Nothing characterized Utah’s loss to Oregon State’s gymnastics team Saturday in Corvallis better than Maile O’Keefe’s freak fall off the balance beam.
O’Keefe, who became Utah’s record holder with seven career 10.0s on the beam this season, was finishing her mount and simply slid off the apparatus.
With her went Utah’s remaining hopes of beating their Pac-12 rival. In reality, the meet was all but lost by the time O’Keefe slipped into a 9.425 as the Utes had surprising drop-offs on several areas, but the miscue was the highlight of a frustrating day for the Utes.
The 197.95-197.7 loss prevented the Utes from winning the Pac-12 title outright, dropping them into a tie with Oregon State, Cal and UCLA for the regular-season title.
The Utes were hoping for a big score to boost their national qualifying average, and while the score allows the Utes to drop a lower mark, the Utes left the arena knowing it wasn’t its best effort either.
Surprisingly, some of the low marks were from veteran performers. In addition to the fall off beam, O’Keefe had just 9.775 on the vault and Jaedyn Rucker scored only 9.7 on the floor. Lucy Stanhope was back in the vault lineup after sitting out the last six meets with a heel bruise and she missed her landing, scoring 8.925.
Oregon State, meanwhile, put together its second-highest scoring effort in school history to beat the Utes for the first time in Corvallis since 2017.
The Utes will get a chance at redemption when the Pac-12 Championships are held at the Maverik Center March 18. Utah coach Tom Farden chose to focus on the positives and not the loss itself, pointing out the Utes were without Grace McCallum due to her knee injury and Kara Eaker, who missed her second straight meet due to post-concussion protocol. Utah also rested Jillian Hoffman, who has been a solid contributor on vault.
“There is a lot of hope,” Farden said. “We improved our NQS, it was a sellout here which speaks to the popularity of gymnastics and where it is going and our team is continuing to find their identity. They aren’t quitting and they are still fighting. It’s a team of fighters.”
O’Keefe has been so strong for the Utes this year that the mistakes did nothing but prove she was human, Farden said.
“I think there is an expectation for a 10.0 every time she touches the beam and that can weigh heavy,” he said.
The Utes started out in great shape, scoring a 49.55 on the uneven bars with Cristal Isa and Sage Thompson both scoring 9.95s while Oregon State scored a 49.3 on the vault.
The momentum changed with the second rotation where Utah posted a 49.225 on the vault while Oregon State had a season high 49.55 on the bars to lead 98.85-98.775 at the halfway mark.
Oregon State didn’t let off on the beam, scoring 49.55 while the Utes again had a couple of issues on floor and just couldn’t get the big scores deep in their lineup. Utah had a 49.475 on floor with O’Keefe scoring 9.925 and Abby Paulson and Jaylene Gilstrap scoring 9.9s.
Utah trailed 148.4-148.25 going into the final rotation, setting up a chance for another signature comeback on the balance beam, but the dramatic turnaround never materialized.
from The Salt Lake Tribune https://ift.tt/JMl8QeH
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