#4 Utah Gymnasts Fall 196.850-196.775 At Arizona
TUCSON, Ariz. – Utah Gymnastics fell to the Arizona Wildcats for the first time in history on Friday night, dropping the final Pac-12 meet of the regular season 196.850-197.775 after being forced to count a fall in the final rotation. The Utes broke their nation-leading streak of 20-straight meets of 49-plus on every event to wrap up conference play at 5-2 in the Pac-12 and 9-2 overall.
Utah began the day building up its scores on bars through the first four gymnasts, but only managed to collect one score above the 9.90-mark. Sage Thompson led the group with a 9.925 in the fourth spot to win the bars title, while Abby Paulson and Cristal Isa posted 9.875s. Grace McCallum posted a 9.85 as the second Red Rock in the lineup and Amelie Morgan led off the team with a 9.825 to round out the five scorers. Utah took the early lead after its 49.350 on bars compared to the 49.075 on vault for Arizona.
Although Thompson continued her solid night with a 9.80 in the leadoff spot on vault, the Red Rocks saw a fall from Cammy Hall in the second spot slow the momentum. Lucy Stanhope recorded a 9.875 to have the rest of the lineup settle in before Jaedyn Rucker fired off a 9.95 the following routine. Alexia Burch came through with a 9.85, while McCallum anchored the group with a 9.825 to ensure the Utes could drop the low score.
Looking to turn the meet around, Paulson began the floor lineup with a 9.85 and Jaylene Gilstrap followed with a 9.825. The shift of momentum in the rotation came the following routines as Rucker closed out her homecoming with a 9.875, which was followed by back-to-back 9.925s by Maile O'Keefe and McCallum. The rotation ended with a 9.825 from Sydney Soloski. The 49.400 on floor pushed Utah to a 148.050-147.550 lead over Arizona heading into the final event.
Utah received a nice pair of leadoff routines from Morgan's 9.875 and McCallum's 9.90 on beam, but it would be another fall that put pressure on the rest of the lineup when Adrienne Randall came off on her series. Paulson picked the team back up with a 9.90, but as Isa wobbled out of her series and eventually came off the beam, the meet became out of Utah's hands as the Red Rocks watched Arizona pick up its first-ever win over Utah despite O'Keefe's 9.975 to close out the rotation.
Rucker won the vault title in the return to her home state and Thompson won the bars title to open the night. O'Keefe won the beam title and a share of floor with McCallum, while McCallum picked up the all-around win with a 39.500 on Friday night.
Utah Gymnastics will head home to Salt Lake City for its final home meet of the season next Friday, March 4. Utah will host No. 8 Minnesota for senior night at 7 p.m. MT at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. The home finale will be live streamed, as well as broadcast on Utah's flagship radio ESPN 700.