ASU spring sports are nearing the end of the season, and several postseason competitions are underway.
Gymnastics
The ASU gymnastics team completed its 2021-22 campaign, finishing in fourth place in the second session of the second round at the NCAA Norman Regionals with an overall team score of 196.600.
Six Gym Devils scored 9.900s tonight, including sophomore Sarah Clark, senior Jasmine Gutierrez and sophomore Emily White, who all posted career highs on the floor routine. Sophomore Hannah Scharf also gave an impressive performance as she competed in all-around, scoring a 39.400.
No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 18 Arkansas advanced to the regional finals. UA trailed right behind Arkansas and finished in third place with a score of 196.800.
"I feel like I didn't reach my full potential today," Scharf said. "I think I did a really good job of trying to rally everybody and keep everybody in the right mindset, but I think I did let it slip in a couple of areas."
While defeat still stings for the Gym Devils, coach Jay Santos feels his program is in a good place.
"We've got plenty of people who have competed at a high-level returning," Santos said. "Obviously, the sting of disappointment is real right now, so I can't say I'm looking that far ahead at this point. We'll go back, have our offseason and get back to work. The overall picture of the program is still great. We have a great team, a great core. I'm very excited about that."
Men's golf
No. 4 ASU men's golf team took part in the Valspar Invitational in Palm City, Florida from March 28 to 29 and came away with a fifth-place finish. The Sun Devils ended with a final tally of 13-under, as No. 9 Pepperdine went on to win the tournament.
ASU concluded round two in second place after Pepperdine cemented its massive lead with a score of 18-under and finished round three with a total score of 34-under par.
Senior James Leow and freshman Josele Ballester both tied for 14th with a tally of four-under. Ballester has now finished either tied with or as the top placing Sun Devil in his first two tournaments here at ASU.
Senior Cameron Sisk ended with a score of three-under which was good enough to tie for 17th. Sisk started out hot in round one, going eight-under and holding onto first place. After going two-over his second round, he finished round three at three-over.
The men's team will be playing in its first and only home tournament of the season from Apr. 15 to 16. The Thunderbird Collegiate will bring some top-ranked talent to Papago, like No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Oklahoma State and three other top 10-ranked schools, according to the Bushnell/Golfweek D1 Coaches Poll.
ASU has won 12 of the past 22 tournaments hosted at Thunderbird. In last year's match, the Sun Devils fell short to Texas Christian University by just four strokes and came in second. Junior David Puig led ASU with a final score of 10-under par.
Track and field
The ASU track and field team sent its distance runners up to California to participate in the Stanford Invitational from Apr. 1 to 2. Although there were only a few Sun Devils competing, several unattached, brand-sponsored and international athletes were in attendance, creating an elite pool of talent for the meet.
Freshman Dayton Carlson won the men's 1500-meter run event with a time of 3:49.29. Carlson has now won his second first-place finish in his first three meets as a Sun Devil. Graduate Student Adam Meyer earned second place with a time of 3:51.62.
Junior Vincent Mauri continued his streak of podiums after securing second in the 5000-meter run with a time of 13:40.69. Since the outdoor season began last month, Mauri has not placed lower than second in any event.
The full track and field team will be in effect next weekend for the Sun Angel Classic in Tempe from Apr. 7 to 9. This will be the penultimate home meet of the outdoor season for ASU, leaving just three total meets remaining before the Pac-12 Championships take place in Eugene, Oregon from May 13 to 15.
Lacrosse
ASU women's lacrosse kicked off three straight non-conference games with a 21-10 loss to Florida on March 27.
Graduate attacker Carley Adams led the Sun Devils with four goals. Senior midfielder Kaylon Buckner added two goals. Graduate attackers Emily Glagolev and Emily Munro, and graduate midfielders Lia Willis and Taylor Pinzone each added one goal.
Freshman goalkeeper Katie Vahle started her ninth straight game for the Sun Devils, making five saves and allowing 18 goals through three quarters. Sophomore goalkeeper Flynn Murphy subbed in for the final frame, making two saves and allowing three goals.
The Sun Devils started their east coast road trip with a 16-4 loss to No. 5 Stony Brook.
Buckner, Glagolev, Adams and Pinzone each scored one goal as the Sun Devils fell to 4-6 on the season.
Vahle started her 10th straight game for the Sun Devils, making nine saves and allowing 16 goals in 60 minutes of play.
The Sun Devils closed out their east coast road trip with a 13-12 overtime win at No. 14 Rutgers on Sunday.
Glagolev led the Sun Devils with four goals, with Buckner, Pinzone and Adams following close behind with two. Senior attacker Katie Brodsky, sophomore attacker Mina Scott and graduate midfielder Maria Villanti each added one goal.
Pinzone's second goal sent the Sun Devils to overtime where Adams scored the game-winning goal with an assist from Pinzone.
Vahle started her 11th straight game, making 11 saves and allowing 12 goals.
The Sun Devils return to Tempe and Pac-12 play against Stanford on Friday at 4 p.m. MST.
Beach volleyball
ASU competed in the Pac-12 South tournament last weekend, going 0-4. The Sun Devils faced No. 8 Stanford, No. 17 UA, No. 3 USC and No. 11 Cal.
In the first matchup, ASU took on No. 11 Cal. There weren't many bright spots for ASU, as they got swept 5-0. In that same matchup, the two and three pairs swapped partners, resulting in a poor performance from the Sun Devils.
After that, they took on No. 3 USC, where they fell four sets to one. However, sophomore Kate Fitzgerald and freshman Kylie Wickley did get the lone win.
On Sunday, the Sand Devils fell 5-0 against No. 8 Stanford, whom they played a few days earlier at home.
Finally, ASU took on No. 17 UA, where the team managed to pull out a couple of victories. but still fell to the Wildcats 3-2. The Fitzgerald/Wickley pair grabbed a win, as well as the pair of sophomore Taryn Ames and senior Maddy Salazar.
Women's golf
ASU women's golf dominated the PING/ASU Invitational last weekend, finishing 25 under par in the home tournament.
This was the 21st time ASU has won its home tournament, finishing 15 strokes ahead of No. 2 Oregon (-10) and 23 strokes ahead of No. 1 Stanford (-2). The two squads finished second and third.
"(I) could not be more proud of this team for the way they played this weekend," coach Missy Farr-Kaye said. "It was great to see so many fans out there supporting us on the way to victory."
Senior Alexandra Forsterling finished in first place in her final home event with -9. Forsterling shot an outstanding -6 on the first day to propel herself to victory.
Sophomore Ashley Menne also played well, finishing second in the tournament with -7. Menne racked up ten birdies and an eagle to help lead the squad to a first-place finish.
"We're playing smart and focusing on execution," coach Missy Farr-Kaye said. "Every week we're getting a little bit better."
Freshman Calynne Rosholt finished -3, tying for tenth in the event. Senior Alessandra Fanali and freshman Grace Summerhays finished +1, while junior Amanda Linner and sophomore Breyana Matthews finished +2 and +15, respectively. Both Linner and Matthews competed as individuals and their scores did not count toward the team score.
The Sun Devils compete next at the Silverado Showdown in Napa, California from April 4 to 6.
Reach the reporters at, jspange1@asu.edu, rmastey@asu.edu, ahoppes1@asu.edu, atschmi2@asu.edu and kfield4@asu.edu and follow @jspangenthal94, @MasteyRemy, @aviannahoppes, @schmitty9999 and @Kathrynfield_ on Twitter.
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Justin Spangenthal is a reporter for The State Press, currently covering Men's Golf and Track and Field. Justin transferred to ASU last January and is planning to graduate Fall '23. He is passionate about journalism and hopes to one day launch his own media outlet.
Kathryn Field is a sports editor at The State Press. Kathryn has previously worked as a full time reporter at The State Press, covering women’s basketball and lacrosse.
Aaron Schmidt is a sports reporter who covers ASU Baseball and ASU Women’s Golf for The State Press. He previously covered Higley High School football for AZPreps365.
