Junior Ainsley Greever sets the tone in her comeback from injury
Ainsley Greever hadn’t seen the floor in a competitive gymnastic meet since the 2024 regional semifinals her freshman year. She stepped up to lead off on vault for the Arizona GymCats and put them on the path towards a wire-to-wire win over Washington by the score of 195.425 to 194.650.
The vault was Greever’s only event of the night, but her performance in the leadoff spot was a defining moment for the team.
“I competed in that spot a lot my freshman year, so I’m very comfortable in that leadoff spot,” Greever said. “It was a very good position for me to be in, especially because I haven’t competed in a while. So that was super exciting. It was just to go out there and do my job for the team and do the best vault that I could. Do everything that I do in practice. And that’s exactly what I did tonight, and that’s what I wanted.”
Greever scored a career high 9.825 on her vault, the highest by anyone on the event. Her teammates stepped up and posted a string of solid scores.
The GymCats kept Greever’s score and four others that ranged from 9.725 to 9.775. The lowest score was a 9.675, which they were able to drop. Redshirt senior Liz LaRusso was originally given a 9.750, but hers was one of at least three scores that were changed over the night after inquiries or conferences; she finished with a 9.775.
Greever wasn’t the only comeback story of the night. Others had bounce-back performances within the meet. Freshman Hillary Puleo was a prime example. Puleo competed in three events. Her college debut on bars was first. It was solid, getting Arizona a 9.725 to lead off the second rotation. The next event was a problem, though.
Puleo had a fall on beam. The team was able to drop her 9.175 on the event. Puleo let it drop from her memory during the meet and looks forward to letting it go in the future.
“I just got in my head a little bit too much,” she said. “But just getting back into the gym, saying my words for each skill, and just remembering that all this work is going to pay off.”
She didn’t let it linger in her thoughts. When her team got to floor exercise, Puleo was set to go second. Redshirt senior Liz LaRusso had difficulty on the event and earned a 9.125 to lead off. Everyone else needed to hit, and it had to start with the freshman.
Puleo posted a 9.900, one of just three scores of 9.9 or above all night. The other two were earned by Arizona’s Emma Strom on floor (9.925) and Washington’s Chelsea Hallinan on beam (9.900).
“Once I started, I just felt the energy from the crowd and my teammates,” Puleo said. “I just got out there and just had a great time. Obviously, thought about my passes as well, like the key techniques to think about, but honestly, just had a great time out there.”
Things started well for Arizona. The GymCats were initially given a 48.825 on vault, but the change in LaRusso’s score improved that to 48.850. It was their second-best event of the evening.
The Huskies started on bars where they had acceptable scores but nothing that was going to threaten most Division I opponents. Their highest scores were a pair of 9.725s. The other three scores they kept ranged from 9.625 to 9.675, giving them a total score of 48.400 after the first rotation. That put them 0.450 behind Arizona.
Arizona had its first stumble on bars when sophomore Sadie Smith fell on her release move. The GymCats had to keep two scores of 9.7 or lower on the event, but Washington wasn’t able to make up ground during the rotation. Both teams scored a 48.675, allowing Arizona to maintain its 0.450 lead halfway through the meet.
UW won a third rotation that included the fall by Puleo and multiple changes in the score of Arizona’s Aubrey Krohnfeldt on balance beam. The judges initially had a large gap between them on Krohnfeldt’s score. They conferenced on the sophomore’s score when they were 0.300 apart. They seemed to arrive at a 9.650 as the score after the judge with the lower score bumped up her start value slightly. By the end of the night, the official score for Krohnfeldt was 9.600—higher than the original score but lower than the one put on the scoreboard during the meet.
Arizona finished balance beam with a score of 48.650. Meanwhile, the Huskies put up a score of 48.775 on floor exercise. That cut the GymCats’ lead to 0.325 with one rotation to go.
Arizona didn’t fold. Despite having a fall early in the rotation, the GymCats had the win well in hand before the final routines were performed.
LaRusso’s 9.125 made it imperative that everyone else hit. Puleo got that started with her big 9.900. Only one of the final four scores was below 9.850, and Strom closed it out with the highest score of the night. Arizona’s 49.250 on the floor was the only score above 49 by either team.
As a freshman in her debut, all of Puleo’s scores were considered career highs. Four gymnasts who already had multiple meets to their names tied or set career highs. Krohnfeldt and Strom tied theirs on bars (9.850) and floor (9.925), respectively. Greever set hers on vault (9.825), and Derr had a career high on bars (9.850).
Category: General Sports
