O'Keefe, Rucker score 10.0's as Red Rocks record 198.125 to advance to regional final

SALT LAKE CITY — It wasn't a perfect afternoon for the fifth-ranked Red Rocks at the first session of the Los Angeles regional on Thursday, but it was one of the team's best performances of the season to qualify for the regional final.

The Red Rocks led wire-to-wire and quickly put some distance on its competition early in the quad meet to decide the first two spots in Saturday's regional final. The team advanced with a 198.125 score, its second-highest ever postseason score in Utah history, which is just short of last season's 198.200 in the Seattle regional final.

"One thing that we talk about in our in training is we don't have to be perfect, we just want to let our gymnastics happen and let our gymnastics come to us," Utah head coach Tom Farden said. "We were most pleased with the rhythm of the meet, how they gained confidence as the meet went on. I think that's what we're most pleased with — the last two events were 49.6-plus."

While Utah's race to the top was decided early on, an unexpected turn of events took place when 12th-seeded Auburn, who was without Suni Lee with what was described as a "non-gymnastics-related health issue," stumbled in the third rotation of the day on bars and could never recover.

Auburn's first three scores of the event were less than ideal as Olivia Hollingsworth slipped on the bar and finished with a 9.225, as did Gabby McLaughlin, who finished with a 9.250. The start on bars got worse when Sophia Groth fell off the high bar and finished with an 8.875. Auburn finished strong with its last three gymnasts, but the damage was already done.

That opened up a spot for Southern Utah and Washington to steal a second-place finish going into the final rotation of the day. And while Southern Utah gave its all on vault and put itself in a spot to take the second spot in the regional final, Washington finished the meet strong on floor and scored a 49.175 to narrowly edge out Southern Utah 196.775-196.600.

Washington, who didn't win a meet all season in Pac-12 play, will now join Utah in the regional final on Saturday (6 p.m. MDT, ESPN+). On Thursday night, UCLA (198.275) and Missouri (197.400) claimed the other two spots in the regional final.

The final two teams to advance to the regional final will be decided in the second session of the Los Angeles semifinal on Thursday night.

Auburn finished with a 195.900 team score, but Derrian Gobourne finished in a tie for first on floor with Southern Utah's Karley McClain and Utah's Abby Paulson with a 9.925 score. Red Rocks gymnasts Maile O'Keefe (beam), Jaedyn Rucker (vault), and Sage Thompson and Cristal Isa (bars) each finished at the top of the other three events.

O'Keefe won the all-around competition with a score of 39.550, beating out McClain with a 39.400.

The Red Rocks opened the meet on beam and started out with good scores from Amelie Morgan (9.850) and Abby Paulson (9.90), but Kara Eaker had an uncharacteristic stumble on mount and slipped off the beam. Eaker recorded a 9.30, which put a bit of pressure on the Red Rocks to hit on its last three gymnasts of the event.

Isa helped the team shake off the stumble and recorded a 9.925 and was followed by Maile O'Keefe recording her fourth perfect 10.0 on beam this season. Jaylene Gilstrap recorded a 9.825 in the anchor spot, but it was O'Keefe's perfect score that cemented the strong start and give the Red Rocks an early lead.

O'Keefe said she didn't even know she scored a 10.0 because she ran to the locker room to use the bathroom after she competed.

It didn't get any easier for the Red Rocks on floor when Abby Brenner, in the lead off position, scored a 9.775 after she took a big step on her landing of her last acrobatic pass. Later, on Makenna Smith's final acrobatic pass, the freshman stepped out of bounds and she scored a 9.750. But Gilstrap and Rucker each recorded a 9.90 and Paulson scored a 9.925 to salvage the event and keep the Red Rocks ahead.

It was at the midway point in the meet where the Red Rocks had six gymnasts who recorded a 9.90 score or better, and the other three teams combined for three scores 9.90 or better. It was a clear indication that Utah had separated itself from the pack, but the final two rotations of the day made it certain.

O'Keefe opened up vault with a 9.825 score that quickly became the lowest score of the event for the Red Rocks, who got a 9.950 from Abby Brenner, a 9.90 from Jillian Hoffman, a 9.875 from Smith, a perfect 10.0 from Rucker — her second of the season — and a 9.90 from Gilstrap.

The Red Rocks followed up their success with a season-high score on bars (49.625) and had four gymnasts record scores 9.925 or higher — Morgan (9.925), Smith (9.925), Thompson (9.950) and Isa (9.950).

Team scores

No. 5 Utah (198.125)

• Beam (49.500)
• Floor (98.875, 49.375)
• Vault (148.500, 49.625)
• Bars (198.125, 49.625)

Washington (196.775)

• Vault (49.050)
• Bars (98.275, 49.225)
• Beam (147.600, 49.325)
• Floor (196.775, 49.175)

Southern Utah (196.600)

• Bars (48.950)
• Beam (98.175, 49.225)
• Floor (147.450, 49.275)
• Vault (196.600, 49.150)

No. 12 Auburn (195.900)

• Floor (49.375)
• Vault (98.575, 49.200)
• Bars (146.725, 48.150)
• Beam (195.900, 49.175)

Red Rocks individual scores

1st Rotation: Beam (49.500)

• Amelie Morgan: 9.850
• Abby Paulson: 9.900
• Kara Eaker: 9.300
• Cristal Isa: 9.925
• Maile O'Keefe: 10.0
• Jaylene Gilstrap: 9.825

2nd Rotation: Floor (49.375)

• Abby Brenner: 9.775
• Jaylene Gilstrap: 9.900
• Abby Paulson: 9.925
• Makenna Smith: 9.750
• Jaedyn Rucker: 9.900
• Maile O'Keefe: 9.875

3rd Rotation: Vault (49.625)

• Maile O'Keefe: 9.825
• Abby Brenner: 9.950
• Jillian Hoffman: 9.900
• Makenna Smith: 9.875
• Jaedyn Rucker: 10.0
• Jaylene Gilstrap: 9.900

4th Rotation: Bars (49.625)

• Amelie Morgan: 9.925
• Makenna Smith: 9.925
• Abby Brenner: 9.875
• Sage Thompson: 9.950
• Maile O'Keefe: 9.850
• Cristal Isa: 9.950

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