March 9, 2013
Final Stats | VIDEO: A Storm Is Coming
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DENVER, Ariz.--The Arizona State women's gymnastics team's motto this season is "Storm's Coming". And with the blizzard that arrived as the Sun Devils touched down in Denver, ASU brought the storm scoring a season-high 195.675. Overall the Gym Devils finished second in the meet with Denver scoring 197.200 and Illinois State recording 194.275.
The Sun Devils started on beam and recorded three scores of 9.800 including a career-high 9.875 in the event by freshman Risa Perez. However, shades of the previous meet reared their head, and once again, ASU had to count a fall on beam. Overall, the Gym Devils score of 48.400 set the tone for the meet, and that tone was resilience.
ASU followed up a couple slip-ups on beam with its season-high score on floor with a total of 49.275. The Sun Devils hit routine after routine with the Arizona State having the luxury of dropping the low-score of 9.725 by sophomore Brianna Gades. Perez again hit a career-high of 9.850 on her marquee event. However, the high score of the night was also a career high coming from sophomore Morgan Steigerwalt. With her big orchestral music and strong tumbling, the sophomore now joins Natasha Sundby in scoring a 9.900 on floor this season. Only to be outdone by a quarter of a point, Sundby scored a 9.875 on floor, while freshman Stephanie Miceli also set a new career-high of 9.850.
The Gym Devils moved on to vault where they also set a new season-high score. Freshman Carissa Kraus hit a 9.875 to lead ASU, notching back-to-back career high scores after setting the mark against Arizona. Sundby followed Kraus with a 9.850 and Steigerwalt once again set a new career-high with a score 9.825. Overall ASU scored 49.025 on vault to top the 49-mark for the first time this season.
On bars, the Sun Devils tied their season high team score of 48.975 counting three scores above a 9.825. Grad Kahoku Palafox led scoring with a 9.850 on bars. Kraus' routine also earned her a career-high in the event with a score of 9.825.
With such a young team, it's not surprising the Sun Devils set so many career-high marks in one meet. Twenty-two of the 24 routines competed on the night were comprised of freshmen and sophomores, with Gades, Perez, Sundby and Steigerwalt making up 12 of those routines.
|
Career Highs Set |
||
|
Morgan Steigerwalt, So. |
Vault |
9.825 |
|
|
Floor |
9.900 |
|
Risa Perez, Fr. |
Beam |
9.875 |
|
|
Floor |
9.850 |
|
Carissa Kraus, Fr. |
Vault |
9.875 (tie) |
|
|
Bars |
9.825 |
|
Stephanie Miceli, Fr. |
Floor |
9.850 |
The Gym Devils return home to Wells Fargo Arena to close out the regular season against Bridgeport on Mar. 15 at 7 p.m. PT. It will also be the final home meet for Palafox and senior Amelia Rew. In honor of the seniors and their respective academic disciplines, the Gym Devils are hosting their first-ever GREEN meet. Palafox and Rew are leading the charge to help Arizona State become zero waste by 2015 and the meet will employ measures to preview the future of Sun Devil Athletics sustainability commitment.