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2024 Pac-12 Gymnastics Championships

March 23 // Pac-12 Network
Maverik Center // West Valley City, UT

Pac-12 women’s gymnastics kicks off 2024 season this weekend

Jan 3, 2024

SCHEDULE | STANDINGS | RECORD BOOK 

The 2024 women's gymnastics season officially gets underway this week with six of eight Pac-12 squads scheduled to compete on opening weekend. Four of the six - California, Oregon State, UCLA and Washington - will begin the new campaign in Las Vegas, competing at the elite Mean Girls Super 16 event that features 12 teams ranked in the top 25 of the Women’s College Gymnastics Association (WCGA) Preseason Poll, including two-time defending National Champion Oklahoma. 

THIS WEEK

  • No. 4 Utah will open its 2024 campaign at home hosting Boise State at 7 p.m. PT/6 p.m. PT on Friday, January 5 at the Jon M Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, airing live on Pac-12 Insider. It will be an important tune up for the Utes and first-year head coach Carly Dockendorf, who recently replaced former head man Tom Farden, as Utah is set to compete the following week in ESPN's high profile Collegiate Quad event against No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 3 LSU and No. 5 UCLA at the Maverik Center. 
  • No. 19 Arizona State will join Utah in opening the 2024 season at home on Monday, January 8 hosting Central Michigan. The dual meet will air live on Pac-12 Insider at 7 p.m. MT/6 p.m. PT.
  • No. 5 UCLA, No. 7 California, No. 13 Oregon State and No. 21 Washington all kick their seasons off against some of the best collegiate competition in the country at Las Vegas' Mean Girls Super 16. The two-day, four-session event is set for Friday, January 5 and Saturday, January 6 at the Orleans Arena. Washington will join No. 10 Denver, Illinois and San Jose State in the event's opening session at 1 p.m. PT on Friday with Oregon State scheduled to compete in Saturday's 12 p.m. PT session against No. 18 Minnesota, No. 24 Southern Utah and BYU. UCLA and California are slated for the final session of the weekend on Saturday at 6 p.m. PT, which features fellow top-25 foes No. 8 Alabama and No. 17 Auburn.
  • No. 20 Stanford and No. 22 Arizona will begin its 2024 slates the following weekend. 

PRESEASON RANKINGS

  • For a second consecutive year, all 8 Pac-12 women's gymnastics teams are ranked in the top 25 of the 2024 Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA) Preseason Poll, voted on annually by Division I women's gymnastics coaches. The eight teams in the top 25 are tied for the most with the SEC.
  • Utah, which won its third consecutive Pac-12 title in 2023 and finished third at the National Championships for a third straight year, is the Conference's top-ranked team coming in at No. 4 with a pair of first-place votes. 
  • Joining Utah in the top 10 is UCLA at No. 5 and California at No. 7. Oregon State checks in at No. 13, followed by Arizona State at No. 19, Stanford at No. 20, Washington at No. 21 and Arizona at No. 22. 

KEY RETURNERS & NEWCOMERS 

  • Utah senior Maile O’Keefe is back for a fifth year looking to defend her NCAA titles in the All-Around and Beam from last spring, while Olympic Gold Medalist and two-time Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year Jade Carey returns for Oregon State. Carey will be simultaneously competing for the Beavers and preparing for next summer’s Paris Olympics.
  • UCLA’s Selena Harris, the 2023 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, returns for the Bruins.
  • In all, 13 of 17 NCAA All-Americans from last season are back in 2024:
    • California: eMjae Frazier, Maya Lauzon, Andi Li, Maddie Williams; Oregon State: Jade Carey; Stanford: Chloe Widner; UCLA: Chae Campbell, Margzetta Frazier, Selena Harris, Emma Malabuyo; Utah: Maile O’Keefe, Grace McCallum, Makenna Smith.
  • Four Pac-12 programs - Utah (No. 6) Oregon State (No. 8), Arizona (No. 9) and Washington (No. 10) - are ranked in the top 10 of College Gym News’ Freshman Class of 2024 Rankings. Classes are highlighted by Utah’s trio of five stars Ella Zirbes, Elizabeth Gantner and Camie Winger; Oregon State’s Sophia Esposito, Arizona’s Abigayle Martin and Washington’s five-star Kristin Lin.

PAC-12 PRESEASON POLL & WATCH LISTS

  • In a polling of the league’s eight women’s gymnastics head coaches, defending Pac-12 champion Utah was selected as the preseason favorite to claim a fourth straight conference title in 2024.
  • Utah, who became the first team to win three straight Pac-12 titles since the league expanded in 2011 and won its sixth Pac-12 crown overall last spring, received 46 points, including five first-place votes, to edge out runner-up UCLA, who collected 43 total points and the other three first-place votes. The two programs have taken turns capturing conference titles since 2014, with Utah winning in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2021, 2022 and 2023 and UCLA winning in 2016, 2018 and 2019.
  • California finished third in the poll with 40 points, while Oregon State checked in at fourth with 30 points. Arizona State (22 points) came in fifth followed by Stanford (19 points) in sixth, Washington (14 points) in seventh and Arizona (10 points) in eighth to round it out.
  • The Pac-12 released its Preseason Watch List and Newcomer Watch List ahead of the 2024 campaign, which features 16 total student-athletes across the eight programs as nominated by the league's coaches. 
    • The 2024 Preseason Watch List includes 11 returning student-athletes: Jade Carey, Oregon State; Chae Campbell, UCLA; Alysen Fears, Arizona; eMjae Frazier, California; Skylar Killough-Wilhelm, Washington; Mya Lauzon, California; Jada Mangahas, Arizona State; Amelia Morgan, Utah; Lana Navarro, Washington; Hannah Scharf, Arizona State; Chloe Widner, Stanford.
    • The 2024 Newcomer Watch List features five freshmen: Sophia Esposito, Oregon State; Abigayle Martin, Arizona; Sienna Robinson, Stanford; Katelyn Rosen, UCLA; Ella Zirbes, Utah.

OLYMPIC STRENGTH

  • Pac-12 lineups this upcoming season will feature three Olympic medalists from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, all whom are training for a chance to again represent their countries at the upcoming Paris Olympics. In Tokyo, reigning two-time Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year, Oregon State's Jade Carey (USA) won an individual gold medal in the floor exercise, Utah's Grace McCallum was a silver medalist in the team competition with the United States and Utah's Amelie Morgan helped Great Britain to team bronze, which was its first gymnastics medal since 1928.
  • Rounding out the Pac-12 with Olympic ties are UCLA's Brooklyn Moors, who competed for Canada in Tokyo, and Emma Malabuyo, who was an alternate for the United States.
  • Of note: Former UCLA gymnast and Olympian Jordan Chiles, who won the 2023 NCAA titles in the uneven bars and floor exercise, has paused her collegiate career to exclusively train for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

BEST IN THE WEST

  • For the second consecutive year and second time in Pac-12 history, all eight Pac-12 Women’s Gymnastics programs were selected to compete at the NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Regionals last season.
  • Six of eight Pac-12 teams advanced to Regional Finals, which was the most of any conference in the nation. Utah and UCLA finished first and second at the LA Regional to advance to the NCAA Championships and California won the Pittsburgh Regional, its first regional title in program history, to advance to Nationals as well.
  • After winning its third consecutive Pac-12 Championship in 2023, Utah went on to its 47th-consecutive national championship meet after winning the LA Regional, and is the only program in the nation to qualify for every national championship, including all 41 NCAA Championships. The Utes advanced to the NCAA Finals and finished third overall for the third consecutive year in 2023.
  • All eight teams finished in the Top 21 in the final 2023 Road to Nationals rankings - No. 3 Utah, No. 5 UCLA, No. 7 California, No. 12 Oregon State, No. 15 Arizona State, No. 16 Washington, No. 19 Stanford and No. 21 Arizona.

THE RISE OF COLLEGIATE GYMNASTICS 

  • More eyes are on the sport than ever before:
    • Last year’s National Championship broke the 1 million viewer mark for the first time and viewership is only expected to rise, especially in the lead up to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
    • ESPN launched its own invitational meet that will feature 12 total teams, with the main session including four of the sport’s top teams and airing on ABC in its prime time slot. Called the “Collegiate Quad", the meet will take place at the Maverik Center - site of the last two Pac-12 Women’s Gym Championships - on January 12-13, 2024 and include four Pac-12 programs - Utah and UCLA, California and Arizona - among 12 total teams competing over the two days, including defending national champion Oklahoma.

ON TV 

  • A total of 20 women’s gymnastics competitions are scheduled to air on Pac-12 Networks, including Oregon State at Utah on Friday, Feb. 2 at 5 p.m. PT / 6 p.m. MT. Two-time defending Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year Jade Carey and the Beavers look to knock off the three-time defending Pac-12 Champion Utes in Salt Lake City. 
  • Utah and UCLA will compete in EPSN's Collegiate Quad on Saturday, January 13th on ABC at 1 p.m. PT. The Utes and Bruins will also meet in their head-to-head Pac-12 competition on Monday, February 19 at 2:30 p.m. PT on ESPNU. 

2024 PAC-12 WOMEN’S GYMNASTICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

  • Tickets for the 2024 Pac-12 Women’s Gymnastics Championships, presented by Sprouts, are on sale now at Pac-12.com/tickets. The one-day, two-session event returns to the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah on Saturday, March 18.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE (Full Schedule)

Friday, Jan. 5 TV/Stream Time
Mean Girls Super 16, Las Vegas, Nev. (Session 1): No. 10 Denver, No. 21 Washington, Illinois, San Jose State   1:00 p.m. PT 
Boise State at No. 4 Utah (Salt Lake City, Utah) Pac-12 Insider 6:00 p.m. PT 
Saturday, Jan. 6    
Mean Girls Super 16, Las Vegas, Nev. (Session 3): No. 13 Oregon State, No. 18 Minnesota, No. 24 Southern Utah, BYU   12:00 p.m. PT 
Mean Girls Super 16, Las Vegas, Nev. (Session 4): No. 5 UCLA, No. 7 California, No. 8 Alabama, No. 17 Auburn   6:00 p.m. PT 
Monday, Jan. 8    
Central Michigan at No. 19 Arizona State Pac-12 Insider 6:00 p.m. PT