(Photo via Xavier Litman/WCSN)
For the last six years, regardless of the overall success of ASU Gymnastics, one thing has remained constant for the Sun Devils: winning the Territorial Cup.
Hoping to extend their win streak over the Wildcats to 7-0, the No. 24-ranked Gym Devils hosted Arizona for a high-energy rivalry matchup Saturday night.
When the dust settled in Desert Financial Arena, head coach Jay Santos and his team emerged victorious, beating the Wildcats (4-4, 0-2 Pac-12) 196.800-196.475. ASU (4-3,1-1) took an early four-tenths lead after the first rotation and never looked back to earn their first Pac-12 win of the season.
“They’re a motivated group, and they knew what they wanted to do today,” Santos said. “Our focus was going to be on a better performance and better meet, and I think we absolutely did that. There’s still a couple things we can clean up here and there, but this is by far, top to bottom, the best meet we’ve had this year.”
It all started in the first rotation on vault. Junior Anaya Smith clinched the vault title with a career-high 9.950, the highest score of the meet and the highest on any event for ASU so far this season. It was also the highest score on the event by a Sun Devil since Ashley Hinkle on March 7, 2008.
It was all smiles from Smith when she found out she posted the best score of her career.
“My teammates help me a lot,” Smith said. “They’ve supported me throughout this whole comeback journey. I feel like I’ve been working really hard trying to come back to how I was competing before, so I just feel like I’m determined.”
Phoenix native and sophomore Alex Theodorou added a 9.900 to the scoreboard, a significant improvement from her 9.625 season debut. Additionally, four Gym Devils scored a 9.800 or better for a season-high event total of 49.300.
Despite being ranked 12th in the nation on bars, ASU started off shaky going into the second rotation. Two of the first three gymnasts scored a 9.575, but juniors Emily White and Sarah Clark and senior Hannah Scharf finished strong, scoring a trio of 9.875s and splitting the event title three ways.
Momentum wasn’t lost going into the third rotation on beam. White and fellow junior Skye Harper scored a 9.925 and 9.900, respectively. These scores are season and career-highs for both White and Harper. With the improvements, ASU finished the rotation with a season-high 49.175.
Six 9.900 or better scores came from six different Gym Devils in three events.
On floor, senior Jordyn Jaslow and junior Jada Mangahas each posted 9.900s, with Jaslow recording another career-high for the Sun Devils. Altogether, six Gym Devils recorded scores of 9.900 or higher. Santos believed that the scores reflected how hard his team worked all week and season.
“The score is the result,” Santos said. “That’s what it comes down to. They got the high scores and put themselves in position for that by going out and doing pretty gymnastics. That’s where we focus all of the time.”
Scharf, who has suffered from uncharacteristic inconsistency in the first three meets, returned to form, securing her first all-around title of the season and the 14th of her career.
“Thankfully, I do have my extra year that I’m going to take,” Scharf said. “But, I am still a senior. My senior class is going to be gone next year, so I was just trying to have fun. The energy was really exciting, and I was just trying to make the most of the moment.”
With a daunting slate of meets against No. 7 Cal, No. 6 UCLA and No. 4 Utah up next on the docket, the steady improvements shown by ASU Saturday night will be key building blocks if they hope to keep up with top-10 teams and fellow Pac-12 foes in the coming weeks.
