(Photo: Marlee Smith/WCSN)
The No. 14 Arizona State gymnastics team hosted its first home meet of the season on Saturday at the Desert Financial Arena against the defending national champion, No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners.
The Gym Devils began the meet on vault where four gymnasts scored a 9.775 or better, including two scores of 9.800 by freshmen Hannah Scharf and Gracie Reeves.
OU started off on bars with every gymnast scoring a 9.850+ on the event. Freshman Ragan Smith’s routine led the Sooners with a 9.925. Oklahoma took the lead to start off the competition by 0.575 over ASU.
Following the Olympic Order, ASU moved bars. Junior star Cairo Leonard-Baker’s ankle injury kept her out of competing on every event except for bars although a missed skill led to her score not counting in the total. All of ASU’s other gymnasts scored a 9.750 or above, highlighted by freshman Juliette Boyer’s 9.825.
On vault, the Sooner’s had several starting values of 10.0, setting them up for higher scoring. Maggie Nichols was the star on vault with a meet-leading 9.950. Heading into the third event, the overall score was 98.750 for Oklahoma and 97.725 for ASU.
ASU struggled in the third rotation on beam, and ultimately had to count a fall after two gymnasts fell during their routine. Grad student Morgan Wilson led the event for the Sun Devils with a 9.800.
Oklahoma moved to floor, and two gymnasts put up scores of 9.900 from Anastasia Webb and Ragan Smith. Nichols once again led the way with a meet-best 9.925.
ASU head coach Jay Santos said that nerves got to the gymnasts on beam, but Santos told his squad to put that behind them going into the final rotation.
“It’s a different event, it’s floor,” Santos said. “Let’s get out, bring the energy, let’s help this crowd out and get them more involved again… Let’s put on the show.”
Heading into the last event of the competition, OU held the lead, but floor was a big event for the Gym Devils. It was the first time this season that ASU scored a 49.000+ event total. Highlighting the event was Jessica Ginn’s career-high score of 9.900.
“Floor is just fun for me. I love to dance, and I love to have fun when I go out there,” said Ginn. “I just try to focus on being in the moment.”
Three other Gym Devils also scored 9.825. All three were season-highs for the ASU newcomers: freshmen Boyer and Scharf and sophomore transfer Megan Thompson. The Gym Devils finished with a 49.150 event total.
Finishing off the meet for Oklahoma, Nichols anchored beam, scoring a 9.975 on her beam routine and earning a perfect 10 from one judge. Every gymnast scored a 9.875 or better for a meet-high 49.550 event total.
OU took the 197.675-194.600 win over ASU, but Santos was optimistic about the growth of his young squad.
“We have a lot of newcomers, a lot of new routines,” Santos said. “We’re just trying to get them to settle in and focus on what they can do to grow and get them better from last week.”
Up next, the Gym Devils will be home again against UC Davis, Friday January 17 at 7:00 p.m.
