TEMPE – Three won event titles, including two from graduate Emily White, as No. 24 Sun Devil Gymnastics came up short to No. 4 Utah in Desert Financial Arena on Friday night, 196.600 to 196.475.
Notable Stats
Final Results
Rotation One: Vault, 48.950
It was the rotation for career highs as Braaflat earned a career high on vault with her 9.800 and Mangahas delivered a solid performance to secure the 9.900, tying her career high. Smith also earned a 9.800 for the Sun Devils.
Rotation Two: Bars, 49.250
Kayla Lee secured a 9.800 for the Maroon and Gold to start the bars rotation. Smith matched her career-high on bars with an 8.500. White also earned a 9.850 while Mangahas and Clark both scored 9.875s to keep the momentum up.
Rotation Three: Beam, 49.225
Leading off, Lee scored a steady 9.850. Lichtman and Kowan both earned career highs on beam with a 9.800 and 9.875, respectively. Rounding out the third rotation, Clark earned a 9.825 and White scored a 9.875.
Rotation Four: Floor, 49.050
In the final event of the night, Clark and Purler started strong by earning a pair of 9.850s for the Sun Devils. White closed out the night in style by tying her season-high with a 9.925.
Up Next
The final home meet for Arizona State will be next Friday at 6:30 p.m. MST against West Virginia. The three fifth years and two seniors will be honored following the meet.
Quotes
Arizona State Head Coach Jay Santos
Opening statement:
"Mixed emotions about tonight. Through three events, I thought we were doing pretty well. I thought we were holding our own. Obviously we had the one fall on beam, but we worked through it and did a good job. Given the struggles they (Utah) had over there on beam, to come up a little short when we didn't deliver and finish the meet as strong as I want to, I have mixed emotions for how we finished for sure. I thought we were doing a really good job of managing things and standing up to their gymnastics. They're a really good team. They're really talented, and they were rolling for three rotations as well. So to follow them on bars and to even do what we did on bars, I thought we were still doing a really good job. We had an opportunity and we didn't take advantage of it. Other than that, it's still a quality score. It still helps us, but I feel like we missed an opportunity."
On focusing on the details:
"It's just trying to point out to them where we can improve, where we can get better and trying to get them to buy into it. Basically, we're going to throw everything we can at it from week to week and pick where we need to focus on. We're six weeks in at this point, so we've had six weeks to go back and keep trying to retool, tweak and keep trying to go… It's continually gotten a little bit better by really focusing on it in practice. Whether it's assignments or drills or everything else to get them to just keep making those changes."
On building on success on bars and beam and continuing to improve on vault and floor:
"We have to stick more vaults. I think Jada's was our first stick of the year. We've got a lot of small steps and small hops, so we have to keep finding a way to get those vaults in that moment and keep going after that. We're going to have to find a way to stick some more vaults moving forward and not just rely on one stick over the course of six weeks. I think bars and beam have done a pretty solid job throughout the year. There's still a couple of landings we could probably clean up. I think there's still some room there to improve on both of those events. Obviously the last couple of weeks have been trending up on floor. Last week was a really strong week for us on floor and we let it slip away from us a little bit with a couple of routines."
Graduate Emily White
On the emotions during the floor rotation:
"I like to just stay focused on our team and that's something that I consciously have to remind myself of, especially against Utah. They have a lot of fans here, they're very loud, cheering when scores are going up. For me, I was trying to block out the outside noise and just focus on my own gymnastics. Obviously, I saw that there were a couple of mess ups. It's hard to completely block out everything but, it doesn't really affect my performance. That's separate from whatever they're doing over there. I tried to stay grounded in that, so I didn't feel any pressure from that. I just try to stay with my teammates and do it for them."
On seeing teammates' success:
"It's really great. Just watching them step into that role this year has been really cool. There's been so much improvement from the beginning of the season to now, so I think we're really kind of finding our spot as a team and settling into those routines. It's fun watching them because we know that they can do it from watching them these past couple of years in the gym. I know they're completely capable, but sometimes in the competition setting it's hard to translate that with all the outside noise and the nerves. Watching them be able to settle on that and trust themselves has been really cool."
Graduate Jada Mangahas
On her vault performance and staying focused:
"It made me feel great. That was what I've been looking for the last few weeks. Getting that stick on vault isn't really something that I can force, so just letting it go and it finally staying there and sticking was such a great feeling. It was really surreal to be able to do that and get my career high again, but I think after that, you're on a high of, 'Wow, I just did a great routine,' and I had to remind myself to calm down and reset for the next event. Because even though you do a great routine, one event doesn't mean the next event is going to keep riding that high, so I just reset my mind and prepared myself for bars."
On being a veteran and keeping the team calm:
"We remind them that your job doesn't change no matter what's happening around us or no matter what we've done in the past events or the past routine. The next routine is the most important, so you just have to focus on the next thing and staying within ourselves is most important. We've talked about that a lot as a team and being like, 'Hey, it's us versus us out there.' We know there's another team, but if we focus on ourselves and focus on what we have to do and what job we have to do out there, that's what's going to bring our best performances."
Notable Stats
- Arizona State (6-5, 1-2 Big 12) had a chance to close in on Utah (9-4, 5-0 Big 12) at the end of the meet, but the Utes were able to hold on to the victory. The 196.475 is the second-highest score of the year for ASU.
- This was the second-straight team score of 196-plus for the Gym Devils. They also scored a season-best 49.225 on beam.
- Graduate Emily White had another great night, winning the beam (9.875) and floor (9.925) event titles. She has not scored below a 9.875 on beam all season. On floor, this was her third score of 9.9 or better, matching her season high. In the all-around, she placed second with a 39.375.
- The other event winner was junior Isabella Kowan, tying for the beam title with a 9.875, which is a career high for her. In just her second collegiate routine, she woh her first event title.
- Graduate Jada Mangahas tied her career high on vault with a 9.900 to lead the team. This is the highest individual vault score by a Sun Devil this season. She also equaled her season high on bars with a 9.875.
- A few career highs were earned in the meet. Freshman Halle Braaflat earned a new personal best on vault with a 9.800. Junior Caroline Lichtman also scored a 9.800 on beam, a new career high for her. Junior Kimberly Smith matched her personal best on bars with a 9.850.
- Graduate Sarah Clark notched a season high on floor with a 9.850. She also notably got the beam lineup back on track with a 9.825 following a fall before her in the lineup.
- On floor, sophomore Lilia Purler is starting to hit her stride. She scored a 9.850 tonight, her third-straight score of a 9.850 or better.
Final Results
- Utah, 196.600
- Arizona State, 196.475
Rotation One: Vault, 48.950
It was the rotation for career highs as Braaflat earned a career high on vault with her 9.800 and Mangahas delivered a solid performance to secure the 9.900, tying her career high. Smith also earned a 9.800 for the Sun Devils.
Rotation Two: Bars, 49.250
Kayla Lee secured a 9.800 for the Maroon and Gold to start the bars rotation. Smith matched her career-high on bars with an 8.500. White also earned a 9.850 while Mangahas and Clark both scored 9.875s to keep the momentum up.
Rotation Three: Beam, 49.225
Leading off, Lee scored a steady 9.850. Lichtman and Kowan both earned career highs on beam with a 9.800 and 9.875, respectively. Rounding out the third rotation, Clark earned a 9.825 and White scored a 9.875.
Rotation Four: Floor, 49.050
In the final event of the night, Clark and Purler started strong by earning a pair of 9.850s for the Sun Devils. White closed out the night in style by tying her season-high with a 9.925.
Up Next
The final home meet for Arizona State will be next Friday at 6:30 p.m. MST against West Virginia. The three fifth years and two seniors will be honored following the meet.
Quotes
Arizona State Head Coach Jay Santos
Opening statement:
"Mixed emotions about tonight. Through three events, I thought we were doing pretty well. I thought we were holding our own. Obviously we had the one fall on beam, but we worked through it and did a good job. Given the struggles they (Utah) had over there on beam, to come up a little short when we didn't deliver and finish the meet as strong as I want to, I have mixed emotions for how we finished for sure. I thought we were doing a really good job of managing things and standing up to their gymnastics. They're a really good team. They're really talented, and they were rolling for three rotations as well. So to follow them on bars and to even do what we did on bars, I thought we were still doing a really good job. We had an opportunity and we didn't take advantage of it. Other than that, it's still a quality score. It still helps us, but I feel like we missed an opportunity."
On focusing on the details:
"It's just trying to point out to them where we can improve, where we can get better and trying to get them to buy into it. Basically, we're going to throw everything we can at it from week to week and pick where we need to focus on. We're six weeks in at this point, so we've had six weeks to go back and keep trying to retool, tweak and keep trying to go… It's continually gotten a little bit better by really focusing on it in practice. Whether it's assignments or drills or everything else to get them to just keep making those changes."
On building on success on bars and beam and continuing to improve on vault and floor:
"We have to stick more vaults. I think Jada's was our first stick of the year. We've got a lot of small steps and small hops, so we have to keep finding a way to get those vaults in that moment and keep going after that. We're going to have to find a way to stick some more vaults moving forward and not just rely on one stick over the course of six weeks. I think bars and beam have done a pretty solid job throughout the year. There's still a couple of landings we could probably clean up. I think there's still some room there to improve on both of those events. Obviously the last couple of weeks have been trending up on floor. Last week was a really strong week for us on floor and we let it slip away from us a little bit with a couple of routines."
Graduate Emily White
On the emotions during the floor rotation:
"I like to just stay focused on our team and that's something that I consciously have to remind myself of, especially against Utah. They have a lot of fans here, they're very loud, cheering when scores are going up. For me, I was trying to block out the outside noise and just focus on my own gymnastics. Obviously, I saw that there were a couple of mess ups. It's hard to completely block out everything but, it doesn't really affect my performance. That's separate from whatever they're doing over there. I tried to stay grounded in that, so I didn't feel any pressure from that. I just try to stay with my teammates and do it for them."
On seeing teammates' success:
"It's really great. Just watching them step into that role this year has been really cool. There's been so much improvement from the beginning of the season to now, so I think we're really kind of finding our spot as a team and settling into those routines. It's fun watching them because we know that they can do it from watching them these past couple of years in the gym. I know they're completely capable, but sometimes in the competition setting it's hard to translate that with all the outside noise and the nerves. Watching them be able to settle on that and trust themselves has been really cool."
Graduate Jada Mangahas
On her vault performance and staying focused:
"It made me feel great. That was what I've been looking for the last few weeks. Getting that stick on vault isn't really something that I can force, so just letting it go and it finally staying there and sticking was such a great feeling. It was really surreal to be able to do that and get my career high again, but I think after that, you're on a high of, 'Wow, I just did a great routine,' and I had to remind myself to calm down and reset for the next event. Because even though you do a great routine, one event doesn't mean the next event is going to keep riding that high, so I just reset my mind and prepared myself for bars."
On being a veteran and keeping the team calm:
"We remind them that your job doesn't change no matter what's happening around us or no matter what we've done in the past events or the past routine. The next routine is the most important, so you just have to focus on the next thing and staying within ourselves is most important. We've talked about that a lot as a team and being like, 'Hey, it's us versus us out there.' We know there's another team, but if we focus on ourselves and focus on what we have to do and what job we have to do out there, that's what's going to bring our best performances."