As voted on by conference coaches, Leonard-Baker becomes the first gymnast in program history to garner the recognition. She also becomes just the second Gym Devil in Arizona State's illustrious history to earn yearly honors, joining Katie Freeland who netted Gymnast of the Year recognition in 1996. Santos becomes the 89th head coach in Sun Devil Athletics history to garner Pac-12 honors, while joining Arizona State legend and four-time honoree John Spini in Gym Devil lore.
Cairo Leonard-Baker | Freshman of the Year
The perfect culmination of a stellar freshman campaign, that saw the Oakland, Calif. native garner five freshman freshman/newcomer of the week honors, Leonard-Baker is joined in league honors by Elizabeth Price (Gymnast of the Year) and Katelyn Ohashi (Specialist of the Year).
Leonard-Baker played an integral role in Arizona State's sixth-place finish at Pac-12s on Saturday, posting a stellar all-around tally of 39.425. In the effort she led the Gym Devils on bars, floor and vault, recording scores of 9.875, 9.900, 9.900 (career-best), respectively.
Entering competition on Saturday, Leonard-Baker ranked in the Top-25 nationally in three event categories including the all-around (16th, 39.455), bars (19th, 9.905) and floor (24th, 9.905). She also constituted the top freshman all-arounder in the conference, while sitting in third on a national basis.
In February Leonard-Baker joined prestigious company - Utah's MyKayla Skinner and California's Toni-Ann Williams - as just one of three gymnasts in conference history to garner the Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year honors five or more times. The Oakland, Calif. native also became just the second Gym Devil in program history to earn league honors on five separate occasions, joining 2004 national champion and five-time all-american Ashley Kelly in the feat.
The Maroon and Gold standout currently boasts 12 event titles on the season along with impressive season-best marks of 9.950 (bars), 9.950 (floor), 9.990 (vault) and 9.850 (beam), respectively.
Season Titles: (12) - Bars at West Virginia, Jan. 14; Floor at West Virginia, Jan. 14; All-Around at West Virginia, Jan. 14; Bars vs. California, Jan. 28; All-Around vs. California, Jan. 28; Bars at Oregon State, Feb. 3; Bars vs. Washington, Feb. 17; Floor vs. Washington, Feb. 17; All-Around vs. Washington, Feb. 17; Bars vs. Arizona, Feb. 24; Floor vs. Arizona, Feb. 24; All-Around vs. Arizona, Feb. 24
Jay Santos | Coach of the Year
The proof is in the pudding. Under the direction of Santos, the Gym Devils have jumped 24 spots (41-to-17) from their 2017 finish in the national standings and have ranked in the Top-20 for 11 consecutive weeks. Santos' squad has earned four victories over ranked squads on the season and tallied eight regular season wins for the first time since 2006.
Santos notably coached the Maroon and Gold to a 196.800 in the team's Pac-12 home opener with California on Feb. 28, a total that accounted for the team's best since 2006 and 19th-best all-time.
The recognition marks Santos' second of his coaching career, after he earned NCAA Central Regional Head Coach of the Year honors at Eastern Michigan in 2016.