Jan. 20, 1998
Stanford Cardinal Travel To Tempe For ASU Gymnastics Home Opener
The Arizona State women’s gymnastics team opens its home campaign for the 1998 season when it entertains the Stanford Cardinal Friday, January 23, at 7:30 p.m. at the University Activity Center. For the Sun Devils, it will also be their inaugural Pac-10 dual meet of the season.
HEAD COACH JOHN SPINI: Arizona State women’s gymnastics has become synonymous with excellence, and the person largely responsible for that is John Spini. Entering his 18th year as head coach at ASU, Spini has established a nationally prominent program and a tradition of excellence. Boasting a 214–77–1 career record, Spini is among the finest gymnastics coaches in the country. His career winning percentage stands at 73 percent. During his previous 17 seasons, the Sun Devils have captured four conference championships and have placed among the top eight at the national championship 10 of the 18 years it has been held, including runner-up finishes in 1985, ‘86, and ‘97.
LAST WEEK: In a scene reminiscent of last year’s NCAA Championship, Arizona State finished second to the UCLA Bruins in a quad-meet also featuring UC-Santa Barbara and Denver in Los Angeles, Calif. The Bruins had the individual winner in every event and finished first as a team in three — vault, bars, floor — of the four events. Senior Meagan Wright was the high finisher for the Devils in the uneven bars event with a fourth-place finish of 9.825, while junior Lisa Vincijanovic took high marks for the Devils in the balance beam (9.800). Also turning in top-five performances for the Devils were senior Carie Courtney (vault, fifth, 9.650), sophomore Elizabeth Reid (bars, fifth, 9.825) and sophomore Elizabeth McNabb (floor, third, 9.775). Arizona State’s best event came in the beam competition where it bettered the Bruins by almost a whole point (48.6–47.7). However poor marks in the vault competition and below average marks in the floor exercise forced the Devils to settle for second place in the overall competition.
THE DEVILS VERSUS THE COMPETITION: The Sun Devils have been victorious versus the Cardinal in 12 of their 13 meetings.
LAST MEETING: Tri-Meet: Arizona State, Stanford, UC Santa Barbara, February 7, 1997, Palo Alto, California.Arizona State (195.750) improved its record to 4–1 as the Sun (more)Devils (195.750) outscored Pac-10 foe Stanford (195.325) and UC Santa Barbara (189.875) en-route to its fourth straight victory of the season. Meagan Wright once again led Arizona State, placing second in the all-around with a 39.325 and placing second on the bars with a 9.825. Amy Shelton led the Sun Devils on the vault, placing second with a 9.925. Lisa Vincijanovic won the beam competition with a 9.825, while Elizabeth Reid and Carie Courtney tied for second with a 9.775. For the second week in a row Elizabeth McNabb scored a 9.950 on the floor, placing her in a three-way tie for first.
ABOUT THE CARDINAL: The Cardinal enters this meet 0–1 having lost its season opener at home to Washington 191.525–190.700 last Friday night. For the Huskies, it was their third straight victory in the overall series with the Cardinal. Stanford, ranked 11th in the pre-season coaches poll, returns every member from last year’s squad that finished second in the Pac-10 and fifth in the West region. The Cardinal are under first-year head coach Mark Cook, who came to Stanford from UCLA where he served as an assistant coach for three years. Top returners for the Cardinal this year include co-captains Keri Monahan and Amy Murakami. Mohahan was named the team’s “Most Outstanding Gymnast,” in 1997, having her season cut short by an ankle injury prior to last year’s conference championships. Monahan holds the school’s vaulting record with a 9.975. Murakami is a two-time all-Pac-10 selection and is coming off a year in which she established or tied career benchmarks in every event and the all-around.
ASU NOTES ENTERING THIS WEEK’S MEET: Junior Lisa Vincijanovic won the floor competition at the Maui Invitational (Jan 12) with a personal-best 9.9. Tying Vincijanovic was sophomore Elizabeth Reid ... sophomore Amy Shelton recorded a pair of second-place finishes in the bars and vault competition at the Maui Invitational ... Arizona State returns this season as one of the favorites to capture this year’s NCAA Championship. The Devils lost only one member from last year’s NCAA runner-up squad that was second only to UCLA.DEVILS ON THE TUBE: FOX Sports Net has chosen to televise the ASU/UNO’s Classic on Friday, February 20. The meet features the Devils, Brigham Young, Nebraska and Illinois.
NO PLACE LIKE HOME: The Sun Devils have been on a roll at home over the last two years. Arizona State has won its last seven home meets going back to February of 1996. The last time the Devils were upended at home was when then-defending national champion Utah defeated the Devils by a count of 193.875–193.250 at the University Activity Center.
ASU HOSTING 1998 MIDWEST REGIONAL: Arizona State has been chosen as the site for the 1998 NCAA Midwest Regional. The Midwest Regional is comprised of the top-six teams from the Midwest region competing for a berth in the NCAA Championships. The Midwest Regional will take place Saturday, April 4 at 6 p.m. in the University Activity Center.
UP NEXT: The ASU gymnastics teams hits the road for the third time in four weeks as it sojourns to Berkeley, Calif., for a quad-meet versus California, Seattle Pacific and Sacramento State. ASU’s next home meet is Friday, February 6, when it hosts Oregon State at 7:30 p.m. at the University Activity Center.
Returning All-Americans
Arizona State returns four gymnasts in 1998 who were named all-Americans last season in a combined 11 events:
Meagan Wright ..... all-around, vault, bars, beam, floor exercise Elizabeth Reid ..... beam, bars, floor exercise Carie Courtney ..... all-around, beam Lisa Vincijanovic ..... beam