(Berkeley, CA) For the second year in a row, Sun Devil Gymnastics is moving on to the NCAA Regional Finals after the team came in second place with 197.150 in the first session of the second round at the California Regional on Friday afternoon at Haas Pavilion.
Arizona State in the regional finals for the second-straight season and for the third time in the last four years. ASU advances alongside No. 6 seed Denver, who won the meet with a 197.275. To advance, Arizona State beat No. 11 seed UCLA for the second time this season for the upset, as well as Washington. The Gym Devils were in the top two for the entire meet, never giving up an advantage.
Final Results
- No. 6 seed Denver, 197.275
- Arizona State, 197.150
- No. 11 seed UCLA, 197.050
- Washington, 196.650
Rotation One – Beam, 49.250
The Gym Devils were in second after the first rotation following a solid group of scores. Sarah Clark and Hannah Scharf led the way with 9.875s, followed by two 9.850s from the bookends Kayla Lee and Emily White.
Rotation Two – Floor, 49.375
Kimberly Smith’s career-high 9.925 led the way on floor to keep ASU in second place in the meet. All scores that counted were a 9.850 or better. Halle Gregoire and Mangahas brought in a pair of 9.875s and White and Scharf both notched 9.850s.
Rotation Three – Vault, 49.200
Anaya Smith’s stuck vault scored her a 9.900 in the anchor spot, the highest in this rotation. Mangahas was next highest with a 9.850, followed by a pair of 9.825s from the fifth years Gracie Reeves and Scharf.
Rotation Four – Bars, 49.325
It was a stick-fest on bars to clinch the regional finals berth. The first four routines all stuck their dismounts. Reeves led off with a career-high 9.875. After a 9.850 from Cassi Barbanente, seniors Samiley and Mangahas both notched 9.900s. Following a fall, Clark hit her routine to help ASU move on.
Up Next
The California Regional Final is on Sunday, April 7, at 5 p.m. PDT/MST in Haas Pavilion. Arizona State and Denver will advance, as well as the top two teams from the second session which is today (Friday) at 7 p.m. local time.
Senior Jada Mangahas
On what was going through her mind and if she knew she had a chance to win on bars…
“I honestly wasn’t thinking about winning at all right there. I was just thinking to myself do it for the team. This could be our last competition, so I wanted to leave it all out on the floor and do my best to get us through to the finals. I was able to, which is an amazing feeling.”
On how the team supported each other with the season on the line…
“Going into this meet, we knew we could be done after today. Let’s just go out there and give it all we got. Have some fun with it. We have a lot of seniors – this could have been their last meet – so we were kind of just having fun with it and supporting each other the best we could while putting our best gymnastics out there. Every event, we grew more and more and I felt the energy rise. It was an amazing feeling to do that with my team.”
On the resilience it took to advance in a high-pressure situation…
“Like everyone says, pressure is a privilege. Not everyone expected for us to make it through. I think being an underdog is an amazing feeling because we can prove everyone wrong and that is what we did today. I would tell all the little girls out there to never give up and when people tell you that you can’t, you always can.”
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Kimberlie Haner
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