It’s hard to be disappointed after all that Arizona gymnastics accomplished this season: Big 12 co-Event Specialist of the Year, Big 12 Coach of the Year, a 5-1 conference record, second place both in the regular season and the Big 12 championships, advancing to regional finals. It was all great, but it didn’t take away from the sting of finishing fourth in those regional finals with a score of 196.250.
“I’m on my bus in rainy Seattle right now,” said Arizona head coach John Court after the meet. “Sunshine had to stop sooner or later. I couldn’t be happier for everybody, the seniors, the team, all the coaches. It’s been a magical year. It’s been a year about process. Kept working, kept working really hard. Couldn’t have asked for a better season this year, certainly one of the most rewarding seasons I have had as head coach because it took years to build to this point.”
The regional in Seattle, Wash. finished exactly as the teams’ NQS suggested it would. The No. 21 GymCats were behind No. 2 Oklahoma (198.450), No. 7 Missouri (197.425), and No. 15 Auburn (197.325).
Two days after upsetting No. 10 Georgia to take second in the regional semifinals and advance, Arizona got off to a poor start. The GymCats were going to have an uphill battle, but they needed to take advantage of their strongest events if they hoped to pull off an even bigger accomplishment.
They had a chance, too. They were starting on their best event, balance beam. They are ranked No. 20 in the country on the event. When they perform at their peak, they’re even better than that.
It definitely wasn’t a peak performance. It tied their fourth-worst beam score of the season. The 48.850 was just their seventh beam score below 49 this season. At their best, they have scored 49.300 on the event in 2025. They scored a 49.025 on Friday evening.
It wasn’t because of a fall. The GymCats just weren’t clean. Balance checks and major breaks cropped up in too many places.
Senior Alysen Fears started it with a 9.825, suggesting that high scores were there for the taking, but the rest of the lineup failed to take advantage. Fifth-year event specialist Elena Deets matched the 9.825, but no one else scored better than a 9.775 and Arizona had to keep a 9.675.
“Whether it was jitters or some fundamental errors, especially when Aly gets up there and does something that gets the ball rolling,” Court said. “So, you can’t get those routines back. And I’ll admit, I leaned into them a little bit, just to remind them, in this setting, this is what we’re here to do. And I said we’re not being ourselves. Need to do our style of gymnastics the rest of the night. And we did that.”
The GymCats regrouped. Despite their No. 30 ranking on floor exercise, they have become a much stronger team on the event as the season has unfolded. They scored 49.300, making it the sixth time they had hit that mark in 2025.
Next was the event that would likely have kept Arizona from qualifying for nationals even if the earlier issues didn’t exist. The vault is a sore spot because the team has no vaults that can score a 10.0 even if done perfectly. It’s their lowest-ranked event for reasons that have e
All of the GymCats do vaults with 9.95 start values. They typically score in the high 9.7s and mid 9.8s, at best. With other teams at this level having at least some 10.0 vaults, Arizona is giving away points before it even starts.
The GymCats have scored over 49 on the vault five times in 14 meets this season. They went with the averages on Sunday, earning a 48.900. Fears and Mueller led the way with scores of 9.800 on their final collegiate vaults.
There was no real chance of advancing as the GymCats prepared for the final rotation. They went to their final event, hoping to send their seniors out on a high note—literally.
They accomplished the task. Mueller started things with a 9.775. Three underclassmen went, each scoring in the 9.800 range. Then, it was time for the final two seniors to do their final routines.
Deets went first. She was lovely and the judges rewarded her with a 9.825. Her team, including her coaches, rewarded her with a final post-performance hug.
Fears was last. She came to Arizona as a bars champion and she left reminding fans why. Her final college routine earned a 9.900. Bars coach Kylie Kratchwell embraced her after she landed.
Now, Arizona has to try to replicate or exceed the accomplishments of this year without at least three of those seniors. LaRusso still has a year of eligibility left due to a medical redshirt. As is typical of Court, he was coy about whether she would return.
Arizona needs to replace 10 of 24 routines if LaRusso returns. If she does not, the GymCats have 12 routines to fill.
Gymnasts like Abigayle Martin, Sophie Derr, and Emma Strom will have even more asked of them.
“Having the having a thicker senior class that they learned a lot this year from…and now I’ll expect them to lead in their roles next year,” Court said. “And they did a little bit this year, but I will certainly expect that next year. From the junior class…that group is going to be super important, too. And even though we know what we’re losing, but at the same time, I know that we have some really good recruits coming in next year. We’ll make sure that we’re in a good spot.”
Lead photo courtesy of Arizona Athletics