It’s crunch time.
Each of the last three meets for the ASU gymnastics team will weigh a little more heavily than the previous one.
“We are heading into postseason here,” ASU coach John Spini said. “It’s not the opponent we are playing against, it’s how we do gymnastics that’s important.”
The No. 23 Sun Devils (2-8) currently have a regional qualifying score of 194.510. The mark encompasses the team’s six best meet scores, three of which must be contested away from home. The highest of these scores is dropped, and the remaining five are averaged.
“Our last three meets are critical,” Spini said. “We have two [more] away meets [left] that will count big in our rankings.”
But first up is a home contest against No. 28 Central Michigan on senior night.
“We don’t normally see them,” ASU senior Kaitlynn Bormann said. “It’s definitely different because we’ve been going against these Pac-10 schools that are all ranked, especially the three of them that are in the top 10.”
The Chippewas (9-2) are in second place in the Mid-American Conference behind Kent State.
“It’s really nice, right now, for us to get a team we haven’t seen in the Pac-10,” Spini said. “But I’m still very focused on making corrections.”
Friday will mark only the second time all season that ASU has met a team outside the top 25.
“Everything, from the moment the girls come here to the moment they leave, needs to be exactly the way the coaching staff wants it,” Spini said. “And if they can’t practice what we want them to practice, we’re not going to put them in the lineup.”
Safe to say the coach isn’t taking anyone lightly.
“I think Central Michigan will be a very good team,” Spini said. “I don’t even look at the stats — I’m sure everyone else does though.”
This will be the first time the Chippewas travel to Tempe.
“We need to focus on the correct shapes and positions they need to get a [individual event score of] 9.8 or better,” Spini said. “And if we have a miss, at least we are going to do it in such a way that we’re working the proper gymnastics.”
Bormann, the Sun Devils’ lone senior, will be honored in a pre-meet ceremony.
“Of course I want to end on a great note,” Bormann said. “I think more importantly we need to have fun, have a good attitude going in and go out there and do our job.”
Reach the reporter at tyler.emerick@asu.edu
