No. 3 Utah Gymnastics Falls To No. 2 Oklahoma 197.025-196.550
NORMAN, Okla. – Costly mishaps on vault and beam caused the No. 3 Utah gymnastics team to suffer its first loss of the season Sunday night, falling to the No. 3-ranked Oklahoma Sooners 197.025-196.550 at the Lloyd Noble Center.
"We just didn't keep it going after being a little lack-luster on vault," said head coach Tom Farden on the meet. "We felt that we started strong on bars and then after vault, we felt like the team was there for half the meet. Bars and floor were really nice, and then vault and beam we definitely left more on the table than we wanted to."
Farden continued on tonight's matchup, "After the third rotation we dug out of the hole we put ourselves in a bit, but we just need to be better. We need to be better in the gym and transfer that when we are on the competition floor against the nation's elite. Hats off to Oklahoma. They won today and had an incredible day."
Maile O'Keefe was locked in the entire night and came away with the all-around and beam titles. O'Keefe scored a career-high 39.550 in the all-around and a 9.95 on beam for her third and fourth event victories of the year. Sydney Soloski earned a share of the floor win with a 9.90. It is the first win of the season for Soloski.
Although the Red Rocks were trailing just one-tenth heading into the final rotation, a fall on beam in the first spot put pressure on the remainder of the lineup and the Red Rocks could not overcome the task to walk away with the road win.
Utah started the meet strong on the uneven bars to take the early lead 49.275-49.150. Abby Paulson led off the set with a 9.825, which was followed by Alani Sabado's 9.80 that went on to be dropped as the squad's lowest score. Alexia Burch posted Utah's second 9.825 before the final three Utes up – O'Keefe, Emilie LeBlanc, and Cristal Isa - all scored 9.875s to close out the first rotation.
The Utes slipped behind the Sooners at the halfway point 98.275-98.450. O'Keefe scored the best vault of the group in the leadoff spot, scoring a 9.85 on her Yurchenko full. Jaedyn Rucker and Lucy Stanhope both collected 9.825s, while Cammy Hall posted a 9.80. To round out Utah's scoring five, Utah had to count Isa's 9.70 after a Burch fall in the fifth spot.
Utah's floor squad posted a 49.300 in an effort to regain momentum and cut the deficit to just one-tenth. Jaylene Gilstrap got things going from the No. 2 position in her collegiate debut when she scored a 9.85. Paulson followed with a 9.825 before Rucker added another 9.85. O'Keefe continued her excellent night with a 9.875, while Soloski rolled to a 9.90 to end the rotation and pick up her share of the event title.
A fall from Emilie LeBlanc as the beam leadoff caused Utah to need to hit the remaining five routines to have any chance of completing the upset. Burch scored a 9.80, but was followed by a 9.625 from Isa after missing her connection. Adrienne Randall bounced back for the Utes and went on to score a 9.875, while O'Keefe capped off her night with an outstanding routine, good enough for a 9.95, which secured her the all-around title. Paulson finished the meet scoring a 9.725 to put the Utes at a final score of 196.550 and fall short of the road victory.
The remainder of the Utah gymnastics schedule is yet to be determined. For the latest schedule information, follow @Utahgymnastics on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, or visit UtahUtes.com.