Maile O'Keefe breaks all-time beam record as Red Rocks score season-high 198.550

SALT LAKE CITY — Abby Brenner and Jaedyn Rucker said they knew in an instant when teammate Maile O'Keefe stuck her landing on beam on Friday night.

The near sellout crowd at the Huntsman Center instantly petitioned the judges with their 10.0 placards and a sea of blinking hands throwing up all 10 fingers. It didn't need much convincing, though; the judges complied with the request: a perfect 10.0.

With the score, the fourth-ranked Red Rocks completed the second-best beam score in the nation — the team already holds the nation's highest score — and took a sizable lead over the sixth-ranked California Bears. But more importantly, O'Keefe's perfect score broke the all-time program record with seven career 10.0 scores on beam.

It was a record held at Utah by Theresa Kulikowski set in 2003, when O'Keefe was 1 years old.

"It feels surreal, because she's been holding that record for a very long time," O'Keefe said. "I got kind of emotional, because it's kind of crazy knowing just that, like, my name will be there for a while, and somebody will come along and pass me up, too."

Utah head coach Tom Farden said he's known for a long time that O'Keefe was a different gymnast on beam, but to see one of his gymnasts break the record of an athlete he watched growing up was a special moment.

"When I went to watch Maile when she was really young and busting on the scenes — on the elite scene — this isn't a normal athlete on balance beam," Farden said. "When you watch Maile do balance beam at one point, she was doing some of the hardest sets, if not the hardest set in the world. I mean, how do you quantify that?

"To watch that then translate into continued success in the college ranks, you just pinch yourself."

O'Keefe's perfect score capped off another night where the Red Rocks' beam team delivered and proved its nation-leading talent. But on Friday, it was just a part of a season-defining night for the team.

The Red Rocks bounced back from a disappointing performance on the road against Arizona State on Monday and chose to make a statement in the penultimate home meet of the season with a 198.550 team score — the second-highest recorded score in the country this season (Oklahoma narrowly edged out the Red Rocks minutes before with a 198.575).

California finished the night with a 197.550 score.

With more than a dozen former Red Rocks gymnasts returning to support the program on Friday, the night had a different feel to it. Just four days after a rough night on vault against Arizona State where the team scored under a 49.0 score, the Red Rocks rebounded to a 49.525 score to tie a season high.

O'Keefe set the tone in the leadoff spot — her first on vault this season to compete in the all around — and scored a 9.850 that was that followed up by a 9.90 score by fifth year senior Abby Brenner. Jaylene Gilstrap and Makenna Smith followed it up with back-to-back 9.825 scores and what has become a consistent 9.950 from Jillian Hoffman.

But the highlight of the event was Rucker in the anchor spot. On Monday, Rucker sat down on her vault and said she was disappointed in the effort and hoped to forget it for her try on Friday. And oh did she deliver.

Rucker flipped through the air and suddenly stuck her landing. Once she realized what she had done, she held a big surprised look and then celebrated with her teammates. She hadn't finished celebrating by the time the judges returned a perfect 10.0 — her first perfect score of her career in any event.

It was the beginning to what was a record night for Utah and several gymnasts.

"It's honestly one of the best feelings I think I've ever felt in my life," Rucker said about her first-ever perfect score. "It's honestly really exciting, and I'm just really blessed to get it."

The Red Rocks followed up vault with a season-high performance on bars after Amelie Morgan and Smith opened up the event with back-to-back 9.875 scores, and then it was all 9.90 scores or higher from Brenner (9.950), Sage Thompson (9.90), O'Keefe (9.950), and Cristal Isa (9.925).

By the time the Red Rocks were on floor, the final event of the night, the night was a massive success. And it only got better.

Brenner recorded her third 9.90 or better score of the night in the leadoff spot — she scored a season-high 9.925 — and the Red Rocks counted all scores over a 9.90. Gilstrap followed up Brenner with a 9.925, Paulson then got a 9.950 and Smith recorded a 9.925. O'Keefe closed out the meet with a 9.950 and won with a 39.750 score in the all-around competition.

"They were not happy on Monday, so we just kicked the hornet's nest and then they came out and you saw what they — we've said this all along, this is not only a talented team, we've got adequate depth on some things right now," Farden said. "But they're competitors, too, and so when you have that combination of things, it can bode well for a program."

Red Rocks team scores

1st Rotation: Vault (49.525)

• Maile O'Keefe: 9.850
• Abby Brenner: 9.900
• Jaylene Gilstrap: 9.825
• Makenna Smith: 9.825
• Jillian Hoffman: 9.950
• Jaedyn Rucker: 10.0

2nd Rotation: Bars (49.600)

• Amelie Morgan: 9.875
• Makenna Smith: 9.875
• Abby Brenner: 9.950
• Sage Thompson: 9.900
• Maile O'Keefe: 9.950
• Cristal Isa: 9.925

3rd Rotation: Beam (49.750)

• Amelie Morgan: 9.925
• Makenna Smith: 9.875
• Abby Paulson: 9.975
• Kara Eaker: 9.975
• Cristal Isa: 9.850
• Maile O'Keefe: 10.0

4th Rotation: Floor (49.675)

• Abby Brenner: 9.925
• Jaylene Gilstrap: 9.925
• Abby Paulson: 9.950
• Makenna Smith: 9.925
• Jaedyn Rucker: 9.875
• Maile O'Keefe: 9.950

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