Rivalries aren’t often renewed at the beginning of the year, but the ASU gymnastics squad will head down to Tucson on Friday for its Pac-10 opener against the Wildcats.
The No. 25 Sun Devils are coming off their season opener at the Pac-10 Showcase on Jan. 9 in Los Angeles, where ASU placed sixth overall.
“When we left [for LA], our team energy was great,” ASU coach John Spini said. “You could tell some of [our gymnasts] weren’t completely ready, but they were out there giving me everything they can. Nobody gave up, and I was pleased with the mental energy of the team.”
ASU looks forward to taking on No. 19 UA with a healthy, deep and talented roster.
“We’re very excited about this season,” Spini said. “This team works very hard. When we go to this meet, we’re not focused on what [UA] is capable of doing or anything else other than just hitting our routines.”
Their health, coupled with a demanding off-season training regimen, have the Sun Devils feeling confident as they head into McKale Center on Friday.
“Our conditioning program is based on getting [the team] to performance-level fitness,” Spini said. “It’s not lifting weights, but actually full range of motion exercises and doing more gymnastics-type activities. That conditioning program is one of the reasons why we are looking so fit and have a better mental set.”
The Sun Devils have also bolstered their coaching staff with the offseason hiring of former Stanford assistant coach Michael Lorenzen, who will now serve as an associate head coach for ASU.
Prior to Stanford, Lorenzen was head coach at Iowa, where he twice received the Big Ten Coach of the Year Award.
“He’s one of the smartest men I’ve ever met in my life,” Spini said. “He’s been in the sport for many, many years. He brings a lot of team energy, a lot of mental energy to the program that the kids are really building on.”
The Wildcats are coming off a second-place showing in Utah last weekend, and ASU will have to be sharp in order to upset the home team.
“Bottom line is, our team knows nothing is going to get handed to us,” ASU junior Amanda Davies said.
ASU hopes to set the tone for the rest of the season at Friday’s match-up, which is part of the State Farm Territorial Cup series.
“I think it’s very important to this team to go down there and get a good score, because scores, not wins or losses, get us qualified into regionals and nationals,” Spini said. “We can’t control what the judges do, and we can’t control the home crowd. All we can control is our routines.”
The Sun Devils will look to All-American senior Mary Atkinson to shoulder the load and carry over her momentum from last year.
“We need to be a little more confident on beam,” Atkinson said. “We can go down there and win, but I think we have to believe and know that we can go down there and get the win.”
The Sun Devils’ next competition will be Jan. 28 against Brown, when they host their first home meet of the season.
Reach the reporter at kyle.j.newman@asu.edu
