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SALT LAKE CITY — The chase for perfection continues for fifth-year senior Abby Paulson.
The Taylor Swift-loving Paulson narrowly missed out on a perfect score on beam Friday night at the Huntsman Center as the Red Rocks defeated the visiting Arizona State Sun Devils 197.675-196.700 to open up conference play.
Paulson recorded a perfect score her freshman season in a pivotal meet against UCLA on Feb. 23, 2020, and has since tried to recreate the magic. After what appeared to be a flawless routine Friday night, Paulson was left with a 9.975 — one judge gave a 10.0 and another a 9.950.
It was still a great score for the fifth-year senior, but perfection was in her grasp.
"I think the fact that she didn't get it, she's gonna just stay hungry for it," Red Rocks head coach Carly Dockendorf said. "I thought it was a 10, I thought it was beautiful. I think she will get it this season. ... I think she really has worked hard on letting go of trying to get a certain score or trying to prove to anybody anything — like she just goes out there for herself and for the team, and that's how she practices every day."
Paulson's score highlighted a beam performance that Dockendorf said was mostly disappointing despite a 49.450 team score and had three gymnasts — Amelie Morgan (9.90), Paulson (9.975) and Maile O'Keefe (9.925) — crossing the 9.90 threshold.
"On beam, there was some good routines," Dockendorf said, "but I definitely was disappointed in the overall performance of our beam lineup, just because it felt a little bit tentative — not quite what I see in workout — so to have some of the veterans out there making mistakes that you don't see every day, I think that's just something we're gonna have to keep working on, because we need six great routines on that event."
The team's beam performance fit the theme of the night, where the Red Rocks did well enough and had some strong individual performances to win, but the night lacked a refined feel of a team still finding its way a bit four meets into the season.
"I think that this was just another consistent meet for us," Dockendorf said. "I think that we saw some really good individual improvements. Still as a team, not quite all moving together in the same direction, but I thought our vaults were really dynamic and aggressive."
"I'm really proud of the team," Paulson added. "I think we came in here and we showed everyone that we've been working on the details. Obviously, we have room to improve, but it's also meet four — it's still January — and I'm just so excited to see where everyone can take it this season.
The Red Rocks opened up the night strong on vault, with freshman Camie Winger setting the tone with a 9.875 score, followed by another 9.875 by fellow freshman Ella Zirbes. Temple transfer Ashley Glynn then raised the level of competition with a season-high 9.925 that was followed up by a 9.90 by Makenna Smith.
But Utah took a step back a bit when fifth-year senior Jaedyn Rucker lost her balance on her landing and was forced to take a few steps backward to avoid falling. Amelie Morgan closed out the event with a 9.750 after a step back on her landing to give the Red Rocks a 49.325 team score.
Rucker's night didn't get much better on floor on the team's final event of the night. On her first tumbling pass, Rucker fell forward to the ground. It was an off night for the always consistent gymnast, but one that Dockendorf said didn't define who she is as a person or as a gymnast.
"I think she's human," Dockendorf said. "They're entitled to have an off day. Maile had an off day two weekends ago, sometimes it happens. I told her, this meet doesn't define you. This is one meet of many that we're going to have, and you're gonna have. Mistakes are gonna happen — it's part of the sport, and so for her, I think, that maybe it just was a little bit of just an off night."
Team scores
No. 5 Utah
- Vault: 49.325
- Bars: 98.725 (49.400)
- Beam: 148.175 (49.450)
- Floor: 197.675 (49.500)
Arizona State
- Bars: 49.175
- Vault: 98.350 (49.175)
- Floor: 147.600 (49.250)
- Beam: 196.700 (49.100)
Red Rocks scores
1st Rotation: Vault (49.325)
- Camie Winger: 9.875
- Ella Zirbes: 9.875
- Ashley Glynn: 9.925
- Makenna Smith: 9.900
- Jaedyn Rucker: 9.250
- Amelie Morgan: 9.750
2nd Rotation: Bars (49.400)
- Makenna Smith: 9.875
- Camie Winger: 9.800
- Amelie Morgan: 9.875
- Ella Zirbes: 9.875
- Grace McCallum: 9.925
- Maile O'Keefe: 9.850
3rd Rotation: Beam (49.450)
- Amelie Morgan: 9.900
- Jaylene Gilstrap: 9.825
- Makenna Smith: 9.825
- Grace McCallum: 9.775
- Abby Paulson: 9.975
- Maile O'Keefe: 9.925
4th Rotation: Floor (49.500)
- Makenna Smith: 9.875
- Jaylene Gilstrap: 9.875
- Abby Paulson: 9.925
- Jaedyn Rucker: 9.025
- Grace McCallum: 9.925
- Maile O'Keefe: 9.900
