ASU Gymnastics: Sun Devils finish at bottom of Pac-12 for second straight year

(Photo: Gabrielle Mercer/WCSN)

The Gym Devils came up short for the second year in a row, falling to the bottom of the Pac-12 at the conference championship meet Saturday at the University of Washington.

The Gym Devils finished with a score of 191.725, enough to put them in last place, finishing behind Washington (195.300), who took seventh, and Arizona (195.525), who took sixth.

Interim head coach Ralph Rosso said he was proud of his team’s performance, specifically freshman Heather Udowitch, who tied her season high on beam.

“They handled (this season) just as we expected them,” Rosso said. “It can only go up from here.”

Vault proved to be one of the team’s stronger events, recording their second highest score of the season. Senior Taylor Allex led the team with a 9.850, followed by senior Allie Salas with a 9.750.

UCLA was able to capture first place with a 197.250 overall.

On beam, junior Beka Conrad tied her record high for the third time this season, scoring a 9.825. Following was Udowitch with a 9.800.

Allex proved again to be one of the Gym Devils’ top performers, finishing with the highest score on the floor with a 9.850.

“We had a lot of adversity (this season), from losing people to injuries, people going in and out of lineup because of small tweaks here and there,” Rosso said. “The girls responded really well, they never stopped fighting.”

Rosso recently stepped in as head coach, when Rene Lyst was put on administrative leave two weeks ago.

The Gym Devils scored a 48.225 on bars collectively, giving senior Carissa Kraus her second highest score of the season with a 9.825, following Salas with a 9.700, and freshman Justine Callis, who also scored her second highest score of the season, with a 9.650.

Rosso said he was impressed by the leadership shown from the seniors, as well as the maturity from the younger athletes.

Although this is the last meet for the team, individuals who qualify for postseason competition will be announced Monday on NCAA.com.

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