ASU Gymnastics: No. 21 Gym Devils finish fifth in Pac-12 Championships, highest finish since 2004

(Photo: Melissa Perenson/Pac-12)

The No. 21 Arizona State Gym Devils (11-10, 1-5 Pac-12) traveled to the Maverick Center in West Valley City, Utah, for the 2019 Pac-12 Gymnastics Championships. The Gym Devils were joined by No. 18 Washington, No. 26 Stanford, and No. 30 Arizona in the afternoon session with No. 2 UCLA, No. 6 Utah, No. 14, Oregon State and No. 16 California in the evening session.

The Gym Devils led the pack after the first session with a 196.400 followed by the Huskies (196.175), the Cardinal (195.925) and the Wildcats (193.900). On an event-by-event basis, ASU recorded scores of 49.000+ on vault (49.125), bars (49.275), and floor (49.175).

From start to finish, the motto, “Family,” was instilled into the Gym Devils and junior Jessica Ginn says that was the key to their victory today.

“We were doing it for each other and nothing else, and I think that’s what really brought up the energy in our performances and gave us purpose,” Ginn said.

Sophomore Cairo Leonard-Baker echoed the same sentiment saying, “From the get-go, we kept chanting ‘family’ because we knew we were in this together and no matter what happened we were going to have everyone’s backs.”

As the No. 2 seed for their session and the No. 6 seed overall, ASU was selected to begin their meet on the uneven bars. Leonard-Baker led the Gym Devil effort with a 9.950 followed by Morgan Hart’s career-high 9.900. Justine Callis added a 9.825 along with a pair of 9.800s from Morgan Wilson and Ashley Szafranski for a season-high team 49.275.

Washington came into the meet as the No. 5 seed and was given the Olympic rotation of vault, bars, beam and floor. Geneva Thompson highlighted the Gym Dawgs rotation with a 9.825 followed by Kristyn Hoffa’s 9.800. The Huskies opted to scratch their sixth vault and counted all five of their vaults to finish with a 48.900.

Stanford began its day on the floor exercise where Kyla Bryant’s dynamic and powerful routine anchored the Cardinal rotation with a 9.900. Morgan Hoang contributed a 9.875 followed by Rachel Flam’s 9.850 for a 49.250.

Arizona began its day on the balance beam where they struggled to get the ball rolling. After suffering three falls in the first four positions, the Wildcats were forced to count two of the falls for a team total of a 47.250. Courtney Cowles and Haylie Hendrickson highlighted the Arizona rotation in the back end of the lineup with a 9.775 and 9.750 respectively.

Heading into the second rotation, Arizona State led the pack with a 49.275 followed by Stanford (49.250), Washington (48.900), and Arizona (47.250).

Arizona State moved to the balance beam where Leonard-Baker led the Gym Devils yet again with a 9.850, tying her season-high. Callis added a 9.825 along with a pair of 9.725s from Heather Udowitch and Szafranski to round out the rotation with a 48.825.

Washington went to the bars where they hit six strong routines, counting five scores of 9.800+. Madison Copiak scored a 9.900 in the No. 5 position. Monica Riley chipped in a 9.850 followed by Maya Washington who earned a 9.825, giving the Gym Dawgs a 49.175 finish.

Stanford moved to the vault in the second rotation where Flam’s unique vault recorded a 9.900 followed by Bryant’s stuck yurchenko full for a 9.875. Aleeza Yu added a 9.800 in the back of the lineup giving the Cardinal a 49.050 team total.

Arizona took themselves to the floor where they tried to get back on track with a 49.125. Cowles and Maddi Leydin recorded a pair of 9.850s followed by Heather Swanson’s 9.825. Christina Berg and Sydney Friedin contributed a pair of 9.800s.

At the halfway point, Stanford took the lead with a 98.300. Arizona State followed closely behind with a 98.100 followed by Washington (98.075) and Arizona (96.025).

ASU continued to the floor in the third rotation where Corinne Belkoff tied her season-high with her third consecutive 9.900. Callis also tied her season-high with a 9.825 and Ginn scored a career-high of her own with a 9.875. Leonard-Baker capped off the rotation with a 9.950 giving the Gym Devils a 49.175 finish.

The Huskies headed to the balance beam where they recorded a 49.100. Washington and Malory Rose earned a pair of 9.850s. Brenna Brooks added a 9.825 along with Michaela Nelson’s 9.800 to close out the rotation.

Stanford moved to the uneven bars a pair of 9.875s from Grace Waguespack, and Bryant led the Cardinal to a 49.200. Madison Brunette contributed a 9.850 of her own followed by a pair of 9.800s from Taylor Lawson and Yu.

Arizona went to the vault where Swanson led the Wildcats effort with a 9.850. Adra Parks followed on the heels of Swanson with a 9.825 giving the Gym Cats a 48.775.

Heading into the final rotation, Stanford led the pack again with a 147.500. But Arizona State trailed closely behind with a 147.275, followed by Washington (147.175) and Arizona (145.150).

ASU ended its day on the vault with a 49.125 which helped them capture the lead of Washington and Stanford. Kaitlyn Szafranski and Ginn tied their career-highs of 9.850 and Belkoff scored a career-high of her own with a 9.825. Leonard-Baker and Wilson chipped in a pair of 9.800s to close out the meet.

Washington ended their meet on the floor with three Gym Dawgs recording scores of 9.900+ to earn a 49.00. Amara Cunningham and Thompson posted a pair of 9.900s along Washington’s dynamic floor routine for a 9.950.

Stanford finished its day on the balance beam where they suffered a pair of falls and were forced to count a 9.225. However, Bryant led the Cardinal effort yet again with a 9.875 in the middle of the lineup along with Taryn Fitzgerald’s 9.850 in the leadoff position for a 48.425 cumulative.

Arizona concluded its meet on the uneven bars where they too had to count a 9.325 after suffering two falls. Berg highlighted the Wildcat rotation with a 9.900, for a tied second-place finish in the first session. Leydin and Hendrickson added a 9.875 and 9.850 respectively for a 48.750 team total.

In the all-around, Leonard-Baker tied Stanford’s Bryant for first out of the first session with a 39.525. Arizona’s Leydin recorded a 38.625 for third followed by Stanford’s Flam with a 38.050 for fourth. Washington did not have any girls compete in the all-around.

“Overall I’m really proud of how hard they fought the entire day, and I think that’s what really got us through” head coach Jay Santos said. “We prepare all season to do our best gymnastics in the postseason. So the fact that came out prepared and confident in so many areas is amazing to see even when things may not have always gone their way.”

The Sun Devils will be heading to the Regional Championships Saturday, April 7, and Leonard-Baker says after today’s performance, it just gives them confidence before heading into the rest of the postseason.

“It feels good that we can still perform this good even with some mistakes,” Leonard-Baker said. “So if we just go back and continue to work on all those little details like Jay always says we’re going into regionals and we’re going to kill it no problem.”

Moving on to session two the Utah Utes took ahold of the first rotation by scoring a 49.575 team score. Even though Maverick Center is technically a neutral site, the Utah fans travelled well and gave the No.6 Utes what felt like a home court advantage. The Utes were led once again by junior star MyKayla Skinner who tied her season high with a 9.950. Five out of the six Utes stuck their dismounts cold leading them to their best bar score of the season.

After an amazing bar performance from Utah, the No. 2 Bruins were still not far behind with a 49.425. Junior Felicia Hano tied for the event title and scored her third straight 9.950 on vault, junior Kyla Ross scored a 9.900 and junior Gracie Kramer set a season-high with a 9.850.

No. 16 California scored a team 49.175 behind senior Sofie Seilnacht and sophomore Kyana George’s 9.900s.

No. 14 Oregon State came out hot on beam after senior McKenna Singley tied her season-high 9.850, but OSU ultimately suffered two falls on beam for a 48.600.

A stellar bars set by the Bruins vaulted them into first place after the second rotation. Freshman Margzetta Frazier started off the Bruins with a career-high tying 9.950. Ross scored her tenth perfect 10 of the season and her fifth on bars. This 10 also won her the event title on bars. In their last meet Ross completed the Gym Slam by scoring her first 10.000 on floor against Utah State. These scores pushed the Bruins into a first place with an overall bars score of 49.650.

Even though Utah scored a 49.300 overall score on beam, it was not enough to stay in first place. After having five gymnasts score a 4.900+ on bars, freshman Adrienne Randall was the only on beam scoring a 9.900.

In third place California was once again led by George and freshman Milan Clausi who scored a 9.850 and 9.900, respecitively. Freshman Maya Bordas set a career-high 9.800. The Bears finished the second rotation with a 49.025.

Lastly, Oregon State finished with a floor score of 49.425 behind junior Isis Lowery’s 9.950, which tied her career-high.

At the halfway point UCLA led with an overall 99.075, followed by Utah’s 98.875, California (98.200) and Oregon State (98.025).

Once again, the UCLA Bruins started off their rotation with a 9.950 except this time it came from junior Grace Glenn. Senior Brielle Nguyen also put up a career-high 9.900. while fellow senior Katelyn Ohashi put up a 9.950. As a result, Glenn and Ohashi tied for the event title on beam. The Bruins finished the third rotation with a 49.550 beam score and a 148.625 overall.

Even though the Bruins still sat in first place, back-to-back performances by senior MaKenna Merrell-Giles and Skinner brought the crowd to its feet and made it feel as if Utah had taken the lead. Merrell-Giles was awarded a career-high 9.950 and Skinner a perfect 10. Utah finished on floor with a 49.700 team score and a 148.575 overall.

The Bears sat in third and scored a 49.375 on bars after the third rotation. George set a career-high 9.900 and sophomore Emi Watterson a 9.950 on bars.

The Beavers set their second highest vault score of the season scoring a 49.225, led by Mary Jacobsen’s 9.900.

Heading into the final rotation there was a sense of urgency for Utah on vault, but UCLA ended on its best event, floor. Kramer and sophomore Pauline Tratz both scored 9.950s while Ross added her second 10 of the night. To nobody’s surprise Ohashi scored another perfect 10 and helped the Bruins pull away for good. UCLA finished with a 49.775 floor score.

Even though Skinner scored a 9.950 (tying for the event title) and senior Kari Lee a 9.900, it was not enough of a push to move the Utes into first place. The Utes finished with a 49.450 on vault.

For the Beavers, Colussi-Perez and Lowery both tied their career-high 9.900 on bars. Oregon State finished with a team 49.350 on bars. Cal scored a 49.000 on vault behind Clausi and Seilnacht’s 9.825s.

In the end, the UCLA Bruins finished with a meet-high 198.400, followed by the Utah Utes (198.025), Oregon State Beavers (196.600) and the California Bears (196.575).

Kyla Ross took the all-around title and led UCLA to its nineteenth Pac-12 title.

After the meet ended the Pac-12 recognized its most distinguished gymnasts. The Scholar Athlete of the Year Award was given to ASU gymnast Anne Kuhm. The Specialist of the Year Award was awarded to Katelyn Ohashi (UCLA). Gymnast of the Year was given to the deserving Kyla Ross (UCLA). Lastly, Coach of the Year was awarded to the retiring Valorie Kondos Fields (UCLA).

The Gym Devils finished fifth in the Pac-12 championships, their best finish since 2004. They will be back in action for the NCAA regionals April 4-6.The location of where ASU will be headed to regionals is still yet to be determined and will be announced during a selection show March 25.