TEMPE – The 2026 Sun Devil Gymnastics season begins on Jan. 11 at home, featuring a strong group of returning Gym Devils and an energized mix of newcomers eager to showcase their talents on the collegiate stage.
2026 outlook
The Gym Devils are set to compete in their second season in the Big 12. There are 10 teams on this year’s schedule that qualified for the NCAA Tournament. Arizona State is scheduled for seven away meets, including the Big 12 Championship, and will host five regular-season meets in Tempe. Additionally, Arizona State will host one of the sites for NCAA Regionals and Regional Finals.
Tenth-year head coach Jay Santos and the team will face five teams who finished last season in the top 25, three of which placed in the top 10 of the Road to Nationals rankings: Utah, Florida, and Kentucky. Florida and Utah made it to the 2025 National Championships.
Last season
In their first season competing in the Big 12, the Sun Devils finished with a 10-10 overall record. Arizona State has not had a losing season since 2017. The Sun Devils have earned NCAA Regional berths in each of the last eight seasons, including the 2020 season, which would have seen the team qualify had the postseason been held. They competed in the Washington Regional last year and placed fourth in the first session of the second round.
Arizona State finalized their season at No. 27 on Road to Nationals rankings and closed the regular season with a 196.310 National Qualifying Score (NQS), the eighth season in a row with an NQS over 196.000. The season best was a 196.800 at Cal Quad 1 in March. In the Big 12, the Gym Devils had a 2-4 record against conference foes. The two wins were against Iowa State and West Virginia. The Sun Devils went on to finish fifth with a 195.975 score in their first Big 12 Championships.
Preseason awards
Arizona State has two gymnasts on the 2026 Big 12 Preseason Team. Senior Kimberly Smith earned a spot on the all-around and floor and transfer junior Reese Grolla is on the bars and beam teams.
Returners
The Gym Devils have 10 returning gymnasts. Top contributors from the 2025 season are seniors Smith, Kayla Lee, and Caroline Lichtman, juniors Halle Gregoire and Lilia Purler, and sophomores Tiara Platkin and Halle Braafflat.
After competing as an all-around gymnast for the first time, Smith emerged as the breakout star of last season for the Sun Devils. She competed in the all-around in all but one meet, earning one all-around title and an additional event title. Smith delivered her strongest performance on bars throughout the season, scoring a 9.8 or better all but once and a career-high 9.925. She posed three scores of 9.900s on the season as well, two on floor and one on bars. She was named to the 2025 All-Big 12 Team in the all-around.
Lee competed in the lead-off spot on beam in every meet. She also led off on bars in all but four meets and appeared on floor eight times. She also made her career debut on bars at the Wasatch Classic. Lee shared an event title on beam with a personal-best score of 9.875 against Iowa State and matched that score twice for her season-high. Across bars, beam, and floor, she earned 14 scores of 9.8 or higher.
Lichtman made her collegiate debut at the Lone Star Collegiate Invitational and went on to compete in every meet on vault and beam. She accomplished a 9.825 on vault and a 9.8 on beam for career highs. Lichtman finished with six 9.8 or above scores on the season.
Gregoire returned late in the 2025 season after recovering from an injury, ultimately competing in the final five meets on vault, bars, and floor. She delivered scores of 9.8 or higher three times on vault, two on beam and three on floor.
Purler posted a consistent 2025 season, competing in all but one meet and specializing in vault and floor. She also made her beam debut for the first time in the Lone Star Collegiate Invitational. Purler earned a shared event title on floor against Texas Woman’s University with a career-high 9.875 and finished the season with six scores of 9.8 or better on floor.
Braaflat had a quality freshman year, participating in all but one meet on vault and floor. She also made two additional appearances on bars. Her collegiate debut came at the Lone Star Collegiate Invitational. She posted career highs of 9.850 on both vault and floor and finished the season with 10 scores of 9.8 or higher: four on vault and six on floor.
Platkin competed in all but three meets on bars in her rookie season, starting with her debut at the Lone Star Collegiate Invitational. She reached a career-best 9.8 on bars twice.
Newcomers
After graduating three fifth years last season and a pair of seniors, Arizona State welcomed eight new Gym Devils into the mix. Junior all-around Reese Grolla transferred after two years at Illinois State and is one of three Canadian gymnasts on the 2026 roster. In 2025, Grolla was All-MIC First Team on bars. In her career, she has scored a 9.8 or better 18 times, as well as eight times on beam.
The remaining seven additions are incoming freshmen: Kylee Bromley, Safia El Mammann, Delanie Kelly Kaydence Lockhart, Adele Ossi, Jessica Rosenberg, and Robyn Wilson.
Up Next
The Gym Devils will begin their season in the home opener at Desert Financial Arena on Jan. 11 against UC Davis and San Jose St. at 2 p.m. MST. Prior to that, fans can see the 2026 team in action at the Maroon and Gold Showcase on Jan. 4.