(Photo: Susan Wong/WCSN)
Arizona State Gymnastics’ season came to an end Saturday as the Sun Devils took third place at the NCAA Salt Lake Regional Finals with a 197.600, the highest score in the postseason for the program.
This meet was the third consecutive trip to the NCAA Regionals for Arizona State after trips to Penn State in 2018 and Baton Rouge in 2019. The Sun Devils were expected to compete last year before the season was cancelled due to COVID-19.
Arizona State competed Friday April 2 and narrowly beat out Boise State for the second spot in the Regional Finals. The Sun Devils struggled on beam in the second rotation but would bounce back on their floor routine with Hannah Scharf scoring 9.925, the highest score for that event. The Sun Devils put up a 49.275 to put them back in the picture to compete Saturday. They backed up that performance by putting up a team score 49.250 on vault punching their ticket into the finals on April 3.
In the finals ASU took on Utah, LSU and Kentucky. The Sun Devils got off to a quick start with a score of 49.450, their best on beam since 2007. No Sun Devil scored below a 9.875 on the event. The team didn’t stop there either, as Scharf again led the Sun Devils with a 9.900 for the second rotation on floor. Stepping up behind her were senior Cairo Leonard-Baker and freshman Jada Mangahas with an impressive 9.875.
For the third rotation, the Gym Devils scored a 49.300 on vault. This was the ninth meet in a row Arizona State has scored higher than a 49.000. Freshman Anaya Smith led the group with a 9.900, while four Sun Devils behind her scored a 9.850. The team ended with their highest score of the season on bars with a score of 49.525, earning the team third place behind Utah and LSU.
This was the Gym Devils best postseason score the team has ever earned. Career highs and bests were met throughout the meet. However, for Leonard-Baker and Scharf they will both be competing in the first semifinal of the NCAA Championships as individuals on April 16 in Fort Worth, Texas.
