Gym Devils end regular season with tri-meet victory

By Scott Mammoser

Ashley Szafranski performing on balance beam

TEMPE, Ariz. – The No. 20 Arizona State gymnastics team will head into the conference championships fresh off a tri-meet victory on Wednesday.

The Gym Devils racked up a season-high 196.550 points, defeating No.17 BYU (195.825) and West Virginia (195.75). The Mountaineers are the first team out of the Top 25. The Pac-12 Championships will be held on Saturday, March 23, at West Valley City, Utah.

“One thing we talked about was to be more aggressive,” ASU coach Jay Santos said. “Routines after mistakes were great routines. It’s great to see a kid go out and be normal and comfortable, with a fall happening in front of them. I am really happy with the performance tonight.”

Cairo Leonard-Baker of ASU was dead even with the Cougars’ Shannon Evans for the all-around lead with 39.425 points, and each scored highest on floor with 9.9s.

“I can’t do it without my teammates,” Leonard-Baker said. “I can’t do anything without them. No one was worried about themselves, we were all in it together for this meet.”

ASU’s Justine Callis won the balance beam with 9.9 points, while three other Gym Devils (Ashley Szafranski, Anne Kuhm and Morgan Wilson) earned personal bests in the three slots below her. Helody Cyrenne of BYU scored an uneven bars-high score of 9.9, edging out Leonard-Baker’s 9.875.

On floor, Corinne Belkoff of the Gym Devils recorded a personal best 9.9 to tie Leonard-Baker, Evans, and Kirah Koshinski of West Virginia for the lead. Koshinski also won the vault with 9.925 points.

“It was so special, I have been dreaming about it for so long,” Belkoff said of the 9.9 mark. “To have it happen in my last home meet is so special.”

Now ASU, which was coming off of a third-place finish in its recent quad-meet at Denver, will be the sixth-highest ranked team in the Pac-12 Championships. Eight teams sponsor women’s gymnastics in the Pac-12, headlined with UCLA and Utah.

“We’re going to take it easy and get some rest,” Santos added. “We’ll feel better and have a normal week of practice after that. We have that confidence back, and I think that’s huge.”