(Photo via Marina Williams/WCSN)
A freshman that’s able to transition from the cold seasons of Moorhead, Minnesota to the hot, lukewarm at best winters of Tempe, Arizona is a rare occurrence, and one that’s able to do it quickly and efficiently is even rarer.
Halle Gregoire didn’t get this memo. Gregoire has become one of the Gym Devils’ most consistent competitors, especially on floor.
Coming into Friday against Washington, the first-year Gregoire had scored five straight 9.85s on floor. Friday night, she finally broke out of that pattern and captured the first floor event title of her career 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 9.85, 9.85, 9.85 … and it’s like I finally got over that hump which is huge for me.”
Her consistency of a 9.85 before tonight has been important for the Devils, as it has provided them with a solid performance that they could count on every meet, but both she and head coach Jay Santos feel that tonight was her first time “putting it all together.”
“She’s been kind of building on that.” Santos said, “She’s had a whole lot of routines that probably had kind of that one thing, and this is by far the most complete routine she had. Both landings were there, and everything was there.”
Gregoire added, “I’ve been practicing on the little details, the landings, the leaps, the pointed toes and it felt good to finally just put it all together today.”
The freshman did not start the season in the floor lineup and was just a vault participant in the first two meets of the year. But after a couple of shaky performances from other Devils in those couple of meets, she was put in the lineup and took advantage of the opportunity.
The week of her floor debut, a tri-meet versus Southern Utah and Utah State, Gregoire showed not only her ability to perform in clutch moments but also her versatility and well-roundedness. She captured her first event title of any kind on vault with a 9.925 and provided the Gym Devils with their third-best floor score of the meet.
“She’s a very powerful, dynamic gymnast, so we know that it’s just a matter of building her confidence, locking into that moment, and she’s capable of that on any given night, and hopefully, we can keep tapping into that and she can just settle in and trust in her given power that she has,” Santos said.
On Friday, her vault score dipped from her recent consistency of late. She had found similar success to her floor routines on the vault in the last month but stumbled just slightly against the Huskies in the form of a 9.775. Gregoire bounced back in the clutch and was able to excel, proving that she is here and ready for the big time.
Gregoire has positioned herself to become one of ASU’s most reliable gymnasts and a force of nature on floor and vault. The freshman has locked herself into a vital role for the team and is poised to make another possible leap heading into the final weeks of the season.
“I think she’s capable of that and even a little bit more,” Santos said. “All year long, she’s been continuing to work on those little moments and work on those details and it all came together tonight.”
