By Olivia Dowell, media relations intern
It was another stand-out season for the Gym Devils as they won a share of the 2022 Pac-12 regular-season title for the first time ever and saw a lot of success individually and as a team along the way.
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2022 Gym Devil Season Recap
Team Accomplishments
Arizona State finished the season with a 6-4 record, wrapping up the season ranked No. 22 on Road to Nationals. This is the fifth year in a row that the Gym Devils finished the season ranked in the top-25, the last time there was a streak that long was from 2003-2006. The team finished the season with an NQS of 196.905 and won a share of the Pac-12 regular season title for the first time ever. It was the second year in a row that the Gym Devils qualified to compete in the night session of the Pac-12 Championships.
ASU finished its season scoring 196.000 or better in all but one of its meets throughout the 2022 season. The best team score came against UCLA on Feb. 20 with a 197.800, the seventh-highest team score in program history. The Gym Devils had three meets scoring 197.000 or better, the second season in a row doing so. The team finished its season scoring 49-plus in nine-straight meets on beam, a new program record-long streak. At one point throughout the season, the Gym Devils held a four meet streak of reaching 49 or better in all four events, which matches the ASU record.
Arizona State earned some huge wins throughout the season as the Gym Devils had five conference wins throughout the season, the most for the program since 2001. They picked up their first Pac-12 win at home on Jan. 28 over Washington before picking up a win on the road at Arizona to clinch the Territorial Cup for the sixth year in a row. In back-to-back home meets, ASU picked up its first win over UCLA since 2001 and upset Cal’s perfect season the next week before picking up its final conference win over Stanford.
Individual Success
Throughout the season, the Gym Devils achieved a lot of success in individual competition as there were 25 total event titles throughout the season and 45 scores reaching 9.900 or better.
It was another spectacular season for junior Hannah Scharf as the Canadian native had 11 event titles on the season. She competed in the all-around in every meet this season and scored below a 9.800 just five times. She had 17 scores of 9.9-plus, with a few in each event: vault (3), bars (2), beam (6) and floor (6). She reached a career-high 9.950 on beam, the highest score from any Gym Devil throughout the season. Her best all-around score was a 39.575, a personal best.
Sophomore Emily White competed in the all-around alongside Scharf in all but three of the meets throughout the season. Against UCLA, she scored a 39.600 in all-around competition, which was not only an event title under her belt, but also the 21st highest all-around score in program history. She had seven 9.900s or better throughout the season while clinching new career highs in vault, bars and floor. She had five event titles, including two on beam.
Freshman Alex Theodorou, a Phoenix native, was a great addition to the team throughout the season with consistent performances on vault, bars and beam. Vault was her best event as she won three event titles as well as scoring a 9.900 or better five times throughout the season. Throughout her first season as a Gym Devil, she did not score below a 9.800 at all in that event. She helped keep her team ranked in the top 20 on vault all season, the highest ranked event for the team.
Sophomores Jada Mangahas and Sarah Clark were other solid contributors for Arizona State. Mangahas was a steady leadoff spot in bars, scoring a 9.800 or better in all but one meet. She was also consistent on vault, where she also had a 9.8-plus in all but one meet. She won her first career event title at Stanford on vault, where she notched a career-high 9.900. Clark scored a 9.900 or better in four of her events and had the season high score for the team on bars of 9.950 against UCLA.
There were many other Gym Devil contributors that made an impact in the lineup. Jordyn Jaslow, a junior, made the lineup in every single meet in the leadoff spot on floor and the leadoff on vault in all but one meet. On floor, she scored a 9.825 or better in all but two meets and earned her first career in an event title on vault at Stanford with a career high 9.900. Fellow junior Gracie Reeves was a steady presence on vault, bars and beam in the back half of the season. She scored a career-high 9.900 on bars to win her first event title.
The senior duo of Megan Thompson and Jasmine Gutierrez had successful final seasons on beam. Gutierrez scored a 9.8 or better on beam in all but one of her routines, including reaching a 9.9-plus twice in beam and once on the floor. Thompson was in the leadoff spot for the Gym Devils on beam all season as she competed in that event in all but one meet as well as a floor appearance.
Awards
Scharf brought in more accolades in her junior season. She earned WCGA Regular Season All-America honors in the all-around, where she made the second team for her efforts this season. She now has three All-America nods to her name. She also received honors from the Pac-12 as well as being named to the All-Pac-12 First Team in the all-around, her second season in row doing so. During the season, she was the Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week and Pac-12 Coaches Choice of the Week in two different weeks.
Freshman Alex Theodorou earned All-Pac-12 First Team honors for vault while being in the anchor spot in all but one meet. Rounding out the weekly awards this season is Emily White who was named Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week after her all-around performance against UCLA, where she had the highest all-around score for the Gym Devils since 2007.
Outside of the gym, 10 on the team were named to the 2022 Pac-12 Winter Academic Honor Roll: Cassi Barbanente, Juliette Boyer, Sarah Clark, Jordyn Jaslow, Jada Mangahas, Izzy Redmond, Gracie Reeves, Cienna Samiley, Megan Thompson and Emily White.
Coming in 2023
The Gym Devils will lose two seniors in Megan Thompson and Jasmine Gutierrez. ASU will continue to be led by All-American Hannah Scharf, as the Gym Devils will return looking to build upon their success in the Pac-12 from this season. ASU has a lot to look forward to with its five signees joining the squad.