TEMPE, Ariz.—The Arizona State gymnastics team (1-9, 0-6 Pac-12) honors its seniors in the final home meet of the season, taking on the Penn State Nittany Lions (7-6, 3-2 Big 10) on Friday at 7 p.m. MT in Wells Fargo Arena. The meet will be a double dual format with the men’s gymnastics teams.
Following the meet, the Sun Devils will honor their seniors: Taylor Allex, Carissa Kraus, and Allie Salas.
The meet is set to air on the ASU live stream. Fans can also follow along on Twitter by following @ASUGymnastics. Fans are encouraged to tweet with #EmbraceExcellence in support of the 2016 Gym Devils.
ABOUT PENN STATE
The Nittany Lions finished in second behind West Virginia in the Unite For Her meet in Philadelphia last Friday, with a 195.675 team score.
Their 49.4 on floor was a season best, and Kiera Brown won the all-around competition for the third time this season with a career best 39.475. Brown tallied a pair of 9.9s on bars and floor to clinch the victory.
On vault, Brown and Jessica Jones tied with a their scores of 9.825. Along with Brown’s 9.9, Nicole Medvitz had a career high on bars with her 9.85. Medvitz and Brown led the team on beam as well, scoring a 9.9 and a 9.85, respectively. Three Nittany Lions hit 9.9 or better on floor. Briannah Tsang tied a career best 9.925 and won her fourth floor title of the season. Brown and Oni Timothy both hit 9.9 to tie for second.
On the men’s side, the Nittany Lions placed second in a Big Ten Conference tri-meet last Saturday, falling short to Iowa State but defeating Nebraska.
Trevor Howard led the Nittany Lions with his second-straight vault title, scoring a 15.2. Dominic DiFulvio scored a career high 15.050 on still rings for a third place finish. On floor, Christian McSwain earned a third place finish with a 15.2. Leroy Clarke, Jr.’s 14.5 on pommel horse was good enough to tie for second. Clarke’s 14.7 was the team high score for the Nittany Lions on the parallel bars.
ASU MEN’S GYMNASTICS
The men’s club gymnastics team at ASU beat the Washington Huskies last Friday in a very close match-up at the Sun Devil Classic in Chandler. Thomas Hansen brought the Sun Devils from behind to nail in the victory.
LAST TIME OUT
The Sun Devils competed in their final Pac-12 match-up of the regular season Saturday against the UCLA Bruins in Pauley Pavilion.
Allie Salas won her second consecutive all-around title with a 39.05, just shy of her 39.1 career best that she posted against Arizona.
On vault, Taylor Allex hit a 9.850 to tie for first on the event. Allex has won vault four times this season.
The Gym Devils hit a 49.0 on floor, lead by Allex’s 9.9 and Salas’ 9.875. On beam Justine Callis posted a season best score of 9.75 while Allex stepped back into the line-up and had her own season best score of 9.725.
UP NEXT
The Sun Devils will compete in their final regular-season meet, traveling to Auburn on Friday, March 11. The meet is slated for a 5 p.m. PT/7 p.m. CT start.
ASU’S 2016 EVENT LEADERS
Vault
In ASU’s Pac-12 opener, at home against Washington, Taylor Allex matched her career best score on vault, winning the event with a 9.900. The score marked the first time Allex has won vault this season.
Bars
The Sun Devils posted four of the top-five bars scores this season against California, led by Carissa Kraus’ 9.850. Katelyn Lentz followed with a new best, 9.800, while Eileen Imbus posted a career best 9.775, and Corinne Belkoff scored a 9.750.
Beam
Freshman Katelyn Lentz tied her season best score on beam against Arizona with a 9.825, which she also scored at Oregon State. Junior Beka Conrad scored a career high 9.825 against California, and matched that score again against Arizona. Also against the Bears, Corinne Belkoff posted the No. 3 mark at 9.800, which Lentz also scored against Washington.
Floor
Taylor Allex set a new career high on floor with a 9.950, tying for first place in the event in the meet against Cal. Against Arizona, Allex hit a 9.925, her second highest career score, and her second consecutive 9.9+ on the season.
All Around
Allie Salas won the all-around for the first time in her career, posting a personal best 39.100 against Arizona. That score would also be the Gym Devils’ season best score. Salas followed with another all-around win at UCLA, scoring a 39.050, the second-highest Sun Devil score this season.
Gym Devils Post All-Time High Team GPA In Fall 2015
The Fall 2015 semester was a time of academic success for the GymDevils as the team achieved its all-time highest cumulative and semester GPA, it was announced this week.
Last spring, the team ended with a GPA of 3.27 for the semester, which improved after the 2015 fall semester to a GPA of 3.51. In addition to the team’s collective achievements, seniors Taylor Allex (3.65 GPA) and Kristine Levin (3.27 GPA) and junior Beka Conrad (3.67 GPA) all earned their highest semester GPA.
Freshman Corinne Belkoff had the team’s highest semester GPA at 3.93. Belkoff, as well as freshmen Katelyn Lentz, Heather Udowitch and Eileen Imbus are all students in Barrett, the Honors College.
THE 2016 RETURNERS
ASU returns five gymnasts from last year’s lineup, with seniors Taylor Allex, Carissa Kraus, Kristine Levin, and Allie Salas ready to lead the program. Also back is beam and floor specialist Beka Conrad.
Last season, Allex competed in just her second all-around of the season at the NCAA Regional in Norman, Okla.
THE 2016 NEWCOMERS
The Gym Devils are set to field a young roster in 2016, with six freshmen expected to contribute to the lineup: Corinne Belkoff (Tucson, Ariz./Arizona Dynamics), Justine Callis (Chesapeake, Va./Oaktree Academy), Eileen Imbus (San Antonio, Texas (Aerial Athletics), Katelyn Lentz (Brisbane, Calif./Head Over Heels Athletic Arts), Heather Udowitch (Spring Creek Academy), and Morgan Wilson (Lee’s Summit, Mo./Diamond Gymnastics Academy).
THE 2016 SCHEDULE
During the home finale, ASU will host both Penn State’s women’s and men’s program in a double-dual with the Arizona State men’s gymnastics team.
The final regular-season meet is slated for Friday, Match 11 at Auburn, and on the following Saturday, March 19, ASU will make the trek up to Seattle, Wash., for the 2016 Pac-12 Gymnastics Championships.
GYM DEVILS ON THE PAC-12 NETWORKS
Each of ASU’s three home conference meets (vs. Washington, vs. California, and vs. Arizona) will air on the Pac-12 Networks. The Gym Devils’ meet at UCLA will also be televised on the Pac-12 Networks, as will the sessions of the 2016 Pac-12 Gymnastics Championships.
THE 2015 CAMPAIGN
Despite being plagued by injuries throughout most of the 2015 season, the Sun Devils bounced back in their regular season finale with a 195.175-191.050 victory over Air Force.
Following competition at the Pac-12 Championships, then-senior Natasha Sundby (floor) and then-junior Taylor Allex (all-around) qualified to compete at the NCAA Regional championships.
DR. RENE LYST
Rene Lyst was named head coach of the Arizona State women’s gymnastics team in May of 2014, and enters her second season at the helm of the Sun Devil program in 2016. Lyst helped the Razorbacks have qualified for 11 NCAA Regionals as a team, seven NCAA Championship appearances, five top-10 finishes, and two NCAA Super Six appearances.