ASU Gymnastics: No. 17 Gym Devils Place Third at University Park Regional

(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)

The No. 17 Gym Devils traveled to University Park, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, April 7, to compete in the NCAA Regional Championships for the first time since 2014.

The University Park regional featured a star-studded field with the No. 5 Florida Gators, No. 8 Washington Huskies, No. 27 West Virginia Mountaineers, No. 29 (host) Penn State Nittany Lions, and No. 30 New Hampshire Wildcats.

Arizona State had a bye during its first rotation before it began the competition on the floor.

Florida started its afternoon on the floor where they went six-for-six to earn a 49.325. Junior Alicia Boren and senior Rachel Slocum anchored the Gators with a pair of 9.900s. Senior Alex McMurtry added a 9.875 as well as three 9.825s from freshman Alyssa Bauman, sophomore Rachel Gowey, and sophomore Amelia Hundley to end the rotation.

Washington started off its meet on the balance beam where senior Joslyn Goings and sophomore Evanni Roberson led the Huskies with a pair of 9.875s. Senior all-arounder Hailey Burleson added a 9.825 to bring the Gym Dawgs to a team total of 49.175.

After the first rotation, Florida led the pack with a 49.325 followed by Washington with a 49.175. New Hampshire earned a 48.625 followed by Penn State with a 48.225.

Arizona State started its meet during the second rotation on the floor exercise. All-around duo junior Anne Kuhm and Leonard-Baker led the Sun Devils with a pair of 9.825s. Junior Justine Callis added a 9.775 to round out the rotation with a 48.875.

Florida moved to the vault where Slocum scored a near perfect 9.975 on her vault along with McMurtry’s stuck yurchenko double full to earn a 9.95. Boren added a 9.90 to bring the team cumulative to an impressive 49.400.

Washington and New Hampshire had a bye during the second rotation.

After the second rotation, Florida extended their lead with a 98.725 followed by Penn State with a 97.025 who both had two rotations under their belt. Arizona State had a 48.875 after their first rotation followed by West Virginia (49.450) who also had a bye during the first rotation.

During the third rotation, Arizona State moved to the vault where junior Morgan Wilson led the Sun Devils with a 9.775. Leonard-Baker and sophomore Jessica Ginn added a pair of 9.750s to bring the Gym Devils to a 48.675.

After their bye in the second rotation, Washington moved to the floor where they earned a 49.350. Sophomore Maya Washington, junior Kristyn Hoffa, senior Zoey Schaefer, and received a trio of 9.900s. Burleson added a 9.850 in the anchor position.

Florida had its bye rotation during the third rotation.

At the halfway point, Florida and Washington maintained its lead with a 98.725 and 98.475, respectively. However, ASU moved up to third place with a 97.550 followed by New Hampshire (97.200), Penn State (97.025), and West Virginia (96.665).

The Gym Devils had another bye during the fourth rotation before finishing their meet on bars and beam.

Florida moved to the bars in the fourth rotation where it scored a massive 49.500. The Gators suffered a fall from Boren in the lead-off position. However, the five remaining gymnasts hit their routines, and the Gators were able to drop the score. McMurtry hit another near-perfect routine scoring a 9.975 in the anchor position. Freshman Megan Skaggs and Gowey also contributed a 9.900s to the rotation.

Washington was on the vault during the fourth rotation where the Huskies had three scores of 9.750 and two 9.725s. Burleson highlighted the Huskies rotation receiving a 9.775 bringing the team cumulative to a 48.750.

After the fourth rotation, Florida and Washington still led the pack with a 148.225 and 147.225, respectively. New Hampshire and Penn State followed behind with a 145.975 and a 145.800.

Arizona State headed to the bars in the fifth rotation where sophomore Ashley Szafranksi scored ASU’s only 9.900 of the meet while competing in her home state. Leonard-Baker and Kuhm also added a 9.850 and 9.825, respectively to propel the Gym Devils to a 49.150, their highest event score of the afternoon.

Florida ended its met on the balance beam where the Gators earned another impressive 49.500 team total. The Gators suffered another fall by freshman Jazmyn Foberg in the anchor position. However, the Gators already recorded five scores of 9.850 or better and did not have to count the fall. McMurtry’s 9.950 highlighted the rotation followed by Gowey’s 9.925.

Washington had its second bye during the fifth rotation.

ASU concluded its afternoon on the balance beam where the Gym Devils hit six strong routines of 9.700 or better. Junior Heather Udowitch earned a season-high 9.850 followed by A. Szafranski’s 9.825 to end the meet. Wilson and Callis also contributed a pair of 9.800s to help the Gym Devils finish with a 49.050.

Washington finished its meet on the uneven bars where junior Monica Riley led the Huskies with a 9.850. With sophomore Michaela Nelson’s 9.825 and a pair of 9.800s from sophomore Madison Copiak and Goings, the Huskies were able to end with a 49.05 which was enough for them to qualify in the second position to the NCAA National Championships.

At the conclusion of the meet, Florida won the competition with a 197.725 followed by Washington with a 196.275. Arizona State finished third with a 195.750 followed by New Hampshire (194.950), Penn State (194.900) and West Virginia (194.400).

The NCAA Regional Championships marks the qualifying meet for the NCAA National Championships. For each of the six regional championships, the top two out of the six teams at each regional qualify to the National Championships later this month.

At the University Park Regional, the Florida Gators and the Washington Huskies qualified to the National Championships. Arizona State was just short of qualifying with its third place finish.

However, individuals who are not on one of the qualifying teams can also move on as an individual. This allowed Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Cairo Leonard-Baker to qualify as an individual all-around competitor after scoring a 39.200 in the all-around to tie for third.

In the all-around competition, senior Alex McMurty won the all-around with a 39.725 followed by teammate Amelia Hundley 39.300. ASU’s Leonard-Baker, Washington’s Hailey Burleson, and Penn State’s Laura Bridgens tied for third in the all-around with a 39.200. Bridgens also qualified to the NCAA National Championships as an individual all-arounder.

As for the individual event titles, Slocum won the vault with a 9.950 and McMurtry won the bars and the beam with a 9.975 and 9.950, respectively. On the floor, there was a five-way tie for first with Florida’s Boren and Slocum and Washington’s Hoffa, Schaefer, and Washington all scoring a 9.900 to win the event.

On April 20-21, Leonard-Baker will represent ASU at the NCAA National Championships at Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis, Mo.