March 1, 2002
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TEMPE, Ariz. - Coming together on the event that's haunted them this season, Arizona State's 15th-ranked women's gymnastics team saw school records fall on balance beam en route to a school record meet total in its 197.850-196.700 victory over No. 12 Arizona at Wells Fargo Arena, Friday night.
In front of 818 vocal fans, the Sun Devils moved to 6-5-1 on the season, picking up their first win of the year against a ranked opponent, while Arizona dropped to 8-4 overall. ASU's 197.850 meet total was four-tenths better than the previous school record of 197.450, set last year in the dual between these intrastate rivals.
Going into the meet, ASU had completed only 23 of 42 beam routines without a fall, but the Sun Devils hit all six Friday night en route to a school event-record of 49.650. Leading the way was senior Rhonda Robinette, who in the final regular season home appearance of her career scored the first perfect-10 of her career.
Coupled with a 9.95 by fellow senior Laura Moon, plus 9.925s from juniors Ashley Ellsberry and Cassidy Vreeke and a 9.85 from freshman Kari Muth, the Sun Devils bettered an event record of 49.550 that had stood since 1999.
Robinette's perfect score was the 16th 10.0 score in school history, the sixth on beam all-time and the first on beam since 1997. Going into the meet, Robinette's best score was a 9.925, scored last season.
"Watching this team tonight was such an enjoyable experience," ASU head coach John Spini said. "To watch a team rally around one another like that, to believe in one another as a team and get through those hard times is inspiring. I'm so happy for my seniors, Laura and Rhonda, that they got to finish their careers on such a high level."
Robinette wasn't the only Sun Devil shattering personal bests. In the opening rotation, three Sun Devils set career highs on vault, with sophomore Maggie Germaine going for 9.95, sophomore Jada Cox scoring a 9.925 and Vreeke adding yet another 9.925. While not a school best, ASU's 49.475 event total on vault was just a tenth of a point below the ASU record of 49.575.
On uneven bars, Germaine and freshman Kari Muth tied lifetime bests with 9.9s, to pace ASU to its 49.225 event total. On floor, Muth and Germaine went at it again, with bests of 9.925 and 9.95, respectively. Cox's 9.825 was also a personal best, helping ASU to its season-best event total of 49.500.
Although Arizona was held back by a pair of falls on beam, the Wildcats got a tremendous performance out of senior Randi Liljenquist, who scored a 10.0 on beam, 9.95s on vault and floor and a 9.875 on bars en route to a first-place all-around total of 39.775. Arizona's final meet score (196.700) was the ninth-best team total in school history.
The Sun Devils will complete their regular season dual schedule next Friday when they meet Utah State for the second time of the 2002 season, March 8, at 7:00 p.m. in Logan, Utah. After that its on to the Pac-10 Championships, March 23, in Stanford, Calif. ASU then hosts the NCAA South Central Regional, April 6.
Final Team Scores:
Arizona -- 196.700 (vault 49.475, bars 49.000, beam 48.950, floor 49.275)
Arizona State -- 197.850 (vault 49.475, bars 49.225, beam 49.650, floor 49.500)
ASU Scores (in order of competition):
Vault (49.475) -- Wojciak 9.8, Dixon 9.725, DeMartini 9.875, Vreeke 9.925, Cox 9.925, Germaine 9.95
Bars (49.225) -- Ellsberry 9.8, Robinette 9.825, Wojciak 9.775, Germaine 9.9, Muth 9.9, Moon 9.8
Beam (49.650) -- Muth 9.85, Vreeke 9.925, Giorgianni 9.8, Ellsberry 9.925, Robinette 10.0, Moon 9.95
Floor (49.500) -- DeMartini 9.3, Cox 9.825, Vreeke 9.9, Muth 9.925, Ellsberry 9.9, Germaine 9.95