With her teammates watching from home, ASU senior gymnast Laura Moon will compete in the preliminary portion of the NCAA Championships tonight at Alabama's Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa. Moon needs to finish in the top four to qualify for Saturday's finals.
Placing fifth with a score of 38.900 in the all-around in the South Central Regional, Moon earned a spot to represent the Sun Devils amongst the nation's best for the fourth consecutive year. ASU fell just a fraction of a point short of qualifying for the competition, as UA and UCLA claimed the top two spots. It marked only the fifth time in school history that the Sun Devils have not advanced to nationals.
"It is so hard to be an individual competing without your team at these types of events," ASU head coach John Spini said.
But Moon is no stranger to individual success, as this is the third year she has headed to the NCAA Championships by herself. In two seasons at Maryland, she also qualified as an individual.
Last year marked the only time she has competed at nationals with the company of her teammates. As the school record holder in the all-around, Moon will attempt to match last season's performance in which she earned second team honors and garnered All-America status.
Moon has struggled all year when trying to recover from preseason knee surgery. After missing the season's first four meets, she made a comeback on the balance beam in the UNO's Classic.
Shortly after, Moon worked the uneven bars into her rotation. Her debut on the bars and on the floor exercise came April 6 in the South Central Regional at Wells Fargo Arena.
"Laura has had a good week as far as training goes. She looks good," Spini said. "Her best chances for advancement are on the bars and on the beam."
Reach the reporter at amanda.bissette@asu.edu.
