ASU gymnastics faces off against Cal on Friday night at Wells Fargo Arena, hurting after a tough loss to Oregon State and after losing two gymnasts to season-ending injuries.
The Sun Devils will have less room for error on their routines than usual, as both sophomore Amelia Rew and senior Mary Atkinson went down with ACL knee injuries on Sunday.
“They are both done for the year, and Mary is done for her career [here],” ASU coach John Spini said.
The injury to Atkinson, who was an All-American on vault last year, is a big blow to the Sun Devils.
After setting a season-high points total against the Beavers, the losses are especially crippling.
“I think right now we’re still pretty confident with everything,” senior Beaté Jones said. “Mary is one of our best all-arounders and one of my best friends, so it’s going to be rough, but we’ll still be okay.”
The injury to Rew could also prove to be problematic for the Sun Devils, as both Rew and Atkinson are among ASU’s top vaulters.
“Right now we’re shuffling around the lineup because of [injuries],” Jones said. “Right now in bars we have a set lineup, in floor we have more than enough people, and beam we might shuffle around a bit. It’s just vault we’re looking at [to fill holes].”
In order to achieve another season-high score this weekend against the Bears, some gymnasts will have to step up and fill the void left by Rew and Atkinson’s injuries.
“Cal is a pretty good team,” Jones said. “We still have to go and compete hard and make sure we hit all of our events. It’s really not what team we’re going against anymore, it’s just that we’re trying to beat our season high every time.”
ASU’s confidence has grown since the season began, but the team members wants to make sure they keep making progress toward their ultimate goal, which is to qualify for nationals.
“I think [continued success] is going to take a lot of confidence,” junior Madison Snowden said, “and just consistency. If we do what we do in [practice], then we’ll be fine against anyone.”
Snowden also believes that in spite of the recent bad luck with injuries, ASU will be able to persevere through this hardship and continue to improve with each meet.
“If anything, I think [the injuries] give us a little bit of inspiration and motivation to really come together as a group and really focus on what we want out of this season,” Snowden said.
Following Friday’s meet against the Bears, ASU’s next competition will be Feb. 18 against Washington at home.
Reach the reporter at kyle.j.newman@asu.edu
