TEMPE – Behind season highs on beam and floor, Sun Devil Gymnastics upset No. 22 BYU in the Big 12 opener at home on Friday night at Desert Financial Arena, 196.050 to 195.200.
Notable stats
- Arizona State (3-1, 1-0 Big 12) took advantage of a close meet after BYU (3-3, 0-1 Big 12) suffered a pair of falls on beam in the final rotation. Paired with two 9.900s on floor for ASU, the Sun Devils were able to score a season high of 196.050 to win.
- The Gym Devils scored new season highs on beam (49.075) and floor (49.225), the latter being the best event total across all four this season.
- This was the 21st ranked win for head coach Jay Santos in his 10th season, the first since March 9, 2024 (No. 10 UCLA).
- Senior Kimberly Smith had the best meet of her career, earning a new career high in the all-around with a 39.475. She earned season highs on vault (9.850), beam (9.850) and floor (9.900). The vault and beam scores tied her career highs as well. Additionally, she won event titles for vault, floor and the all-around.
- The first 9.900 of the season went to junior Halle Gregoire on floor, tying her career high in that event to tie for the event title with Smith.
- Freshman Delanie Kelly set a new personal best on floor with a 9.875. She also made her collegiate debut on bars, earning a 9.750.
- Two Gym Devils made their collegiate debuts. Freshman Jessica Rosenberg had a solid debut, competing on vault (9.800) and beam (9.775). Sophomore Nina Laurito debuted on bars (9.475).
- The meet theme celebrated 50 years of Sun Devil Gymnastics. Alumni were honored during the meet.
Final results
- ASU, 196.050
- BYU, 195.200
Rotation one: vault, 48.900
Smith led ASU with a season-high vault score of 9.850, earning the event win. Rosenberg had the second-highest score with a 9.800 for her debut vault as a Sun Devil.
Rotation two: bars, 48.850
After a slow start on bars, Smith led the Sun Devils once again with her score of 9.875. Kylee Bromley earned a 9.800, giving her the second-highest score on bars.
Rotation three: beam, 49.075
Despite a fall in the third spot in the lineup, ASU put together a season high on beam. Smith’s positive momentum continued as she scored a season-high beam score of 9.850. Kayla Lee and Reese Grolla both earned a score of 9.825 for the Sun Devils, as well as a score of 9.800 for Bromley. After this rotation, ASU trailed BYU by 0.075 heading into the final event.
Rotation four: floor, 49.225
With two 9.900s, the Sun Devils had the highest event total of the season so far on floor. Kelly earned a career-high floor score of 9.875. The Sun Devils continued the strong performance with season-high scores of 9.900 for both Gregoire and Smith, tying for an event win.
Up next
Arizona State is back on the road, competing at No. 12 Utah, the defending Big 12 Champions, next Friday, Jan. 30.
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Quotes
Head Coach Jay Santos
Opening statement:
“It was fun, it was a little interesting in the beginning. We had to battle through a couple things and even through beam. Ultimately they kept fighting, they kept battling and just staying together. We were able to close some ground on beam and get it a little closer to a manageable spot. We had the chance to go win it on floor, which is always a great thing. They were able to put it together. We still have a lot of progress and a lot of things to clean up at this point in the season. We continue to show signs of progress, which is really encouraging, so we just have to keep getting everybody more experience and getting them to handle some of these moments a little bit better and just keep moving.”
On senior Kimberly Smith’s leadership:
“That’s just what she’s capable of. She’s a senior, she knows exactly what it is. She's been in plenty of big meets in the past. She knows how to prepare. She knows how to handle the moments and dial in routines like she did tonight. She’s a great leader for us and she’s fully capable of doing that and maybe a little bit more. There’s still a little bit more out of her that we could see, but at the same time if she can stay in that spot and stay consistent like that it’s going to be a really great year for her. Obviously, she’s going to be a big part of what’s going to drive our success.”
On his message to the team after falling behind:
“I just told them the meet is not over so we better go out there and attack and fight for every little thing we’ve got. Be confident and shrug off those first two events, not that they were terrible but they weren't great. They’re not what we’re fully capable of on those events. Go out and focus, the job doesn’t change. Whether we’re up or down, we need to go out and attack the next routine and do everything we can to make that moment right and keep stacking things together. It’s just good routine or bad routine. The next kid has to work on doing the best job they possibly can in the moment. We’re not an offense-defense sport, it’s all about them and their practice and their preparation. Let’s go make up whatever we can here and keep moving.”
Senior Kimberly Smith
On the 50th anniversary of Sun Devil Gymnastics:
“Because it was alumni week and the 50th anniversary of Sun Devil Gymnastics, we talked a lot about the past gymnasts and all their success. It was really special to be able to get this win at home on alumni night. Obviously, they've done a ton and had a ton of success in the past. We were just trying to emulate that and live up to the standard.”
On winning the Big 12 home opener:
“We were riding that momentum of coming off a win from Kentucky, a big SEC school, and then winning at home tonight. We're using that as confidence to help set us up for the rest of the season because obviously we are a very young team, and being a young team comes with not a lot of experience. I can tell these wins are definitely boosting everyone's confidence and we've talked a lot about certain words that we want to emulate during the meet. I feel like we really showed that tonight and we had a lot of fight in us.”
Junior Halle Gregoire:
On reflecting on alumni night:
“It was really important and it was fun to be able to compete for a purpose a little bit bigger than just ourselves today. All of the things, like the standards and reputations they have, we have to try and keep that going.”
On her 9.900 floor routine:
“I really didn’t have the start to the meet that I wanted, so all I could do in the moment was do the best that I could, and I really felt like I left it all out there and I was just proud of everything that I did. Not only just for me, but for the team and knowing that we were trailing going into it, so ending on that high-note, doing all I could for the team was most important in that moment. I felt like I handled the job.”