(Photo: Nick Wicksman/WCSN)
The Arizona State Gym Devils fell to the 20th ranked University of Arizona GymCats Monday night at the McKale Center in Tucson.
In their 196.625-195.375 loss to U of A, the Gym Devils were impressive as they continued to make the most of a transitional season. Arizona State had its best performance of the season with an overall score of 195.375.
ASU started off strong on the uneven bars receiving an overall score of 49.000, only 0.250 behind Arizona starting on the on the vault.
Junior Carissa Kraus led the Devils in the first rotation, earning a high score of 9.850.
On the second rotation ASU stayed strong, scoring a season high on the vault with a 48.650. Vault has been a challenge for Arizona State all season long, but the slump seemed to end on Monday.
Kraus, who suffered a lower leg injury in the off-season, was in the vault lineup for the first time this year and many of the other gymnasts in the lineup for ASU tonight do not usually compete on the vault.
Head Coach René Lyst said she was impressed with the team’s effort.
“We did a great job out there,” Lyst said. “We still don’t have the difficulty that we’re going to have in another week or so, but what we did, we did it well.”
Sophomore Beka Conrad struggled early on and had her first two scores on vault and floor dropped. Conrad later redeemed herself with a season high of 9.775 on balance beam.
The GymCats earned a season high of 49.300 on the bars with junior Shelby Edwards leading with a 9.875.
ASU will look to rebound at the next meet on Friday, February 20th at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe against Oregon State. You can catch the meet on the Pac-12 Digital Stream at http://pac-12.com/videos/
You can contact the author via eMail at mrwitt@asu.edu
