No. 4 Red Rocks Set to Head to Corvallis to face No. 23 Beavers

University of Utah sophomore Maile O’Keefe in a NCAA Women’s Gymnastics meet vs. the University of California at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Utah on Friday, Feb. 26, 2021. (Photo by Kevin Cody | The Daily Utah Chronicle)

By Sammy Mora, Sports Editor
March 4, 2021

For the final time in the regular season, the No. 4 University of Utah Red Rocks gymnastics team will hit the road. This time the team will head to Corvallis to take on No. 23 Oregon State. This will be the last conference meet for the Red Rocks prior to the Pac-12 Championships while OSU will take on Stanford to close the season.

Scouting the No. 4 Red Rocks

Record: 8-1, 5-0 Pac-12

Last meet: W vs Cal, 197.375-197.125

National Qualifying Score: 197.300

Last week the Red Rocks built once again on their score from the previous week, scoring their fifth score of 197 or better on the season. While it was a slow start for the Red Rocks, with no gymnast scoring above a 9.875 for nearly two and a half rotations, they were able to shut down the Golden Bears at home.

Maile O’Keefe led the team in the victory with an all-around score of 39.525. She was also very close to scoring her second ten of the season on the beam in the victory. One judge awarded O’Keefe with 10 while the other scored her a 9.95, earning her a 9.975 score. Jaedyn Rucker scored a career-high 9.950 on the floor in the meet.

This week also marks the first week in which teams will be ranked according to their NQS. Utah’s score of 197.300 is good enough for No. 4 in the country, the same spot they held before the shift in rankings. The team’s event rankings also changed due to NQS scoring. The team is now ranked No. 3 on beam, No. 5 on floor and vault and No. 13 on bars.

O’Keefe continues her super sophomore season, ranking No. 1 in the country on the beam and No. 8 in the all-around. Abby Paulson now ties for No. 4 in the country on the beam, and Alexia Burch is ranked No. 5 on the vault, rounding out Utah’s top 5 rankings. Sydney Soloski is tied for No. 14 on the floor while Cristal Isa is tied for No. 16 on the bars.

Scouting the No. 23 Beavers

Record: 2-4, 1-3 Pac-12

Last meet: L vs UCLA, 196.500-197.025

National Qualifying Score: 195.950

Even though they lost last week, Oregon State posted their highest score of the season versus UCLA. Just like Utah before they had their bye week, the Beavers scores have been going up week to week, showing growth within the team.

The Beavers are led by Madi Dagen who is tied for No. 6 in the country on the vault and is tied for No. 19 on the beam. Kaitlyn Yanish is one of the athletes who Soloski is tied for the No. 14 spot on the floor with. The pair are ranked No. 1 in the PAC-12 conference on the event.

OSU is ranked No. 13 on the vault, No. 42 on the bars, No. 19 on the beam and is tied for No. 13 on the floor.