Unlike the Super Bowl, the ASU gymnastics team's triangle meet on Sunday was not very close.
The Sun Devils found themselves in competition with a juggernaut in the form of defending National Champion UCLA as well as pushover Cal State Fullerton. And predictably, they came in second place.
The Sun Devils (4-2) finished with their highest team score in the three meets so far this season, a 195.925. However, the team did not do as well as some had hoped. Head coach John Spini had set a goal to finish above 196.
The Sun Devils didn't see any mind-boggling scores, but suffered few major mistakes on the day.
The No. 6 Bruins enjoyed a breakout performance with a score of 197.550, while CSF could only manage a 191.050.
The Sun Devils' three biggest weapons all enjoyed solid performances as sophomore Ashley Kelly (39.500), senior Maggie Germaine (39.050) and freshman Cassandra Jusino (39.050) finished third through fifth respectively in the all around.
Kelly finished tied for second in the uneven bars with a score of 9.85. Kelly scored 9.9's on both the balance beam and floor exercises, both of which she finished in fourth place.
Germaine -- whom Spini said before the meet may not vault due to an ankle injury -- scored a 9.8 on the event, and finished tied for fourth. Germaine also scored a 9.8 on the balance beam.
Jusino enjoyed a 9.8 on the beam.
ASU senior Carla DeMartini returned to action for the first time this season in both the vault and floor exercise after recovering from ankle surgery. DeMartini did well in the vault with a 9.8, which put her in fourth for the event. She also scored a 9.775 on the floor.
Freshman April Boone enjoyed the best outing of her career as she notched a 9.8 on the uneven bars -- good enough for a sixth place finish in that event.
Other high scores for the Sun Devils included senior Jada Cox garnering a 9.85 on the beam and junior Kari Muth getting a 9.825 on the floor.
UCLA finished with at least the top two performers in all four events.
Reach the reporter at christopher.drexel@asu.edu.
