March 17, 2011
2011 Pac-10 Championships
The Arizona State Women’s gymnastics team returns to Pauley Pavilion for the second time this season as the Gym Devils compete in the 2011 Pac-10 Championships, hosted by UCLA on Saturday, Mar. 19 at 4 p.m. PT. ASU had previously finished sixth in the first-ever Pac-10 Preview in January. Since the inaugural preseason conference competition, the Sun Devils have improved their score from week to week, most recently scoring the second highest total of the season against Bridgeport with a 195.250.
Live Stats
http://www.uclabruins.com/livestats/w-gym/20110319.htm
TELEVISON
Fox Sports Arizona will broadcast the 2011 Pac-10 Championships on tape delay beginning on March 24 and replaying again on March 27.
Date Time
Thurs., March 24, Noon PT
Sun., March 27, 3 p.m. PT
Head Coach John Spini
Arizona State head coach John Spini begins his 31st season at the helm of the Sun Devils gymnastics program. Currently Arizona State’s longest tenured coach, Spini has had at least one Sun Devil qualify for the NCAA Championships 25 out of the last 29 seasons. Last season Mary Atkinson finished ninth in the vault at NCAA’s to earn All-American honors. This season, Spini welcomes Mike Lorenzen to the Sun Devil staff as ASU gymnastics new associate head coach. Lorenzen, who spent the previous season with Stanford, joins Spini and assistant coach Kari Ward.
FSN Webcasts
Entering into a partnership with Arizona State University, Fox Sports Arizona will provide an online web broadcast of three Sun Devil home gymnastic meets. FSN will join ASU as it kicks off its home campaign on Jan. 28 when the Sun Devils host Brown. Additionally, FSN will also provide live feeds of both the home meets against California on Feb. 11 and Bridgeport on Mar. 11. To watch the FSN live webcasts of the Sun Devils gymnastics team visit: www.foxsportsarizona.com.
Last Time out
In the final home meet of the season the Arizona State Women’s gymnastics team beat the Bridgeport Purple Knights, 195.450-192.150, on Friday, Mar. 11.
In her debut all-around performance, Sophomore Nickie Johnson took first place with a score of 39.075. Senior Beaté Jones took second place hitting an all-around score of 39.050. Freshman Samantha Seaman scored a 38.950, also in her all-around debut of the season.
Finishing the competition on floor, junior Madison Snowden performed a crowd-pleasing routine to tie a career-high of 9.925 set earlier in the season against Oregon State.
Model of Resiliency
Despite being riddled with season ending injuries, the Sun Devils have been a model of resiliency this season, adapting and overcoming let downs that could potentially fragment a team. The Gym Devils have lost four athletes to season ending injuries, including two during the conference match-up with Oregon State.
In a make or break meet, Arizona State upset then-No. 13 Washington at home, scoring a season-high 195.750. Every gymnast stepped up to fill in for Arizona State’s thinned-out line-up. Senior Brittany Schuett, competing on vault for the first time in the 2011 season, scored a 9.900 to provide the Sun Devils with momentum to kick off the meet.
Top Scores by Event, 2011
Vault - Brittany Schuett, 9.900, vs. Washington 2/18
Bars - Nickie Johnson, 9.875 vs. Washington 2/18
Beam - Sammie Seaman, 9.875 vs. Oregon State 2/6
Floor - Madison Snowden, 9.925 2x, last vs. Bridgeport 3/11
Strong Schedule
The Sun Devils will face seven opponents this season ranked in the GymInfo Preseason Coaches Poll top-25. Starting with this weeks Pac-10 Preview, ASU will face strong schedule of competition in 2011. In addition to the ranked opponents from the Pac-10, Arizona State will face No. 5 Utah on Feb. 5 in Provo and travel to Lincoln, Neb. to take on the 10th ranked Cornhuskers.
New Coaching Addition
On Oct. 1, head coach John Spini announced the hire of associate head coach Mike Lorenzen to the Sun Devil staff.
Lorenzen arrived at Arizona State after spending five years as an assistant coach at Stanford University. During his time at Stanford, the team had a successful post-season run, including four NCAA Championship appearances.
Prior to Stanford, Lorenzen was the head gymnastics coach at the University of Iowa. Under Lorenzen, the Hawkeyes qualified for the program’s first NCAA Championship appearance, had five gymnasts named NCAA All-Americans and was a two-time recipient of the Big Ten Coach of the Year. (‘01 & ‘04).