The ASU gymnastics squad heads into the 2011 season with more energy, depth and talent than last year. Additionally, the team hopes to make it back to the NCAA Championships.
Senior Mary Atkinson, who was an All-American on vault last year and competes in all four events for ASU, will anchor the No. 25 Sun Devils.
“Individually, it would be nice to repeat that same level of success [I had last year],” Atkinson said. “The biggest goal would be the team goal to go to nationals, though.”
In order to make it back to nationals, however, the Sun Devils will have to wade through an extremely tough Pac-10 conference, including match-ups against No. 1 UCLA, No. 6 Stanford, No. 8 Oregon State, No. 19 UA (to whom they lost by less than two points on Friday) and No. 21 Washington.
The Sun Devils, however, remain unfazed by the tough competition that lies ahead and are instead focused on doing what they need to do in order to succeed.
“We have only great thoughts about where we want to go,” ASU coach John Spini said. “It’s an important step for us to keep going forward with every competition.”
The team has much more experience than the squad last season, when ASU competed with several athletes who had never before felt the intensity of collegiate gymnastics.
“Last year, we had a lot of athletes in events that weren’t ready to be in events,” Spini said. “But this year, we’re much more confident, and I think we are trained a little bit better.”
This training probably has something to do with the off-season conditioning program that has ASU feeling very fit and healthy to start the season.
“We’re much healthier and we have more numbers [than last year],” Spini said. “We have a lot more depth, we have a lot more team energy because the kids are confident about our depth and what we are capable of doing.”
ASU also bolstered its coaching staff with the off-season hire of Michael Lorenzen, who comes to Tempe with experience as both a head and assistant coach.
“He’s a great fit for me,” Spini said. “We’re pretty much opposites, and that makes us really strong. Overall, he’s a great fit for us.”
Lorenzen joins Spini and former ASU captain Kari Ward on the Sun Devil coaching staff.
Ward, who has been an assistant coach since 2009, also said she can see tangible improvements in this year’s team.
“When the girls are going [in practice], we have all the girls grouped together and all of them are focused on just the one person going,” Ward said. “Cheering louder and really just focusing all of your energy on the one person competing, that’s all pretty new for us this year.”
This increased energy will inevitably lead to higher scores, Ward said.
“Being loud on the floor and having that energy has really, really helped us,” Ward said.
ASU is also sure to benefit from all-event senior Beaté Jones’s return from a joint injury last year.
“Beaté coming back is going to be really good for us,” Atkinson said. “We also have a little bit more experience in beam going into this season, which I think helps us a lot.”
In addition to the usual suspects such as Jones and Atkinson, ASU will also rely on several freshmen to step up and contribute this year.
“We have a really outstanding freshman in Samantha Seamen,” Spini said. “She’s a fantastic vaulter, and we’re going to depend on her to mature and gain confidence throughout the year. Emily Warfield is also outstanding.”
With all the expectations ASU has placed on themselves, the Sun Devils know exactly what they need to do in order to have the type of season they want.
“We know how the sport is, and we know how the scoring is, and the only thing we can do is come in here and focus on one thing that will get us better and progress throughout the whole season,” junior Amanda Davies said.
The Sun Devils plan to work daily on improving all aspects of their performance. The hope is that this work will eventually cumulate in a strong showing at the NCAA Championships in Cleveland, Ohio on Apr. 15.
Reach the reporter at kyle.j.newman@asu.edu
