The energy ASU gymnastics' senior night last week seemed to stay in Tempe as team totals fell, most individual scores stayed below season-highs, and the Gym Devils could not round out the regular season with a victory.
No. 7 Auburn defeated the Gym Devils (1-10, 0-6 Pac-12) by a score of 197.175-193.275.
After posting a season-high on beam against Penn State last week, the Gym Devils came out Friday and scored their lowest team score of the season in the event with a 47.750. Freshman Corinne Belkoff and senior Allie Salas both recorded falls, resulting in Belkoff scoring a 9.000 and Salas scoring an 8.450.
However, freshman Heather Udowitch stood out on the beam. She posted a career-high with a 9.800. It wasn't her only area of success: on vault, she broke her prior career high with a score of 9.575.
Despite these high scores, her night wasn't perfect. She struggled on bars, posting a 8.925. The team as a whole improved on the event that had been nagging them all season, posting a 48.025 overall, which was just its fourth time breaking 48.000 all season.
48.000 is a decent score, but it's a sign of how poor the event can be for the Gym Devils.
Senior Carissa Kraus finished her career on bars on a high note, though, matching her season-high with a 9.850. She and fellow senior Taylor Allex had two of their best events of the 2016 season. In addition to Kraus on bars, Allex scored a 9.900 on vault for the fourth time this season.
Allex also set a season-high on beam with a 9.775, her fifth time competing in the event in 2016.
Junior Beka Conrad competed in floor for the first time this season and posted a 9.475.
Belkoff, Udowitch and Salas competed in the all-around. Belkoff placed second, scoring a 38.075, and Udowitch followed close behind with a 38.025. Salas finished in fourth place with a 37.675.
Auburn’s team total of 197.175 was the fifth time the War Eagles scored above a 197.000 this season. The team recognized their seniors at Friday night’s meet as well as ASU’s seniors.
The Tigers' volunteer assistant Lisa (Zeis) Benedict coached against her alma mater in Friday’s meet. Benedict is a Sun Devil alumni that was a two-time national champion for the Gym Devils in 1985 and 1986.
Assistant coach Ralph Rosso led the Gym Devils again in the final regular season meet, as head coach René Lyst is still on an indefinite administrative leave.
The Gym Devils will head to Seattle, Washington for the Pac-12 Championships on Saturday March 19. The first session will begin at 1:00 p.m. and the second session will follow at 6:00 p.m.
Note: a late scoring change changed Udowitch's bar score to an 8.925. It has been updated in the article.
Reach the reporter at haley.stesiak@asu.edu or follow @haley_stesiak on Twitter.
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