Going into the final rotation of round II, session I of the Washington regional, unseeded Arizona was in the second qualifying position to advance to the regional final, sitting three tenths ahead of seeded No. 10 Georgia.
The Wildcats had just gone lights-out on floor, capitalizing on mistakes from the Gymdogs on beam. Head coach John Court knew his six gymnasts would need to execute as cleanly as possible to stay ahead of Georgia’s floor lineup. With no 10.0 start values, Arizona would need big, clean, well-landed vaults.
In the team huddle before the rotation began, Alysen Fears looked at her team. “Everyone had that fire in their eyes,” she said. The Wildcats were unfazed: they trusted the teammate next to them, and believed in each other. The team put their hands in, and Fears gave a final word: “Let’s make history tonight.”
The Wildcats vaulted cleanly. Scores were not stratospheric, but they were strong. With one gymnast to go, everyone on the floor was doing fast math. Georgia needed a 10.0 to tie. Arizona didn’t know who would win the tie break, but preferred to beat the Gymdogs outright regardless.
“That was Lily Smith over there,” Court said. A formidable opponent, Smith’s strong routine wasn’t enough, scoring a 9.925. The Gymdogs finished third behind advancing teams Missouri and Arizona, marking the Wildcats’ first time advancing to the sweet sixteen since the format shifted in 2019.
While historic, the result didn’t surprise Abigayle Martin. “I just had a feeling,” she said.
Arizona’s rise hasn’t been by mistake, nor a byproduct of just hard work in the gym. It’s an intentional culture shift, working toward being a championship contender. The Arizona athletic department is supportive of that goal, and Court has focused on positive coaching and recruiting efforts to build a team capable of getting there.
With a roster of mostly underclassmen, it has taken hard work from juniors and seniors to build the atmosphere that is a building block of success. “Our seniors this year have done an excellent job cultivating a culture where we are just pushing each other to be better each day,” Martin said. Court credits the upperclassmen with nurturing and mentoring their younger teammates.
Court pointed out that he and his staff have known the seniors since they were 15 or 16 years old. It has been a long road working to this point. “I could not like imagine…a better group to do something like this with,” he said.
Still, this is not the end of the road. Arizona will graduate some stars, like Fears, Emily Mueller, and Elena Deets. Fears herself is already thinking about the future. She hopes the culture she helped build will remain strong in the coming seasons, and cites the staff’s cohesion as part of the team’s success. “I think this team is going to continue to flourish,” she said.
Fears has developed into a strong leader over the past four years, learning to use her voice and to lead by example with encouragement from Court. How fitting, then, that it was Fears who called the team to make history before the Wildcats did just that on vault.
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