April 7, 2012
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah—The Arizona State women’s finished in fourth place at the 2012 NCAA Regionals in Salt Lake City, Utah, Saturday. The Sun Devil’s fourth-place finish is the highest regional placement for the team since 2006. The Gym Devils competed in front of the largest regional crowd in the nation with attendance listed at 6,558.
“I thought the meet was a great experience, there was a great crowd,” said head coach John Spini. “We didn’t have a lot of missed routines, but I think bars was the roughest set we did and we needed some scores to go, [we needed to] hit routines. I thought the scores didn’t show the job we did.”
Led by the third-highest total all season on vault, the fifth-seed Sun Devils moved ahead of No. 4 Iowa State for the fourth spot in the region. Sophomore Samantha Seaman led ASU in vault scoring a 9.850 in the event for her fifth-consecutive score of 9.8-plus and seventh overall of the year. Seaman’s score was the fifth-best of the night. Senior Beaté Jones scored a 9.825 on vault to bring her season total to 10 scores of 9.800 or better. As a team, Arizona State scored a 48.925 in the event.
“I think Samantha Seaman did really well as an All-Arounder, and did a great job for us as a sophomore,” said Spini. “She’s going to be a great gymnast. She did an outstanding vault and I was just really pleased with her overall.”
The Sun Devils also competed strong on floor with Jones taking the top score of 9.800. Senior Amanda Davies and freshman Natasha Sundby each performed strong, high-energy routines earning 9.775 each. Seaman led of the line-up scoring a 9.725, while freshman Morgan Steigerwalt also earned a score of 9.725 with her performance.
The Sun Devils started the meet off on beam hitting all six routines. Freshman Natelle Gentile led ASU, scoring a 9.750 in the event, just a quarter of a point off her career high. Sophomore Sammie Seaman scored a 9.700 on beam to take the second-highest score for the Sun Devils.
On bars, senior Kahoku Palafox led ASU, scoring a 9.775. The NCAA Regional in Salt Lake City concludes the Gym Devils 2012 season.