamaica. She’s a four time All-American who will set the bar on every event for Leonard-Baker to follow. Toni-Ann Williams is also the sister of current Gym Devil freshman Maya Williams.
ASU’s second-year coach Jay Santos will be matched on Sunday by Justin Howell of Cal, who won Pac-12 and National Coach of the Year honors in 2016. The coaches and stars are two individual matchups to look out for, but if ASU performs how they have all season, the meet should propel the Gym Devils to their fifth victory and second conference win. This would be a big feat for the Devils, as ASU has not won two Pac-12 matchups since the 2014 season.
You can take in all the action from Wells Fargo Arena or on the Pac-12 Networks, Sunday, Jan. 28 at noon.
