Gym Devils focus on positives despite tri-meet losses

(Photo via Samantha Maxwell/WCSN)

TEMPE — There was plenty of gymnastics star power in Tempe on Friday as No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 2 California both came to town to compete in Desert Financial Arena. No. 23 Arizona State, as the underdogs, played host while trying to keep up with the powerhouses.

Eventually, after keeping the deficit respectable, the Sun Devils (3-4, 0-2 Pac-12 Conference) fell too far behind, as they couldn’t match the high-flying performances of the best of the best. Despite the loss, they still left on a high note, scoring their first 197-plus score of the year.

The heavily favorited Sooners started their night on floor, as the Golden Bears began with bars. Arizona State, as the home team, took its starting spot at the beginning of the vault. Senior Anaya Smith continued her vault excellence from the past month, finishing off the Sun Devils rotation with a 9.950 as the anchor.

Graduate gymnast Hannah Scharf managed to grab a 9.875, but ASU quickly fell behind the rest of the pack. At the same time, Oklahoma unleashed its dominance early and showed why it is ranked as the best school in the nation on the floor.

The two other teams outpaced the Gym Devils as Oklahoma and California notched four and three 9.9-plus scores, respectively. This quickly increasing gap with Oklahoma shrunk in the second frame, as ASU, while on bars, only scored .025 less than the Sooners but .350 less than the Golden Bears. Senior Sarah Clark led the way, netting a 9.900, with seniors Cienna Samiley and Jada Mangahas providing support with two 9.850s.

The Sooners’ comparatively lackluster vault rotation included no scores above 9.875, a mark reached by senior Katherine LeVasseur and freshman Keira Wells. Meanwhile, the Golden Bears thrived on beam netting four scores above 9.900 thanks to junior Maddie Williams, sophomore eMjae Frazier, junior Mya Lauzon, and senior Gabby Perea.

However, Cal’s overall lead was shortlived as Oklahoma started the back half of its meet with a stellar bars rotation. Star junior Jordan Bowers achieved perfection and scored the first 10 of the season for the Sooners. Oklahoma competed stunning routine after stunning routine and counted no score lower than 9.950. The Sooners’ event total of 49.825 tied the NCAA record for the event.

ASU responded as best as it could on beam, the event on which head coach Jay Santos was most proud of his team’s performance.

“Beam really came out strong,” Santos said. “They did a great job over there. … (They) probably take it today.”

On the event, Mangahas scored a career-high 9.925, her highest score of the day, and senior Emily White scored a 9.900 to bolster the rotation.

Just a few feet away, California tried to hold on to its lead over the Sooners. It ultimately failed to do so despite finishing with an event total of 49.425 but still managed to fend off ASU with a 9.925 from Lauzon and a 9.900 from freshman Kyen Mayhew.

In the final rotation, ASU put up a solid effort but still fell well short of making a historic comeback. Nonetheless, a 9.900 from White and a 9.875 from Scharf helped push the Sun Devils to the finish line, while Oklahoma only picked up the intensity to close out the meet.

The Sooners had a remarkable finish to the meet, not letting a single athlete’s score fall below 9.900 on the beam. Topping out with the highest score was sophomore Faith Torrez, who got as close as she could to perfection without getting a 10 in the form of a 9.975.

The Golden Bears also finished strong, recording a 9.950 from Lauzon and a 9.925 from Frazier on the vault to secure a final score of 197.950. They finished 0.700 points higher than Arizona State but fell 0.425 points behind Oklahoma, which finished with a season-high 198.375.

In addition to the perfect score on bars, Bowers won the all-around with a 39.675 despite only posting a 9.800 on vault. LeVasseur also had herself a meet, being the epitome of the Sooner’s strength, scoring a 9.950 on bars paired with a 9.925 on beam, her squad’s two most dominant events.

Cal’s standouts included Frazier, who just trailed Bowers’ 39.675 score by 0.025 due to her consistently high scores on vault (9.925), bars (9.950), and beam (9.925). Lauzon also had a solid day that ended with a good overall score. Lauzon earned a 39.625, good enough for fourth place in the all-around due to team-high scores of 9.950 on vault and beam.

ASU only had one all-around participant in Mangahas, who earned a career-best 39.425 all-around score, but the Gym Devils saw significant contributions from Smith’s 9.950 on vault and White’s 9.900s on beam and floor. These factors resulted in ASU’s highest score of the year, a 197.250.

“Breaking into the 197s is huge for us,” Santos said. “It gives us a great score to build on, and I’m really happy they did it against the teams that are here because it shows that we can stand up and do great gymnastics in the same arena as somebody else that was doing some really great gymnastics.”