Gym Devils dominate Arizona, score season-high
By Jessie Schott, Sun Devil Media Relations
The Arizona State women's gymnastics team (3-0, 2-0 Pac-12) not only beat the 15th-ranked Arizona Wildcats in the first of two State Farm Territorial Cup match-ups, they also were on fire with breaking not only season highs, but also career records. With combined efforts from seniors Beate Jones, Kahoku Palafox, and Madison Snowden, the Sun Devils were able to take down their rival for the first time since 2006, 195.875 - 194.350.
The Sun Devils started the night off with great momentum on vault as both freshmen Natelle Gentile and senior Amanda Davies scored a 9.750 breaking both of their season highs. Also tying scores with one another were Callie Price and Natasha Sundby with scores of 9.725. Samantha Seaman scored a 9.800 for the Sun Devils after a strong run, which led her to stick her landing. Jones followed right behind Seaman with another resilient performance from the senior, giving her the score of 9.850. The Gym Devils totaled a score of 48.875 on vault which tied their last week's score to beat California.
Arizona State made their way to bars where Jones would put on a very graceful performance which would land her a score of 9.750, tying her score on the bars from last week's meet. Kahoku Palafox brought the heat, with the bars being her strongest skill set, scoring a high score of 9.800. Stephanie Hangartner would score a 9.800 as well after a dominating routine and strong finish. Arizona State would gain a combined score of 48.800 on bars with a total of 97.675 taking them into beam.
Going into beam, the Sun Devils were in the lead over the Wildcats by 0.425. Jones again carried Arizona State's momentum into her routine finishing with a score of 9.700. Palafox and Madison Snowden would tie each other with scores of 9.825, tying Snowden's season high. Morgan Steigerwalt would finish the Sun Devils out with a technical performance that earned her a score of 9.775, beating her season high as well as her career high at 9.675. Gades also set her season and career high of 9.725 after a tight and dominating performance landed her a score of 9.800.
Staying in the lead, the Gym Devils made their way to floor where Amanda Davies would start them off by putting on a crowd favorite routine, breaking her season high record of 9.675 with a score of 9.775. Arizona State would keep on rolling as Natasha Sundby broke her season and career record of 8.775 with a score of 9.875 after an impressive routine on floor. Following right behind her was a fellow freshman Morgan Steigerwalt with a tying score of 9.875 also breaking her season high and career record of 9.700. Senior Jones finished the Sun Devils out with a career tying score of 9.900 after taking over floor with an explosive performance. The Sun Devils finished out beating the Wildcats 195.875 to 194.350.