ASU finishes third in breast-cancer awareness meet

 by Sarah McLellan
 published on Monday, March 3, 2008

Lindy Mapes / THE STATE PRESS

GETTING A LEG UP: ASU junior Tia Orlando performs on the uneven bars during the UNO’s Flip for the Cure meet on Friday.

It's a good thing that Feb. 29 only rolls around once every four years.

After competing on the extra day during this leap year, the No. 17 ASU gymnastics team might be wishing that it were permanently erased from the calendar.

The Sun Devils hosted No. 7 Stanford, No. 32 San Jose State and Division III Wisconsin-Oshkosh in UNO's Flip for the Cure, a breast-cancer awareness meet. And although ASU's pink leotards were prominent among the sea of athletes constantly competing and shuffling among events, its performance was overshadowed.

The Sun Devils placed third with a score of 194, finishing behind Stanford (195.8) and SJSU (194.2). Wisconsin-Oshkosh rounded out the standings with a score of 181.125.

"That looked like a first [or] second meet experience," ASU coach John Spini said.

The Sun Devils started the meet with a deficit, as junior Nicole Harris did not compete. She's out day-to-day for personal reasons.

"We're just letting her handle that," Spini said.

Harris has been the leader for the young Sun Devil squad, and her consistent performance in the all-around was sorely missed.

"We made a dramatic change without Nicole," Spini said.

Freshman Beaté Jones replaced Harris in the all-around and finished third.

On the bars, ASU earned a mark of 48.65 with junior Tiana Jean posting a 9.85 and freshmen Francesca Mercurio securing a 9.825.

After two events, ASU was slightly behind Stanford and ahead of SJSU. But the team fell out of contention and conclude the meet on the floor, an event that summed up the night.

"Floor was just really hard without Nicole," Spini said. "We just didn't look sure of ourselves."

Reach the reporter at: sarah.mclellan@asu.edu.