After four falls led to a close loss to Washington on Monday night, the ASU gymnastics team heads to Norman, Oklahoma to take on No. 2 University of Oklahoma Friday night.
The Gym Devils had only one day of practice in between Monday’s meet and Friday’s trip to work on the mistakes and make improvements.
“It’s a short week for us,” head coach René Lyst said. “Hopefully it’ll be motivating after a little bit of a disappointing performance, so that we’ll go on the road, and have a good showing.”
Lyst said team confidence as a whole is something that the Gym Devils need to work on in addition to technical details.
“We haven’t really found our confidence level as a group,” Lyst said. “It’s something we’re working to identify.”
Freshman Katelyn Lentz said despite only having one practice she believes the team can work hard on building confidence before meeting Oklahoma.
Lentz is one of six freshmen Gym Devils who have already made an impact on the team.
“They are doing a phenomenal job,” Lyst said. “They have to step up now and expect more of themselves. Not just to survive the experience but to excel in the experience."
Lentz and fellow freshman Morgan Wilson had another outstanding meet against Washington to open their Pac-12 debuts. Lentz scored a career-high on beam with a score of a 9.800, and Wilson placed second in the all-around with a score of 38.700.
“It feels good to be able to contribute to the team as a freshman,” Wilson said. “Not a lot of freshmen get to do that.”
Now the young group will challenge themselves against the second-best team in the nation.
"By the time we get back here at home they should be pretty solidified in how good they are as a class," Lyst said.
Related Links:
A Sun Devil's guide to gymnastics
Mistakes set ASU gymnastics back in Pac-12 opener
Reach the reporter at haley.stesiak@asu.edu or follow @haley_stesiak on Twitter.
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