(Photo: Brady Klain/WCSN)
After falling to the Utah Red Rocks 197.375-195.825 the Gym Devils (3-3, 0-2 Pac-12) head to Berkeley, California to take on No. 14 BYU (2-1, 2-0 MRGC) and No. 18 Cal (3-3, 1-1 Pac-12).
The No. 14 Cougars most recently won their meet against Utah State by a score of 196.450 to 195.025.
The Cougars scored a season low 48.100 on beam in their second meet bringing their overall average on beam from a 49.300 to a 48.900.
BYU is led by junior Shannon Evans. Floor is Evans’ best event as she has not scored below a 9.850 and has two season bests of 9.900. Meanwhile, through the first three meets she has struggled on beam scoring a season-low 9.650 in the second meet and averages a 9.758.
The No. 18 Bears lost their last meet at Arizona by a score of 195.975 to 194.450.
The Bears are led by standout freshmen Milan Clausi and all-around sophomore Kyana George. They both tied for first on vault against Arizona scoring 9.900s. This was Clausi’s third event title this season and George’s second-straight vault title.
Moving on to the Devils, team leaders sophomore Cairo Leonard-Baker and senior Anne Kuhm are still showing no signs of slowing down. In ASU’s last meet Leonard-Baker scored a season-high all-round of 39.450 and tied her career-high on floor with a 9.950 while Kuhm tied for third on bars with a 9.875 and a solid 9.750 on vault.
But Leonard-Baker and Kuhm cannot be the only Devils putting up consistently good numbers if they want to crack the top-15 again.
Surprisingly, the Devils put up a poor performance on beam. They scored a 48.450, easily their worst on the season.
“We have to keep the progress that we’re making, minus beam,” head coach Jay Santos said. “Vault was better today. Floor was better than Monday. We’re there, we just have to put it together on all four events.”
It is almost halfway through the season and according to Santos it is time for the Devils to start putting it all together.
Some of the Devils struggles may have stem from when senior Katelyn Lentz got injured in their meet against the Bruins. This is a season-ending injury, and the Devils are still looking for someone to fill in for her on beam and floor.
After their meet against Utah, Santos said, “We’re always sad when someone goes down, but it’s an opportunity for someone else to really go out and shine.”
There is no better time for someone to step up for the Devils than now as a first-place finish in this top-20 meet would be the kind of signature win they have been looking for all season.
The meet is scheduled to start at 6:00 p.m. and will be airing on the Pac-12 Network.
