ASU Sun Devils (women)

The **ASU women's gymnastics team** represents the Arizona State University in Division I competition. They are led by Jay Santos, appointed head coach in 2016, and have won 10 individual NCAA titles. Their highest team finish at the NCAA National Championships is second place, achieved four times. The Sun Devils compete in the Pac-12 Conference.

## History

Women's gymnastics saw its first season as a varsity sport at ASU in 1976 under coach Monique Sublette, finishing with a 9-2 record and sixth place at the AIAW Championships. Over the next four seasons coach Marie Bilski led the Sun Devils to three top-10 AIAW finishes. The first All-American at ASU was Pam Godward, on balance beam in 1979 and 1980.

### 1980s

John Spini was added as head coach in 1980 and would remain in that position for 34 years; his first season, 1981, saw a fifth-place national finish and another ASU All-American, Jeri Cameron, who earned honors on vault and uneven bars. ASU won the WCAA (Western Collegiate Athletic Association) Championships first in 1982 and then for the next three years as well. In 1982 the Sun Devils also finished fifth at the first NCAA National Championships.

Bolstered by the outstanding freshman trio of Jackie Brummer, Kim Neal, and Lisa Zeis, the Sun Devils finished the 1983 regular season with a 20-1 record and achieved their highest NCAA Championship finish, coming in second place. Jeri Cameron won the NCAA individual uneven bars title that year as well, ASU's first individual national championship. Brummer won the bars title the following year at the 1984 Championships following a fourth-place finish for the team.

ASU was the runner-up at the 1985 and 1986 Championships as well, finishing behind Utah in 1986 by just a quarter of a point.

### 1990s

The Sun Devils' first perfect 10.0 score was earned by Tina Brinkman on floor exercise in 1992 (she later finished third on that event at that year's NCAA Championships).

Despite entering the 1997 Championships ranked 9th, ASU pulled out their a second-place finish behind UCLA and left the competition with 11 All-America honors. Elizabeth Reid scored 9.9 on the balance beam to win ASU's first individual event title since 1986.

### 2000

At the 2000 NCAA Regionals, the Sun Devils placed third and failed to advance to Nationals for only the fourth time in team history, and for the first time failed to qualify any individuals.

2003 was a record year for ASU gymnastics: ranked 15th in the preseason, the Sun Devils reached the #2 spot for two weeks and set multiple school records in the process. The team earned seven of the top 10 team scores of all time that year, the top 11 all-around scores in school history, and set team records on all four events and in the all-around. Gymnasts Maggie Germaine, Ashley Kelly, Ashley Ellsberry and Cassidy Vreeke set a school record with eight 10.0 scores over the season. The 2003 team finished in 9th place at NCAAs.

The 2004 team broke the school records for team sore, vault, bars, and floor exercise and earned 12 perfect 10.0 scores.

### 2010s

Coach Spini announced his retirement as head coach of ASU gymnastics following the 2014 season. His replacement was announced as René Lyst, former co-head coach at Arkansas. Following Spini's departure, ASU gymnastics experienced something of an exodus as several gymnasts left the team, either transferring or retiring from competition.

Lyst was placed on administrative leave midway through the 2016 season, with coaching duties being taken up by assistant coach Ralph Russo; she was fired after the end of the season. Eastern Michigan coach Jay Santos was announced as the new ASU head coach following a record-breaking season at EMU.

## Roster & Coaching Staff

Coaches

* **Jay Santos**: Head Coach
* **Jessica Santos**: Assosiate Head Coach
* **Stephen Buckner**: Assistant Coach

## Facilities

The Sun Devils compete in Wells Fargo Arena, which hosts basketball, volleyball, and wrestling in addition to gymnastics. The Arena was first built in 1974 and seats 14,198.

The team's practice facility is the John Spini Gymnastics Center.

## References

1. ↑ This Is Sun Devil Gymnastics
2. ↑ Program History
3. ↑ Long-Time Gymnastics Coach John Spini Announces Retirement
4. ↑ ASU hires Jay Santos as women's gymnastics coach
5. ↑ Roster
6. ↑ Wells Fargo Arena
7. ↑ Tempe Campus Virtual Tour: Women's Gymnastics Training Facility