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Gym Devils Get Best Season-Opening Score At No. 1 Michigan

by thesundevils.com
Jan 15, 2022

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Sun Devil Gymnastics earned the highest season-opening team score in program history with a 196.275 to take second place at No. 1 Michigan on Saturday afternoon, highlighted by 9.900s from junior Hannah Scharf and freshman Alex Theodorou.  

Notable Stats

  • Despite a limited roster, Arizona State (0-1) showed resilience against the defending national champions Michigan, who scored a 197.950 to win the meet. ASU saw multiple gymnasts step up to help the team get the best season-opening score in program history, surpassing the previous high of 195.825 achieved in 2004.
  • Many gymnasts made their collegiate debuts today. Sophomore Cienna Samiley and freshmen Mallory Marcheli and Alex Theodorou all competed for the first time for the Sun Devils. Additionally, Junior Jordyn Jaslow competed on beam and floor for the first time in her career, as did Jada Mangahas on bars.
  • Multiple streaks continued for the Sun Devils. This was the 11th meet in a row surpassing 196.000 as a team. Arizona State has scored a 49.000+ on bars in 18-straight meets, dating back to 2020. On vault, the streak improved to 10 in a row.
  • Freshman Alex Theodorou is making her name known early in her career with a big collegiate debut. She scored the first 9.900 of the season for the Gym Devils in the anchor spot on vault. She also added a 9.850 on bars and a 9.875 on floor.
  • Junior Hannah Scharf was another bright spot for Arizona State. She was the lone all-around competitor for the Sun Devils, earning a 39.475. Her best event was on floor where she got a 9.900. She did not score below a 9.850 in any event.
  • Sophomore Emily White scored a 9.850 on floor, which was a personal best for her. She also had the highest beam score with a 9.875 and a solid 9.825 on bars.  
  • Back in the lineup for the first time since 2020 was Izzy Redmond, who competed on vault, bars and beam.

Quotes
Arizona State Co-Head Coaches Jay and Jess Santos
"Wow! We are thrilled with how the team performed tonight. The team has dealt with quite a bit of adversity in the past few weeks which limited training time for a lot of the student-athletes. We rearranged everything from routine construction to using different line ups and the girls did a phenomenal job of rolling with everything. Today we asked them to step up and focus on the controllables and boy did they deliver! 

Hannah was a rock and picked up right where she left off last season. I know everyone was excited about Alex's debut and she was phenomenal tonight. Breaking the opening score record is a great starting point for us to build off of. Between continuing to work on our details and adding back in some of our top routines over the next few weeks, this team is destined for big things this season!"

Final Results

  1. Michigan, 197.950
  2. Arizona State, 196.275

Rotation One: Bars, 49.225
This event continued to be a strong point for the Gym Devils as they continued their streak of 49.000-plus in the season opener. All five scores that counted were above a 9.800, led by Mangahas' 9.875, who got in the bars lineup for the first time in her career. Theodorou and Scharf added 9.850s while Samiley and White chipped in 9.825s.

Rotation Two: Vault, 49.075
Theodorou scored ASU's first 9.900 of the season in the anchor spot on vault, catching the momentum from Scharf's 9.875 right before her. Those scores helped push the Sun Devils over 49.000, making it 10 in a row reaching that mark on vault.

Rotation Three: Floor, 49.050
Led off by a 9.825 from Jaslow in her first time competing on this event, the floor lineup saw the last three in the lineup build off of each other for strong scores. After White's career-high 9.850, Theodorou ended her afternoon with a 9.875. In the anchor spot, Scharf brought in ASU's second 9.900 of the day. 

Rotation Four: Beam, 48.925
White led the way on beam with a team-best 9.875, which was the third best score between both teams on beam. Anchoring for the second rotation in a row was Scharf, scoring a 9.850 to push ASU over 196.000. In their beam debuts, Jaslow earned a 9.825 and Marcheli got a 9.800.

Up Next
The Gym Devils will stay on the road next week, traveling to Salt Lake City to take on reigning Pac-12 champs Utah on Friday night. The Utes are currently ranked No. 4 in the nation.

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