Gymnastics hosts UC Davis to start 2012 campaign

January 06, 2012

The Arizona State women’s gymnastics team opens up the 2012 season at home hosting UC Davis at 7 p.m., MT, Jan. 6, in Wells Fargo Arena. Last season, the Aggies took home the MPSF gymnastics title under three-time MPSF coach of the year John Lavallee.

Live Stats

For live updates during the meet visit: http://www.thesundevils.com/sports/w-gym/gymnastics-live-updates/Live_Updates.html

Head Coach John Spini

Arizona State head coach John Spini begins his 32st season at the helm of the Sun Devils gymnastics program. Currently Arizona State’s longest tenured coach, Spini has had at least one Sun Devil qualify for the NCAA Championships 25 out of the last 30 seasons. Spini has an overall record of 333-169-2 at Arizona State

New Addition

On July 21, 2011, Arizona State women’s gymnastics head coach John Spini announced the addition of Tom Ward as an assistant coach for the Sun Devils.

Ward comes to Arizona State from Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, where he served for three seasons as an assistant coach for the Golden Flashes. Coming off the best season in school history, Kent State finished the season ranked 12th in the nation, it’s highest-ever national finish. The Golden Flashes reached the national championships for the first time in school history in 2011 after placing second at the Ann Arbor Regional.

Ward, along with fellow assistant coach Sharon Sabin, was named the 2011 NACGC/W National Assistant Coach of the Year for his work with the Kent State Golden Flashes.

FSN Webcasts

Entering into a partnership with Arizona State University, Fox Sports Arizona will provide an online web broadcast of four Sun Devil home gymnastic meets. FSN will join ASU as it hosts its first-ever Pac-12 home meet against California on Jan. 20. Additionally, FSN will also provide webcasts of home meets against Arizona, Utah and Illinois. To watch the FSN live webcasts of the Sun Devils gymnastics team visit: www.foxsportsarizona.com.

Sun Devils Picked 7th in Preseason Pac-12 Poll

In a vote of the league’s coaches, the Arizona State women’s gymnastics team was picked to finish in a tie for seventh place in the 2012 Pac-12 preseason coaches’ poll.

The Sun Devils received 11 points overall to tie for seventh place with California. UCLA took the top spot in the coaches’ poll with 48 total points including six first-place votes. Also receiving first-place votes was Pac-12 newcomer Utah, which received two and is picked to finish second.

The Sun Devils return NCAA regional qualifiers senior Beate Jones and senior Madison Snowden along with fielding a healthy roster. ASU lost several-dozen line-up spots last season due to a litany of ill-timed injuries. The Sun Devils also boast a talented freshmen class, which looks to make an immediate impact at the start of the season.

Senior Leadership

The Sun Devil roster features seven seniors on the squad: Amanda Davies, Stephanie Hangartner, Beate Jones, Kahoku Palafox, Callie Price, Kelly Reilly, and Madison Snowden. The seniors could potentially make up 13 line-up sports for Arizona State, representing over half of the total line-up spots for the Sun Devils.

New Gym Devils

The Sun Devils welcome some new additions to the roster as Briana Gades of Peoria, Ariz., Natelle Gentile of Trabuco Canyon, Calif., Morgan Steigerwalt of Jim Thorpe, Pa., and Natasha Sundby of Rancho Cordova, Calif. all compete for the first time as Gym Devils.

2012 Signees

Arizona State women’s gymnastics head coach John Spini announced today that four gymnasts have signed letters of intent to study and compete for the Sun Devils. The level-10 signees, Alexandra Cope of Allentown, Pa., Kristine Levin of Frisco, Texas, Stephanie Miceli of Bethpage, NY and Risa Perez of Las Vegas, Nev., will attend Arizona State starting in the fall of 2012.

“We are very excited to welcome these four gymnasts to the Sun Devil family,” said Spini. “We look forward to having them represent Arizona State both athletically and scholastically.”

Sports