TEMPE, Ariz. — Expectations exceeded, the state of the program elevated and awards in tow, the Arizona State gymnastics team made its curtain call Sunday morning at ASU Karsten Golf Course. Accompanied by family, friends and support staff the 2018 Gym Devils celebrated a milestone campaign.
Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year and regular season second-team All-American Cairo Leonard-Baker netted M.V.P. honors, while junior Morgan Wilson, a steady contributor for the program this season, was named Most Improved. Rounding out the list of honorees, sophomore Ashley Szafranski earned the team's Sparky Spirit award while senior captain Nichelle Christopherson garnered the Coaches Leadership award.
Team Awards
M.V.P. — Cairo Leonard-Baker
Most Improved Award — Morgan Wilson
Sparky Spirit Award — Ashley Szafranski
Coaches Leadership Award — Nichelle Christopherson
Little Devil Awards
Reading is Fundamental Award — Jessica Ginn
Lone Senior Award — Nichelle Christopherson
Be Positive Award — Katelyn Lentz
SAAC President Award- Heather Udowtich & Corinne Belkoff
Emoji Award — Ashley Szafranski
Breathe More & Stress Less Award — Maya Williams
Pretty Food Award — Anne Kuhm
Corny Jokes Award — Stephen Buckner
2018 In Retrospect
At the onset of the season, Gym Devil head coach Jay Santos sat down with thesundevils.com feature writer Craig Morgan and outlined his expectations for 2018.
"We certainly have not arrived, but we're in a much better spot than this point last year," said Santos. "Being successful in college athletics nowadays is not easy. Making NCAA Regionals is a realistic goal. We were pretty close last year and we gained so much that it should be within reach. We're set up to do a lot more this year than we ever were last year, but what we do with it is going to be a lot up to the kids. It's just about continuing to raise that bar."
Now at the conclusion of the campaign, and in retrospect, it's easy to assess coach Santos' expectations relative to his expectations: The Gym Devils not only raised the bar in 2018, they jumped over it.
Boasting arguably one of the most substantial turnarounds in recent collegiate gymnastics history, Santos' squad improved 18 spots from their 2017 national finish of 41, capping the 2018 season ranked at No. 23 nationally (highest finish since 2007). Ranking in the top-20 of the national standings for 12 consecutive weeks, Arizona State made its first team NCAA regional appearance since 2014 while sending individual all-around qualifier Cairo Leonard-Baker to nationals.
Under the tutelage of Santos, the Maroon and Gold jumped nearly a point and half in their season finale RQS tally, improving from 195.145 in 2017 to 196.545 this season. Most notably, the team eclipsed the 49.000+ mark in 33 event rotations, after only having done so four times in 2017.
The Gym Devils knocked off four ranked opponents on the season — No. 14 Auburn, No. 20 Iowa, No. 14 West Virginia, and No. 20 Stanford — marking the first time since 2006 that the squad has accomplished the feat, while accumulating 13 team wins.
Courtesy of his efforts at the helm of the program, Santos was named the 2018 Pac-12 Coach of the Year.
Freshman standout Leonard-Baker, hailing from Oakland, Calif., signed off on one of the best freshman efforts not only in Arizona State gymnastics history, but Sun Devil lore, garnering a plethora of awards, including Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year honors, All Pac-12 Second-Team (AA, UB) recognition, and NACGC/W Regular Season Second-Team All-America All-Around honors.
As a contingent, the Gym Devils continued to excel not only as gymnasts, but as students as the team placed placed a program-best nine student-athletes on Pac-12 All-Academic teams, including a conference-best four first-team honorees.
2018 proved to be one for the books for Sun Devil gymnastics.
Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year and regular season second-team All-American Cairo Leonard-Baker netted M.V.P. honors, while junior Morgan Wilson, a steady contributor for the program this season, was named Most Improved. Rounding out the list of honorees, sophomore Ashley Szafranski earned the team's Sparky Spirit award while senior captain Nichelle Christopherson garnered the Coaches Leadership award.
Team Awards
M.V.P. — Cairo Leonard-Baker
Most Improved Award — Morgan Wilson
Sparky Spirit Award — Ashley Szafranski
Coaches Leadership Award — Nichelle Christopherson
Little Devil Awards
Reading is Fundamental Award — Jessica Ginn
Lone Senior Award — Nichelle Christopherson
Be Positive Award — Katelyn Lentz
SAAC President Award- Heather Udowtich & Corinne Belkoff
Emoji Award — Ashley Szafranski
Breathe More & Stress Less Award — Maya Williams
Pretty Food Award — Anne Kuhm
Corny Jokes Award — Stephen Buckner
2018 In Retrospect
At the onset of the season, Gym Devil head coach Jay Santos sat down with thesundevils.com feature writer Craig Morgan and outlined his expectations for 2018.
"We certainly have not arrived, but we're in a much better spot than this point last year," said Santos. "Being successful in college athletics nowadays is not easy. Making NCAA Regionals is a realistic goal. We were pretty close last year and we gained so much that it should be within reach. We're set up to do a lot more this year than we ever were last year, but what we do with it is going to be a lot up to the kids. It's just about continuing to raise that bar."
Now at the conclusion of the campaign, and in retrospect, it's easy to assess coach Santos' expectations relative to his expectations: The Gym Devils not only raised the bar in 2018, they jumped over it.
Boasting arguably one of the most substantial turnarounds in recent collegiate gymnastics history, Santos' squad improved 18 spots from their 2017 national finish of 41, capping the 2018 season ranked at No. 23 nationally (highest finish since 2007). Ranking in the top-20 of the national standings for 12 consecutive weeks, Arizona State made its first team NCAA regional appearance since 2014 while sending individual all-around qualifier Cairo Leonard-Baker to nationals.
Under the tutelage of Santos, the Maroon and Gold jumped nearly a point and half in their season finale RQS tally, improving from 195.145 in 2017 to 196.545 this season. Most notably, the team eclipsed the 49.000+ mark in 33 event rotations, after only having done so four times in 2017.
The Gym Devils knocked off four ranked opponents on the season — No. 14 Auburn, No. 20 Iowa, No. 14 West Virginia, and No. 20 Stanford — marking the first time since 2006 that the squad has accomplished the feat, while accumulating 13 team wins.
Courtesy of his efforts at the helm of the program, Santos was named the 2018 Pac-12 Coach of the Year.
Freshman standout Leonard-Baker, hailing from Oakland, Calif., signed off on one of the best freshman efforts not only in Arizona State gymnastics history, but Sun Devil lore, garnering a plethora of awards, including Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year honors, All Pac-12 Second-Team (AA, UB) recognition, and NACGC/W Regular Season Second-Team All-America All-Around honors.
As a contingent, the Gym Devils continued to excel not only as gymnasts, but as students as the team placed placed a program-best nine student-athletes on Pac-12 All-Academic teams, including a conference-best four first-team honorees.
2018 proved to be one for the books for Sun Devil gymnastics.