BERKELEY, Calif. -- The Pac-10 Championships should have solidified an NCAA Regional bid for the ASU gymnastics team.
Instead, an uninspired performance Saturday afternoon transformed the No. 25 Sun Devils into a bubble team at Haas Pavilion.
Just a week after posting a 196.6 against No. 2 Utah, ASU cracked under the pressure of television cameras in one of its worst finishes of the season and stumbled to a 192.975.
Now, ASU must wait for a phone call to see if it has qualified for the seven-team Lincoln Regional. The call is expected to come today.
"They had no energy," ASU coach John Spini said of his team's performance at the Pac-10 Championships. "They're so fragile right now. I can't train them hard."
After the first two rotations, it became clear that the Sun Devils weren't going to reach their 195 target score.
Spini addressed his gymnasts at the midway point as they sat in the bye corral.
"Regionals is going to be just like this," Spini told his team. "You've got to walk in and take control of the event. You just gave away two of them. I don't like it."
The Sun Devils have lacked leverage in their lineup all season due to nagging injuries, yet managed to climb back into the national rankings last week.
ASU's biggest struggles Saturday came on the floor exercise, where the Sun Devils were forced to count two of their three falls for a 47.850.
"They were scared to death," said ASU volunteer coach Roe Kreutzer, a member of the 2004 Olympic Committee. "They admitted that to me. But I would call these girls the Magnificent Seven and a quarter, because that's what they are."
The reference was alluding to the 1996 Olympic team, captained by ASU graduate Amanda Borden, that took home the gold in Atlanta.
"Look at someone like [sophomore] April Boone, who only had to compete in one event last year," Kreutzer said. "Now she's expected to not just do all of them, but to score 9.8s."
No. 3 UCLA swept all four individual events and captured the team title with a 197.1.
Junior Ashley Kelly again was the lone bright spot for ASU. She carried the team by hitting all four events.
Kelly was scheduled to compete in just three events due to a sore foot, but Spini put her in the vault lineup to give her a shot at the all-around title and a spot on the All-Pac-10 team.
Despite not training on vault for two weeks, Kelly scored a 9.75 and placed third in the all-around at 39.375. She trailed UCLA co-champions Kristen Maloney and Tasha Schwikert, both of whom are former Olympians. Kelly tied for first place on beam.
Maloney, the nation's top-ranked performer in the all-around, was named Pac-10 Gymnast of the Year. Schwikert was named Pac-10 Freshman of the Year. Coach of the Year honors went to Tanya Chaplin of Oregon State.
