Gym Devils head to Seattle for showdown with Huskies

February 09, 2010

<a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/photos/schools/asu/sports/w-gym/auto_pdf/g… Release in PDF Format</a> <a href="http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html" target="_new"><img src="http://grfx.cstv.com/graphics/icon-acrosmall.gif" border="0" alt="Get Acrobat Reader" width="9" height="10"></a><separator></separator><a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-gym/mtt/atkinson_mary00.html">Mary Atkinson's</a> State Press feature <a href="http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html" target="_new"><img src="http://grfx.cstv.com/graphics/icon-acrosmall.gif" border="0" alt="Get Acrobat Reader" width="9" height="10"></a><separator></separator><a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tempe-AZ/Arizona-State-Womens-Gymnastics/… a fan of ASU Gymnastics on Facebook!</a><separator></separator><a href="http://twitter.com/asugymnastics">Follow us on Twtter!</a><separator></separator>The No. 25 Arizona State women's gymnastics team looks to use the momentum after last week's season-high performance to take on fellow Pacific-10 member No. 24 Washington this Saturday. The Gym Devils will compete against the Huskies at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 13. The Sun Devils are searching for the second win of the season.<separator></separator>Gym Devils in the rankings The Sun Devils springboarded into the top 25 this week. The team is ranked 25th as a team, 18th on bars and 24th on floor. Individually, <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-gym/mtt/hangartner_stephanie00.ht… Hangartner</a> entered the all-around rankings after scoring a 39.1 against Utah as did <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-gym/mtt/snowden_madison00.html">M… Snowden</a> on floor. Hangartner is currently 25th in the all-around and Snowden is 20th on floor. <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-gym/mtt/atkinson_mary00.html">Mary Atkinson</a> is ranked 15th on vault and 16th on bars.<separator></separator>30 years of Spini Arizona State University's longest currently tenured coach, <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-gym/mtt/spini_john00.html">John Spini</a>, has entered his 30th year of coaching. In his 30 years at ASU, Spini has sent his Sun Devil teams to 20 NCAA Championships and has had at least one Sun Devil represent ASU at the NCAA Championships 24 out of 28 seasons. He has coached 26 All-Americans for a total of 80 All-American accolades. Six women have won individual NCAA titles under Spini. Additionally, nine of Spini's Sun Devil squads have finished in the top five at the NCAA Championships, including four teams (1983, 1985, 1986, 1997) who were runner-up. The Sun Devils have qualified for an NCAA regional each of the seasons Spini has been the ASU gymnastics skipper.<separator></separator>Scouting the competition Washington is currently ranked 24th overall. They are 18th on beam and 17th on floor. They do not have any individuals ranked. The Gym Devils defeated the Huskies at Wells Fargo Arena last season 195.575-195.075.<separator></separator>Miss Mary <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-gym/mtt/atkinson_mary00.html">Mary Atkinson</a> showed the gymnastics world what she is made of as she tied for first in the all-around, shattering her previous career-best by tallying a 39.450 against Arizona. She crushed her all-time best on bars after performing a near perfect routine of 9.950. Atkinson also shined on vault with a career-best of 9.9 and tallied yet another personal high score of 9.775 on beam. Against Utah, Atkinson tied her vault (9.9) and floor (9.875) career-best. She is currently ranked 15th on vault and 16th on bars.<separator></separator>Leaving it all on the floor The Gym Devils have bursted into the top 25 on floor thanks in part to <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-gym/mtt/ward_kari00.html">Kari Ward's</a> new exciting choreography. Atkinson's elegant routine has garnered several high scores while the crowd cannot help but dance along to <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-gym/mtt/johnson_nickie00.html">Ni… Johnson's</a> Lady Gaga routine, in which she has delivered a 9.875. <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-gym/mtt/snowden_madison00.html">M… Snowden</a> wowed the crowd last week against Utah, earning a 9.85 in her Sun Devil debut.<separator></separator>New kids on the block The Gym Devils 2010 roster is full of new additions to the team. Three freshmen look to make an immediate impact as will at least one transfer. <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-gym/mtt/johnson_nickie00.html">Ni… Johnson</a> and <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-gym/mtt/salavec_christina00.html"… Salavec</a> are both training in the all around. <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-gym/mtt/rew_amelia00.html">Amelia Rew</a>, who just came to the team this month, is looking to be in the vault and potentially beam lineups. Freshman walk-on <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-gym/mtt/mcintyre_jordyn00.html">J… McIntyre</a> is working hard for a spot on the bars lineup. Another newcomer who will contribute significantly this season for the Gym Devils is sophomore transfer <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-gym/mtt/davies_amanda00.html">Ama… Davies</a> who has been steady in the team's intrasquads this preseason. <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-gym/mtt/mcmahon_carly00.html">Car… McMahon</a> has been in the vault lineup twice already this season for the Sun Devils.<separator></separator>We're cuckoo for Kahoku <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-gym/mtt/palafox_kahoku00.html">Ka… Palafox</a> has emerged into quite the gymnast for the Gym Devils. Palafox, who has been a starter on bars since her first meet of her freshman season, nailed her bar routine against Arizona to tie for second with a career-best 9.9. Palafox has also been a strong beamworker for the Sun Devils. Against Utah, she led the team with a career-high 9.825. The Sun Devils had their best beam rotation of the season that meet.<separator></separator>Shining senior After two years of being one of the team's top beam and bar-workers, <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-gym/mtt/bormann_kaitlynn00.html">… Bormann</a> could be in the vault lineup this season. Despite not competing it since her freshman season, Bormann topped her previous career-high on vault by nailing it for a 9.8. She has earned that score three times this season. She also earned a team-high 9.825 on beam.<separator></separator>Super Frosh Three of the Gym Devils freshmen have been given spots in the lineup this season. <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-gym/mtt/johnson_nickie00.html">Ni… Johnson</a> competed on three events (Vault, Bars, Floor) at both meets while <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-gym/mtt/salavec_christina00.html"… Salavec</a> performed on floor and beam. <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-gym/mtt/rew_amelia00.html">Amelia Rew</a> also competed on vault. Johnson has earned scores of 9.825 on bars and a 9.875 on floor. Salavec has the team's second-highest beam score with a 9.775 and has also scored a career-best 9.75. She has yet to miss a routine.<separator></separator>Clever Devils <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-gym/mtt/schuett_brittany00.html">… Schuett</a> had the highest grade point average in the conference last season with a 4.04 in speech and hearing. For her achievements in the classroom, she was named to the Pac-10 All-Academic First-Team. <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-gym/mtt/atkinson_mary00.html">Mary Atkinson</a> earned Second-Team recognition from the conference. Both Atkinson and freshman <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-gym/mtt/rew_amelia00.html">Amelia Rew</a> are both members of the prestigious Barrett Honors College here at ASU and are bioscience majors.<separator></separator>Injury update Beate Jones, who was the Sun Devils' top all-arounder last season, is out indefinitely with a Lisfranc injury that occurred during preseason. Jones achieved career-highs last season on V (9.925), UB (9.825), BB (9.9), FX (9.9) and in the all-around (39.4). Freshman <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-gym/mtt/salavec_christina00.html"… Salavec</a>, who has been one of the team's most consistent performers this season, was out last week with a minor toe injury. She is expected to be back in the lineup this week.<separator></separator>Socialize with the Devils Be sure to follow the Arizona State Gymnastics team on Facebook and Twitter! Links to both are on <a href="http://www.thesundevils.com">www.thesundevils.com</a>. Inside information, trivia questions and videos are featured on the fan sites.<separator></separator>Next up The Gym Devils host Stanford in the beginning of a string of home meets. The meet against the Cardinal begins at 7:30 p.m. on February 19th.<separator></separator>

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