If there is one thing Arizona State's Head Coach John Spini knows, it's no matter what place his team is seeded coming out of the regional competition, it always has a chance of making it out of the national championships on top.

In 1997, his Sun Devils went into the NCAA's as the ninth-ranked team and finished second, earning a place on the podium the evening of Super Six. The following year, his squad was ranked eleventh. At the finals, they were sixth. In '99, it was a jump from tenth to fourth. The basic lesson is don't ever count the Sun Devils out, even when it comes down to the final event at the regional competition.

At last year's Alabama-hosted regional championships, the decision for the second team to qualify for a trip to Athens came down to the final event, where ASU was watching from the stands on a bye and the University of Minnesota was tackling the floor exercise. "Minnesota was not a weak team," Spini stressed. "That meet came down to the wire, and we just edged them out."

Arizona State's goal is to make top-quality performances throughout the competition season and peak at the national championships. To get to that point this year, Spini is counting on senior All-American Laura Moon, as well as sophomore Maggie Germaine, a top all-arounder and an All-American vault competitor. According to Spini, these two gymnasts are "very consistent."

Spini will also depend on five new gymnasts. He added two transfer athletes to his roster this season, Melissa Lewis, from California, and sophomore Carla DeMartini from the University of Oklahoma. "They will definitely help in the depth charts," Spini explained. "Carla is great on vault and bars. They will fit into our program nicely."

Faced with a tough schedule, Spini and the Sun Devil squad don't look for just one meet for which to prime themselves. In his 22-year coaching career, Spini explained his goal is to think about all meets equally and to have solid performances at each one. In essence, he said, he doesn't just factor in the opponents, but also where the meet is held. He believes the competitions on the road prime his team the best.

Preparing for the tough season has only been made more difficult by the fact that the team is training in a private gym off campus while their new practice facility is built. "This has been a lot more inconvenient," Spini said. "I think it's harder for the athletes having to drive off campus to train, but we'll just have to see how the kids handle it."

In the mean time, Spini believes his team will be solid on all four events. He said the gymnasts are training the same skills as any of the other top teams in the country. His goal for his team this season is for each competitor to be "clean" and execute good landing skills.

In any case, the ASU Sun Devils look to return to Tuscaloosa for the NCAA Championships to make yet another stealthy bid as one of the top collegiate gymnastics teams in the country.