By Craig Morgan, thesundevils.com Writer
TEMPE, Ariz. -- René Lyst was watching the Sun Devils gymnastics team compete in the bar routine at its season opener against Nebraska when she came to a sudden realization.
"I looked around and said 'wow, we are really good. We're actually good!' the second-year Sun Devils coach said. "That's the first time since I've been here that the little light went on and I thought we had something going."
It's a welcome feeling for Lyst and the program's veterans, who struggled through an injury-plagued, disappointing season in Lyst's first year at the helm. With a crop of six talented freshmen joining the program this season, there is a palpable buzz inside the John Spini Gymnastics Center.
"The first inter-squad meet here, I was like, 'Whoa! It’s so loud in here," freshman Morgan Wilson said. "I wasn't expecting that, but it makes it exciting to be here and try to get us back on our feet; back in the game."
The freshman class is a big reason for that excitement. When Lyst arrived last season, she noticed a lack of depth to help the team survive injuries and the normal ups and downs of a season, so she brought in Corinne Belkoff, Justine Callis, Eileen Imbus, Katelyn Lentz, Heather Udowitch and Wilson.
"It's been good for the upper classmen because they bring in a good energy," Lyst said. "Everything is new and exciting.
"Nobody is really flashy but they’re all quality on multiple events; if not all four. They're steady and they work hard and they will get solid scores. They'll be contributors to building a stronger foundation.
Freshmen competed in thirteen of the Sun Devils' 24 routines against the Cornhuskers. Lyst said they have a variety of strengths, with Wilson's power on the vault one of the more noticeable additions.
ASU will still rely on senior Taylor Allex to lead the team in competition, but the seniors are being relied upon as a group to show the freshmen the ropes and teach what Wilson calls Lyst's "tough love" culture.
"Coming from club programs, which is where most freshmen come from, it's a big adjustment to college," senior Allie Salas said. "In club, you're more focused on yourself rather than your team. In college, it’s all about the team. It’s six up and five scores count so if you make a mistake it doesn't just hurt you, it hurts the team in the team standings."
Salas said adjusting to collegiate competition is less about talent, which most of the athletes have.
"It's more mental; getting confidence in your skills," she said. "We do a lot of mental training. We bring a psychologist in who helps us with breathing and focus; little tricks we can use to calm ourselves and focus on what we need to do."
Lyst has always set high expectations for her teams. In her 13 seasons as co-coach at Arkansas, the Razorbacks qualified for 11 NCAA Regionals, seven NCAA Championship appearances, five top-19 finishes, and two NCAA Super Six appearances.
In 2014, Lyst guided Arkansas senior All-American Katherine Grable to the program’s first and second individual titles at the 2014 NCAA Championships. Grable scored the highest-winning vault score in NCAA Championship history with a 9.975 and took home the individual floor title with a score of 9.962.
"I'm definitely detail oriented," Lyst said, laughing, when told of Wilson's tough-love characterization of her coach. "I do love them and want the best for them but there is no cutting corners because every part of your preparation matters. It’s hard to do that on your own so you need someone reminding you and keeping you on task."
Lyst has set long-term goals of getting this team to the regional championships and earning at least some individual representation at the national championships, saying it would be "a big step for this program."
In the short term, she is curious to see how the Devils will fare against national power Oklahoma on Friday, and at Auburn on March 11. The Sooners finished third at the NCAA Super Six finals last season; the Tigers finished sixth.
"We didn’t know what the personality of this team was going to be when we started, but we're seeing very quickly that we need to up our expectations level," Lyst said. "After that Nebraska meet you could see the big picture and when we came back in (the practice facility), I told them 'we need to be expect to be good and start practicing with intent'; start practicing with that mindset that we're going to go in and beat somebody; not just go in and try to survive.
"We're still young and we still have jitters but you can see the direction we're going with what we're trying to accomplish and it's so exciting."