Arizona’s Elena Deets named Big 12 Specialist of the Year, head coach John Court named Big 12 Coach of the Year
The No. 21 Arizona GymCats finished second in their first Big 12 Championships Saturday evening, proving that maybe head-to-head results are relevant.
“Expectations were to win the championship,” said Arizona head coach John Court. “That’s what we’ve been saying all week. We’re not here to put on a good show. We’re here to compete at a high level, and our goal was to win the championship. Beat everybody that’s here. That was the goal. We wanted to make today just about today, not about tomorrow, or not about last month. Today about today, and they did a fabulous job.”
They might not have reached that expectation at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah. They still accomplished something few Arizona gymnastics teams have.
The third-seeded GymCats finished as runners-up in their first Big 12 season. They landed behind only Utah, which is ranked fourth in the country in NQS. Arizona also had the second-best record in the regular season, defeating every team except Utah head-to-head. However, Denver had the edge in NQS and got the No. 2 seed at the conference championship meet.
The last time the GymCats finished as high as second in their league was 2005 when the Pac-10 Championships were held in Berkeley, Calif. Court was an assistant to head coach Bill Ryden that year. They also finished second in 1990 and 1992, both under Jim Gault.
It might have been better that they didn’t get the second seed. Being third meant the GymCats got to start on their best event. More importantly, Arizona finished with a score of 196.675, its second-highest score of the season.
“We started on beam,” Court said. “They did a fantastic job right out of the gate. We just kept building momentum throughout the entire competition.”
The performance wasn’t the end of the good news, either. After the meet, Arizona fifth-year specialist Elena Deets was named Big 12 co-Specialist of the Year and Court was honored as the Big 12 Coach of the Year.
Deets became the first Arizona gymnast to win a conference specialist of the year award. A GymCat had not won any end-of-year award since Karin Wurm was the Pac-10 Student-Athlete of the Year in 2008. The only other UA gymnasts to win year-end conference awards were 2002 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year Katie Johnson and 1993 Pac-10 Gymnast of the Year Stacy Fowlkes.
“She saved her best for last,” Court said about Deets. “She’s had probably the best year she’s ever had at Arizona. I’m pumped that the Big 12 recognized her as Specialist of the Year. She should get her name in the rafters at McKale. She meets the qualifications.”
It was the first conference coach of the year for an Arizona head coach since Ryden won the Pac-10 honor in 2002. Arizona coaches have won seven conference coaching honors with Gault taking five (1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1996) and Court joining Ryden with one.
“It’s nice to know my colleagues have respect for me and our program,” Court said. “I mean, at the end of the day, they’re team awards. We rise together.”
The score counts as a road score and will help the GymCats’ NQS for regional placement. While the team stayed at No. 21 in the national rankings, it could have dropped as low as 26th according to College Gym News.
It all started on balance beam. Arizona came in ranked 20th on the event and showed why. Abigayle Martin tied for third with a 9.925. The team earned a 49.175, taking second as a group behind Utah with its 49.625.
The GymCats then moved to floor, an event where they tied their 10th-best score in program history last week. They didn’t score quite as high this week, but they kept their lead over third-place Denver with a 49.125 on the event. The Pioneers were earning a 49.125 on balance beam at the same time.
The third rotation was vault, the team’s lowest-ranked event this season. The GymCats’ 49.100 was their second-highest vault score of the season. Denver cut into their lead slightly, earning a 49.150 on floor exercise during the third rotation, but Arizona kept momentum by getting a 9.850 from Elizabeth LaRusso from the leadoff spot and building from there.
“Liz got it started,” Court said. “She threw a dart and kind of pumped up everybody. So to keep pace with Liz, everybody had to throw some sticks. It was good. [Assistant coach] Shelby [Martinez] was very happy.”
Arizona wasn’t going to catch Utah, but finishing as conference runner-up was nothing to sneeze at. It just needed to keep the Pioneers at bay.
Not only did the GymCats keep DU at bay, but they extended their final lead by 0.050. Arizona scored a 49.275 on bars while the Pioneers earned a 49.225 on vault.
“It’s always good to get the w’s,” Court said. “We beat Denver twice. We beat ASU twice.”
The GymCats stayed steady as a group throughout the competition. Some individuals stood out among the competitors in the late session, though.
Sophomore Abigayle Martin was third in the all-around with a 39.350. Senior Alysen Fears was just behind her with a 39.325. Senior Emily Mueller was sixth of the nine all-arounders in the late session. She scored 39.150.
Deets, Martin, and Fears tied for third on uneven bars with scores of 9.875. Fears also tied for third on floor exercise with a 9.875. Martin tied for third on balance beam with a 9.925.
The GymCats’ highest scorers on vault were Mueller and freshman Jessa Janicke, who tied three other gymnasts for fifth with scores of 9.850. That was the second-highest score awarded in the session.
Utah was expected to win this meet. The Red Rocks had no problems doing so with a 197.775. The Pioneers came in third with a 196.400. BYU, which competed in the early session, came in fourth with a 196.275.
Arizona State was the bottom team in the evening session and finished fifth overall with a 195.975. Iowa State got a 195.775 to take sixth, and West Virginia came in seventh place with a score of 194.875. All except ISU will advance to regionals, although final placements will not be announced until Monday.
Lead photo courtesy of Arizona Athletics