The Sun Devils gymnastics team headed to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to open their season against the 2021 defending NCAA Champions and No.1 ranked Michigan Wolverines. This would be the Devils’ first meet in 29 days, dating back to Dec. 17 where the Sun Devils kicked off the season with the Maroon and Gold intersquad meet. ASU was scheduled for two meets beforehand: No. 13 Kentucky and the Colgate Challenge, but both were canceled due to the Coronavirus.
While the Devils competed hard and posted their best opening score in program history, they couldn’t knock down the Wolverines. A limited roster for Arizona State came up just short, falling 197.950 to 196.275. After the meet coaches Jay and Jess Santos were happy with how their team competed through the adversity.
“Wow! We are thrilled with how the team performed tonight. The team has dealt with quite a bit of adversity in the past few weeks which limited training time for a lot of the student-athletes.”
The first rotation of the night started with ASU on bars and Michigan on vault. Bars would see two Sun Devils make their collegiate debut with sophomore Cienna Samiley posting a 9.825 and maroon and gold meet standout freshmen Alex Theodorou posting a 9.850. Jada Mangahas would make her first ever collegiate appearance on bars, posting a team-high score of 9.875. On the other side Michigan would post four scores greater than 9.900, a 9.975 by Naomi Morrison and Natalie Wojcik, Wojcik tying a career-best; Abby Heiskell with 9.925 and Gabby Wilson with a 9.950. Michigan would carry the lead, 49.625 to 49.225 after the first rotation.
With Arizona State on vault for the second rotation, Theodorou posted the Devils’ first score of 9.9.00 of the season. Hannah Scharf posted the devils’ second-highest score with a 9.875, and Jordan Jaslow posted a 9.800. With these high scores the devils scored a team score over 49.000 for the tenth time in a row on vault; posting a 49.075. The Wolverines would score well in the second rotation with Wojcik scoring a 9.950 and three scores of 9.875 by Sierra Brooks, Heiskell and Abby Brenner. After two rotations, the Wolverines held the lead 99.025 to 98.300 over ASU.
The third of four rotations featured ASU on the floor and Michigan on beam. Jaslow would start the devils off, in her first time competing on the floor, scoring 9.825. The last three devils to compete would build momentum off each other; Emily White posted a 9.850, Theodorou with a 9.875 and Scharf would post the team’s second score 9.900. White’s routine was well enjoyed by fans as her music choice sparked excitement on Twitter; she played Hannah Montana and the Spice Girls. Michigan’s Wojcik scored well again with a 9.975; the highest beam score for her team. Heiskell would not be too far behind teammate Wojcik posting her own score of 9.925. After three rotations, Michigan would still hold firm 148.250 to 146.350.
The fourth and final rotation of the day saw White lead the way for the Sun Devils on beam scoring 9.875, which was the third best beam score between the two teams. Following White closely would be junior teammate Scharf, who posted a score of 9.850, Jaslow, in her first time on the beam, would keep up with her teammates, scoring a 9.825. The Wolverines would end on a high note, with five of their six scores above a 9.900: Heiskell and Brooks both with a 9.925, and three scores of 9.950 from Brenner, Morrison, and Gabby Wilson.
Scharf, the only all-around competitor for ASU, would carry a score total of 39.475, putting her 4th overall behind Michigan’s Morrison and ahead of Brooks. Both coaches sung praises to both Scharf and Theodorou after the meet.
“Hannah was a rock and picked up right where she left off last season. I know everyone was excited about Alex’s debut and she was phenomenal tonight. Breaking the opening score record is a great starting point for us to build off of.”
With different line ups today and a shortened lineup card the Sun Devil coaching staff was proud of their team’s effort.
“We rearranged everything from routine construction to using different line ups and the girls did a phenomenal job of rolling with everything. Today we asked them to step up and focus on the controllables and boy did they deliver!”
Though very excited with how their team competed, coaches Jay and Jess Santos still realize there is some work to be done, but if they can work it out, watch out for the sun devils.
“Between continuing to work on our details and adding back in some of our top routines over the next few weeks, this team is destined for big things this season!”
The Gym Devils’ next meet is scheduled for Jan. 21 at Utah State; that meet will take place at 7:00 p.m. MST.
