No. 4 Utah Gymnastics to Take on No. 21 Wildcats
University of Utah women’s gymnastics junior Alexia Burch is congratulated by junior Sydney Soloski after her performance on the vault in a dual meet vs. Arizona State at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Utah on Friday, Jan. 24, 2020. (Photo by Kiffer Creveling | The Daily Utah Chronicle)
February 1, 2020
It is road trip time for the No. 4 University of Utah Red Rocks gymnastics team (5-0, 1-0 Pac-12) as they start a two-week stretch away from the Jon M. Huntsman Center on Saturday. The Red Rocks will head to the desert to take on No. 21 Arizona (5-2, 0-1 Pac-12) in a Top 25 battle. The Red Rocks are headed into a critical stretch where four of their next five meets will be on the road. The team will break up the road trip on Feb. 15 when they will host Oregon State in the Huntsman Center.
About the Series
The Red Rocks are 64-0 versus the Wildcats overall and 14-0 when competing in Tucson. The Wildcats are one of two teams in the conference who have never beaten the Red Rocks. Last time these two faced off, Utah beat Arizona in Salt Lake City 197.075-195.400. The other team that Utah has yet to fall to is Washington.
Scouting the No. 4 Red Rocks
Last Meet: W, 197.050-194.300 vs. Arizona State
The Red Rocks are coming off a statement performance over Arizona State in the Pac-12 opener. Gymnast Maile O’Keefe was named the conference freshman of the week after she won the all-around title with a score of 39.225. O’Keefe is the second Red Rock to earn conference honors this season. Kim Tessen won the specialist of the week earlier in the season.
In the Rankings
The Red Rocks moved up to No. 4 in this week’s RoadToNationals rankings after being No. 5 last week. This comes after the team posted a season-high score versus ASU last week.
At the event level, there were some changes to the team’s rankings. On the vault, the team stayed at No. 5 while changing positions on the other three events. On bars, the Red Rocks come in at No. 8. On the beam, the team ranks No. 5, and they are not far behind on the floor at No. 6.
Senior Kim Tessen ranks No. 8 on the vault and No. 9 on the bars. Sophomore Cristal Isa is ranked No. 17 on the beam. Sophomore Hunter Dula now ranks No. 21 on the bars.
Scouting the No. 21 Wildcats
Last Meet: L, 196.150-196.400 vs Oregon State
The Wildcats are coming off a season-high score in their loss to Oregon State last week. Maddi Leydin won the all-around with a score of 38.775. It was her first time competing in the all-around. Leydin also won the vault title in the meet. Christina Berg won the bars with a score of 9.900. She ranks No. 30 nationally on the event. Eleven gymnasts earned season-high scores and six earned career-high scores.
How to Watch
The meet is set to start on Saturday at 2 p.m. and will be broadcast via the Arizona live stream via Pac-12 Plus. Live scores will also be available.
