Gym Devils earn third Pac-12 win in a row with gritty home effort

(Photo via Marina Williams/WCSN)

TEMPE — The Arizona State women’s gymnastics team put together a gritty, hard-fought effort on Friday night in Tempe against the visiting Washington Huskies, earning a 196.825 to 196.500 victory, making it three consecutive wins against a Pac-12 Conference opponent.

Senior Sarah Clark was one of the Gym Devils (6-4, 3-2 Pac-12) biggest stars of the meet, posting the highest score of the night in any event for ASU with an impressive 9.925 on the balance beam.

Another standout individual performance for the home team was seen from freshman Halle Gregoire, who notched a career-high score on floor with a 9.900.

“It was really big for me to go out there and do what I’ve been training and practicing and finally just putting it all together,” Gregoire said. “It’s good to have that one routine under me. I’ve had all these 9.850s, and I finally got over that hump, which is huge for me. After I landed the first pass, I knew that’s what I needed for the last pass and I was like, ‘Yeah, this is gonna be the one.'”

For the Huskies (1-11, 0-5 Pac-12), one of the biggest bright spots of the night came when senior Skylar Killough-Wilhelm bested ASU senior Jada Mangahas for the all-around crown. Mangahas was coming off her third all-around title of the season after winning the honor last week against rival Arizona, but Killough-Wilhelm had other plans. With one rotation left in the meet, the two athletes were in a deadlock tie at 29.550. However, after Mangahas scored a 9.850 on floor, Killough-Wilhelm seized the opportunity and pulled ahead late with an outstanding 9.925 result on beam.

Sophomore Lilly Tubbs also had a tremendous showing for the team in purple, earning a 9.950 and an event title on bars, which ultimately equated to the highest individual score received for either squad, regardless of event.

Washington quietly topped the Sun Devils in three of the four events, but ASU was so dominant on vault, winning the event 49.325 to 48.850, it was able to make up the difference.

Post-meet, the Gym Devils were grateful for the victory, but head coach Jay Santos feels his team still has plenty of room for growth and improvement.

“Obviously, we would like to finish floor a little bit stronger and just get over that 197 mark,” Santos said. “But we did way more right tonight than we did wrong. I think the team is still building and we’ve been hitting that high 196 mark for about four or five weeks and I feel, in any of these meets, we haven’t completely maxed out.”

Clark believes the team can reach its full potential by refining and polishing the little details, and once that step is accomplished, the numbers on the scoreboard will naturally increase.

“We keep talking about the details, but at this point, that really is all it is,” Clark said. “Today we were just one routine short, and if we had that one routine, we would have gone over that 197 mark. It’s really just fine-tuning those details and finding that one last routine that we need. And it’s that simple honestly.”