ASU Gymnastics: Sun Devils ready for postseason action in Pittsburgh

(Photo via Xavier Litman/WCSN)

On Friday, the Arizona State Gym Devils are headed to the east coast to compete in the Pittsburgh regional of the 2023 NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championships.

The Sun Devils, whose stellar NQS of 197.105 earned them a No. 15 seed in the tournament, is one of the four seeded teams in the Pittsburgh regional. The Gym Devils will compete in the second session of the second round, along with No. 2 Florida, Maryland and Penn State. The first session earlier in the day will feature No. 7 California, No. 10 Michigan State, Western Michigan and West Virginia. The top two teams from each session will then go on to face each other in the regional finals on Sunday with a trip to the national championship semifinals on the line.

The only other team from the Pac-12 in the Pittsburgh regional is California. The Golden Bears are also the only team in the Pittsburgh regional that Arizona State has faced so far this season. That dual meet, which took place on Feb. 4 in Berkeley, ended with California taking the win by a final score of 197.600-196.800.

Under 2023 Pac-12 Coach of the Year Jay Santos, the Sun Devils have enjoyed a long stretch of success. This is the fifth straight NCAA Regionals appearance for the Gym Devils, including the 2020 season, in which Arizona State was guaranteed a postseason berth before the postseason was called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The last time the Sun Devils advanced to the regional finals was in 2021, when they finished in third and tied with Kentucky to narrowly miss a spot in the national semifinals. This season, bolstered by a strong senior class and numerous underclassman specialists, they hope to return to the national spotlight.

Senior Hannah Scharf has been the driving force behind the Sun Devils’ late-season success. She is ranked No. 21 in the nation as an all-around competitor and earned Pac-12 First Team honors in the all-around and on floor. In ASU’s massive upset over No. 4 Utah, she earned a career-high all-around score of 39.675, including a 9.975 on bars.

ASU’s other all-around competitor junior Emily White also looks to make a splash at regionals. At the Pac-12 Championships, White earned a career-high 9.950 on beam, placing second in the event. She also helped the Gym Devils hand No. 11 Oregon State its first loss of the year by scoring a career high of 9.950 on the floor.

Additionally, multiple specialists have contributed to Arizona State’s success. Junior Cienna Samiley has been a staple in ASU’s bars lineup all season, earning a career-high 9.925 against Washington. Junior Anaya Smith scored a 9.900 on vault for four straight weeks heading into Pac-12 Championships and has won three titles on the event this season. Juniors Sarah Clark and Jada Mangahas are also as they regularly compete on three events for the Sun Devils.

The competition won’t make it easy for the Sun Devils to advance to the regional finals. No. 2 Florida is a national powerhouse, with three gymnasts – Trinity Thomas, Leanne Wong and Kayla Dicello – ranked inside the top 15 all-around gymnasts in the country. Maryland is ranked No. 24 nationally, and Penn State, which won a play-in with Towson on Thursday, is ranked No. 32.

Arizona State got hot at the right time in the back half of its season, but its success has fizzled out over the past two weeks. Santos and the Gym Devils have been looking to recapture that spark, and at the NCAA Regionals, there is no doubt that it’s now or never.