TEMPE, Ariz. – The No. 21 Arizona State gymnastics squad is heading to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to compete in the Baton Rouge Regional beginning on April 5 as part of the NCAA postseason on the road to the championships. The Gym Devils are part of the second session in the second round that also features No. 3 seed LSU, No. 14 seed Auburn and the winner of the play-in meet on April 4 between George Washington and Lindenwood (MO).
The last time the Gym Devils have had to consecutive team appearances at NCAA regionals was 2013-14. That streak went from 2009-14. Last year, ASU competed at the University Park Regional and took third place with a 195.750. Cairo Leonard-Baker qualified as an individual in the all-around and went to nationals.
The NCAA has implemented a new postseason format starting this season. The championship features 36 teams determined based on their national qualifying score. Regionals are now held over multiple days. The first round will consist of two teams, second round will consist of eight teams in two sessions and the regional final will consist of four teams. The top two teams, the top all-around competitors and the top event specialist on each event (who are not on an advancing team) from each regional will receive an automatic berth to the national championships on April 19-20 in Fort Worth, Texas. More information on the new format can be found on the NCAA's website.
In 2019, the Gym Devils have continued to rise to the next level with the leadership of head coach Jay Santos. They finished the regular season with a winning record (11-10) for the first time since 2014. The team has been ranked in the top 25 on Road to Nationals all season, including seven in the top 20. On bars and beam, they have also been ranked in the top 25 every week, reaching as high as No. 12 on bars and No. 16 on beam. On vault, the highest ranking has been No. 19, which they reached just this week, and on floor, the highest ranking was No. 16.
Leonard-Baker has been a strong force for the Sun Devils, winning six bars titles, five floor titles and three all-around titles. At the Pac-12 Gymnastics Championships last weekend, she tied for second on bars with a 9.950. She also finished in fourth in the all-around, the highest finish for an ASU gymnast at Pac-12s since 2007.
Multiple Sun Devils have stepped up this season. Anne Kuhm was named the 2019 Pac-12 Scholar Athlete of the Year after a strong year in the gym and the classroom. She won a vault title in the second meet of the year with a 9.900. Justine Callis was named the Pac-12 Specialist of the Week in January after scoring a 9.925 at UCLA and has won three beam titles. Corinne Belkoff has won two floor titles and has scored a 9.900 in that event three times this year.
The complete list of teams in each region is below. For the full bracket, click here. More information can be found on the NCAA's website. For tickets, head to lsul.su/RegionalTickets.
Ann Arbor Regional
2 UCLA
7 Michigan (host team)
10 Alabama
15 Nebraska
Penn State
Ohio State
West Virginia
Illinois
Central Michigan
Athens Regional
1 Oklahoma
8 Georgia (host)
9 Kentucky
16 California
Missouri
Iowa State
Maryland
NC State
New Hampshire
Baton Rouge Regional
3 LSU (host)
6 Utah
11 Minnesota
14 Auburn
BYU
Arkansas
Arizona State
George Washington
Lindenwood (Missouri)
Corvallis Regional
4 Florida
5 Denver
12 Boise State
13 Oregon State (host)
Washington
Southern Utah
Stanford
Iowa
The last time the Gym Devils have had to consecutive team appearances at NCAA regionals was 2013-14. That streak went from 2009-14. Last year, ASU competed at the University Park Regional and took third place with a 195.750. Cairo Leonard-Baker qualified as an individual in the all-around and went to nationals.
The NCAA has implemented a new postseason format starting this season. The championship features 36 teams determined based on their national qualifying score. Regionals are now held over multiple days. The first round will consist of two teams, second round will consist of eight teams in two sessions and the regional final will consist of four teams. The top two teams, the top all-around competitors and the top event specialist on each event (who are not on an advancing team) from each regional will receive an automatic berth to the national championships on April 19-20 in Fort Worth, Texas. More information on the new format can be found on the NCAA's website.
In 2019, the Gym Devils have continued to rise to the next level with the leadership of head coach Jay Santos. They finished the regular season with a winning record (11-10) for the first time since 2014. The team has been ranked in the top 25 on Road to Nationals all season, including seven in the top 20. On bars and beam, they have also been ranked in the top 25 every week, reaching as high as No. 12 on bars and No. 16 on beam. On vault, the highest ranking has been No. 19, which they reached just this week, and on floor, the highest ranking was No. 16.
Leonard-Baker has been a strong force for the Sun Devils, winning six bars titles, five floor titles and three all-around titles. At the Pac-12 Gymnastics Championships last weekend, she tied for second on bars with a 9.950. She also finished in fourth in the all-around, the highest finish for an ASU gymnast at Pac-12s since 2007.
Multiple Sun Devils have stepped up this season. Anne Kuhm was named the 2019 Pac-12 Scholar Athlete of the Year after a strong year in the gym and the classroom. She won a vault title in the second meet of the year with a 9.900. Justine Callis was named the Pac-12 Specialist of the Week in January after scoring a 9.925 at UCLA and has won three beam titles. Corinne Belkoff has won two floor titles and has scored a 9.900 in that event three times this year.
The complete list of teams in each region is below. For the full bracket, click here. More information can be found on the NCAA's website. For tickets, head to lsul.su/RegionalTickets.
Ann Arbor Regional
2 UCLA
7 Michigan (host team)
10 Alabama
15 Nebraska
Penn State
Ohio State
West Virginia
Illinois
Central Michigan
Athens Regional
1 Oklahoma
8 Georgia (host)
9 Kentucky
16 California
Missouri
Iowa State
Maryland
NC State
New Hampshire
Baton Rouge Regional
3 LSU (host)
6 Utah
11 Minnesota
14 Auburn
BYU
Arkansas
Arizona State
George Washington
Lindenwood (Missouri)
Corvallis Regional
4 Florida
5 Denver
12 Boise State
13 Oregon State (host)
Washington
Southern Utah
Stanford
Iowa