No. 3 Utah Travels To Tempe For Saturday Matinee at No. 16 Arizona State
MEET WEEK
The third-ranked Utah gymnastics team (5-1, 2-0 Pac-12) is set for the first road conference meet of the season Saturday afternoon when the team travels to Tempe, Ariz. for a dual meet against No. 16 Arizona State (2-2, 1-1 Pac-12). The Utes and Sun Devils will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks at 1 p.m. MT on Saturday. Brian Webber will be on the call as the play-by-play announcer, while Amanda Borden will serve as the color analyst.
IN THE RANKINGS
After posting the nation's second-highest score of the season, Utah jumped a spot in this week's rankings and sits at No. 3 in the nation. The Ute beam team moved to No. 2 in the nation, floor is ranked No. 4, bars moved up to No. 6 and vault held steady at No. 8 following the meet against Washington. After a stellar meet by sophomore Maile O'Keefe, she moved to No. 2 in the nation on the balance beam and No. 5 in the all-around. Sydney Soloski jumped to a tie for No. 14 on floor, while Cristal Isa ranks No. 16 on the uneven bars. Rounding out the Utes ranked in the top-25 are Adrienne Randall at No. 22 on beam and Cammy Hall at No. 24 on vault.
BY THE NUMBERS
• Utah scored season-highs on bars (49.300), beam (49.575) and floor (49.375) against Washington en route to the nation's second highest score in the country this season, posting a 197.475.
• Maile O'Keefe posted the first 10.0 on beam in the NCAA this season and just the second 10.0 on any event. Her first career 10.0 led to her fourth beam title in four meets. She ranks No. 2 in the nation on beam and has not scored below a 9.90 this season on the event.
• Utah's 49.575 on beam was the second-best beam score to this point in the country and just 0.025 shy of tying the nation's top score.
• Utah is one of two schools to have at least two gymnasts post a 9.95 or higher on beam this season.
• Utah has posted the highest individual scores in the Pac-12 on bars (Isa, 9.925), beam (O'Keefe, 10.0), floor (Soloski, 9.975), and in the all-around (O'Keefe, 39.550).
CHALK TALK
• Eight Red Rocks hit or surpassed a season-high mark on an event against Washington. Eleven total scores were season-high or season-tying marks, highlighted by Abby Paulson recording season highs on every event she competed – bars (9.85), beam (9.95) and floor (9.90) – and Alexia Burch, who posted season highs on vault (9.925) and beam (9.90).
• Sydney Soloski earned a career-high 9.975 on floor to win her third-straight floor title. She is one of four gymnasts in the NCAA to post a 9.975 or higher this season on floor and the only gymnast in the Pac-12.
• Utah has hit 92-96 routines this season. Gymnasts who have hit every routine are Maile O'Keefe (15-15), Cristal Isa (14-14), Abby Paulson (12-12), Lucy Stanhope (7-7), Adrienne Randall (6-6), Cammy Hall (4-4), Alani Sabado (4-4), Sydney Soloski (4-4) and Jaylene Gilstrap (3-3).
• Individual event winners this season are O'Keefe (8), Soloski (3), Burch (2), Hall (2), Isa (2), and Paulson (1).
SERIES SHORTS
Utah leads the all-time series with Arizona State 78-16-1 (16-8-1 in Tempe). Utah has won the last 27 matchups and posted a 197.050-194.300 victory against the Sun Devils last season in the squad's third meet of the year. Utah swept all event titles in the dominant victory when Alexia Burch won vault with a career-high 9.95, Cristal Isa won bars (9.90), Emilie LeBlanc won beam (9.90), Isa and Abby Paulson shared the floor win (9.90), while Maile O'Keefe won the all-around (39.225).
SCOUTING ARIZONA STATE
Coach: Jay Santos (5th season)
2020 NCAA Finish: No. 21
National Ranking: No. 16
Record: 2-2, 1-1 Pac-12
Notes: Arizona State scored a season-high 196.275 to edge then No. 10 BYU for the first win of the season … The Sun Devils are coming off their first conference victory, beating Oregon State last weekend 196.225-195.850 for the first win over the Beavers since 2006 … Arizona State is led by Hannah Scharf, who won her third-straight all-around title with a 39.375 last weekend and is ranked as the No. 14 all-around gymnast in the nation … The Sun Devils rank No. 8 in the nation on bars, No. 17 on beam and No. 20 on vault.
UP NEXT
Utah gymnastics will have a bye week following the cancelation of the previously scheduled Stanford meet on Feb. 15. Utah will return to action on Friday, Feb. 19 to host the UCLA Bruins at 7 p.m. MT on ESPNU.