By Diana Ly, SDA Media Relations Student Assistant
ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Gym Devil freshman standout Cairo Leonard-Baker capped a stellar campaign competing as an individual all-around competitor at the 2018 NCAA Gymnastics Championships, Friday afternoon in St. Louis, Mo.
Recording an all-around tally of 38.8875, Leonard-Baker posted a 17th-place finish in the day's opening semifinal.
Rotating with UCLA, Leonard-Baker opened up the outing strong with a 9.775 on vault. After a bye, the 2018 Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the year recorded a solid 9.8125 on bars courtesy of a series of high flying releases and perfect handstands. Leonard-Baker then notched a quality routine on beam sticking her dismount for a 9.7625. Despite a stumble on her last pass, Leonard-Baker capped her day recording a 9.5375 on floor.
Leonard-Baker signs off on an exceptional freshman season that saw her capture a multitude 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. Leonard-Baker proved to be a consistent force for the Gym Devils, earning five Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the week honors, putting her amongst 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.
Leonard-Baker's Laurels
ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Gym Devil freshman standout Cairo Leonard-Baker capped a stellar campaign competing as an individual all-around competitor at the 2018 NCAA Gymnastics Championships, Friday afternoon in St. Louis, Mo.
Recording an all-around tally of 38.8875, Leonard-Baker posted a 17th-place finish in the day's opening semifinal.
Rotating with UCLA, Leonard-Baker opened up the outing strong with a 9.775 on vault. After a bye, the 2018 Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the year recorded a solid 9.8125 on bars courtesy of a series of high flying releases and perfect handstands. Leonard-Baker then notched a quality routine on beam sticking her dismount for a 9.7625. Despite a stumble on her last pass, Leonard-Baker capped her day recording a 9.5375 on floor.
Leonard-Baker signs off on an exceptional freshman season that saw her capture a multitude 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. Leonard-Baker proved to be a consistent force for the Gym Devils, earning five Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the week honors, putting her amongst 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.
Leonard-Baker's Laurels
- 2018 Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year —Became the first gymnast in program history to garner the recognition, and just the second Gym Devil in Arizona State's illustrious history to earn yearly honors, joining Katie Freeland (Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year; 1996).
- Five-time Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Week honoree — 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.
- NACGC/W Regular Season second-team All-American in the all-around — Became the first Gym Devil to earn regular season honors since they were instituted in 2013. She also joined 27 other Sun Devil gymnasts in program history who have combined to earn 83 All-America awards.
- Second-Team All-Pac-12 honoree in the all-around and on bars — Became the 35th Sun Devil gymnast in program history to garner an All-Conference selection. In total, Arizona State gymnasts have captured 44 All-Conference honors since the conference began picking teams in 1980.
- 2: Became the second Gym Devil in program history to earn weekly league honors on five separate occasions, joining 2004 national champion and five-time All-American Ashley Kelly in the feat.
- 3: Number of events that Leonard-Baker ranks in the top-30 nationally, along with her national ranking among freshman in the all-around. Also the number of consecutive weeks that Leonard-Baker earned Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the week (weeks 2-4).
- 4: Number of post-season honors garnered. Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year, All Pac-12 Second-Team (AA, UB), and NACGC/W Regular Season Second-Team All-American in the All-Around. Also national ranking among freshman on bars and floor.
- 5: Number of Pac-12 Weekly honors. Also represents her conference (Pac-12) ranking on bars.
- 6: Current conference (Pac-12) ranking in the all-around -39.470 (RQS).
- 9: Current conference (Pac-12) ranking on floor - 9.905 (RQS).
- 11: the number of times that Leonard-Baker has scored 39.000+ in the all-around this season.
- 12: the number of all-around and event titles that Leonard-Baker accumulated this season. Also the number of times that Leonard-Baker has competed in the all-around this season.
- 13: Number of 9.900+ earned this season.
- 15: Current national All-Around ranking with a 39.470 (RQS).
- 20: Current national bars ranking with a 9.905 (RQS).
- 26: All-around rank in the record book for career-best all-around score of 39.575 earned vs. California (1/28/18). Also Leonard-Baker's current national ranking on floor with a 9.905 (RQS).
- 28: the number of top-three finishes in the all-around and on each event that Leonard-Baker accumulated this season.
- 9.875: Career-best on beam at Stanford on January 20, 2018.
- 9.900: Career-best on vault at Pac-12 Championships (March 25, 2018), earning a fourth place finish.
- 9.950: Career-best on bars vs. California (1/28/18) and floor vs. Arizona (2/24/18). Her career-high vs. California earned her an event title on bars.
- 39.575: Career-best all-around score. Leonard-Baker's mark also constitutes the best all-around score for Arizona State since April Boone notched a 39.600 on March 16, 2007.