The ASU women’s gymnastics team could not be more excited to start Pac-12 competition.
The team is returning from a strong Pac-10 finish a year ago.
Since the change from the Pac-10 to the Pac-12, the gymnastics program has taken on a new look. The team lost a few contributing seniors and added several impressive freshmen.
One thing that hasn’t changed is the depth of talent in the Pac-12. The conference is still one of the strongest in the nation.
The Sun Devils (1-0) take on California Friday at 7 p.m. It is the second of three straight home meets for ASU.
Both ASU and Cal were No. 7 in Pac-12 preseason rankings and performed similar in their non-conference season openers.
After a jitter-filled showing two weeks ago, the Sun Devils want to prove their talent to every Pac-12 team.
“(The team) is ready to show what it’s really capable of doing,” senior Beaté Jones said. “You have to hit your routines or you’re not going to get the score you expect. That became reality for our freshmen.”
ASU displayed a strong performance on the bars in its opener, but the Sun Devils need to execute better in their floor exercise routines if they want to compete with any of these tough Pac-12 teams.
“We’ve been keying in on consistency and we have a lot of our floor issues figured out,” assistant coach Tom Ward said. “We’re really excited about putting a great floor team out there.”
Coach John Spini said the team had the wrong lineup on the floor in its last meet. This Friday, the coaching staff plans on starting off with senior Amanda Davies and continuing with senior leadership for the rest of the floor routines.
Cal scored well last week, 192.500, considering they shared the gym with the No. 1 UCLA Bruins.
Cal boasts some strong gymnasts in each event. Junior Mariesah Pierce took second in the all-around in the last meet.
A former Sun Devil gymnast will also be making her return to Arizona.
Danna Durante, first-year head coach for Cal, earned All-Pac-10 Honors three times during her ASU career. Durante was a team leader, performed on the bars and floor routines, but is also known for excelling at a high level on the beam, where she posted five perfect 10s.
“It’ll be fun,” Spini said about Durante’s return. “I just know (Durante is) a quality person who is going to bring some hard working athletes and be competitive.”
The ASU women’s gymnastics squad is a team with a lot of potential. This will be the first of many meets for the Sun Devils to showcase their talented roster.
Reach the reporter at gdemano@asu.edu
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