No. 3 Ute Gymnasts Host No. 14 UCLA Friday Night At The Huntsman Center
MEET WEEK
The third-ranked Utah gymnastics team (6-1, 3-0 Pac-12) is set to host the No. 14-ranked UCLA Bruins (4-0, 3-0 Pac-12) for a Friday night Pac-12 clash in the Jon M. Huntsman Center. The meet between the Utes and Bruins will begin at 7 p.m. MT and will air on ESPNU. Sam Gore will have the call as the play-by-play announcer, while Samantha Peszek will be the color analyst on Friday.
IN THE RANKINGS
Coming off a bye week, Utah remained No. 3 in the nation for the third-consecutive week. The Utes moved to No. 3 in the country on balance beam, No. 4 on floor, No. 6 on vault and No. 8 on the uneven bars. Maile O'Keefe leads the ranked Red Rocks individually as she comes in ranked No. 2 on beam and No. 7 in the all-around. Cristal Isa is No. 14 on the uneven bars, Sydney Soloski is tied for No. 17 on floor, while Cammy Hall is tied for No. 24 on vault.
CHALK TALK
• Utah scored season-highs on vault (49.475) and floor (49.425) two weeks ago at Arizona State to help the Utes remain undefeated in Pac-12 play. At the time, the 49.475 on vault was the nation's second-highest vault score of the season.
• Maile O'Keefe posted the first 10.0 on beam in the NCAA this season against Washington and just the second 10.0 on any event. She still holds the sole 10.0 on beam to this point and has not scored below a 9.875 on beam this season.
• Seven Red Rocks hit or surpassed a season-high mark on an event against Arizona State. Eleven total scores were season-high or season-tying marks, including Lucy Stanhope (VT, BB, FX) and Jaedyn Rucker (VT, FX) recording season-bests on all events they competed.
• Utah has hit 115-120 routines this season. Gymnasts who have hit every routine are Maile O'Keefe (19-19), Cristal Isa (17-17), Abby Paulson (15-15), Lucy Stanhope (10-10), Adrienne Randall (8-8), Cammy Hall (5-5), Sydney Soloski (5-5) and Jaylene Gilstrap (3-3).
• Individual event winners this season are O'Keefe (10), Burch (3), Soloski (3), Hall (2), Isa (2), and Paulson (2).
• Pac-12 award winners this season for Utah are O'Keefe as Gymnast of the Week (Jan. 21, Feb. 2, Feb. 9); Soloski (Jan. 21), Paulson (Feb. 2) and Burch (Feb. 9) as Specialists of the Week; and Rucker (Jan. 21, Feb. 9) and Burch (Feb. 2) as the Coaches' Choice winners.
RED HOT RIVALRY
Utah and UCLA have combined to win the previous seven Pac-12 Championships and eight of the nine Pac-12 Championships to date. Utah won conference titles in 2014, 2015 and 2017, along with the 2020 regular season title, while UCLA's championships came in 2012, 2016, 2018 and 2019. The two teams have also combined to win 16 NCAA Championships.
SERIES SHORTS
Utah leads the all-time series with UCLA 55-36-1 (27-3 in Salt Lake City). The Utes snapped a five-meet skid against the Bruins last year in a meet that came down to the final routine. Abby Paulson clinched the road win with Utah's first perfect 10 on beam since 2008 and pushed the Utes to a 198.075-198.025 victory in a Pac-12 thriller. Paulson's 10.0 on beam wasn't without help as the five Utes before her helped total a 49.775 to break a school record that had stood since 1995 and win the road meet. The Utes posted season-highs on bars (49.6) and floor (49.475) to go with the beam record, and only counted four scores in the 9.80-range as bars and beam both had all five scores go 9.90 or higher.
SCOUTING UCLA
Coach: Chris Waller (2nd Season)
2020 NCAA Finish: No. 3
National Ranking: No. 14
Record: 4-0, 3-0 Pac-12
Notes: UCLA is coming off a pair of wins last week, defeating BYU 196.600-196.325 and Washington 195.625-193.500 to remain undefeated this season … The Bruins are led by All-American Nia Dennis, who made her return to the all-around against BYU and won the all-around, and tied for first on vault, beam and floor … UCLA's season high came in the second meet of the year against Arizona where the team posted a 196.750 … The Bruins rank No. 11 on vault and No. 12 on floor, while Dennis is No. 4 on floor and No. 8 in the all-around.
UP NEXT
Utah gymnastics will continue Pac-12 play at the Huntsman Center next Friday, Feb. 26 against No. 13 California. The Utes and Golden Bears will meet at 7 p.m. MT on the Pac-12 Network.