O'Keefe's record-setting 10.0 on beam lifts Red Rocks to 4th consecutive Pac-12 title

WEST VALLEY CITY — As Amelie Morgan mounted the beam in the leadoff spot, her foot lost grip and she fell off the beam.

It was an uncharacteristic fall in what was a highly-competitive Pac-12 championship meet, and any misstep could have significant implications.

Makenna Smith and Elizabeth Gantner followed the routine but couldn't make up the difference after the pair had balance checks and some other missteps to limit their scoring potential to 9.725 scores. It was anything but the start the Red Rocks needed on one of their better events.

But the Red Rocks never lost faith.

Grace McCallum and Abby Paulson each scored a 9.925 and set up Maile O'Keefe for the finish she's known to relish in her five seasons at Utah.

And like many times before it, O'Keefe delivered. The fifth-year senior put away the noise and pressure of the moment, and did everything right, finishing with another stuck landing. After the stick, O'Keefe brought her hands to her face and let the moment sink in as the pro Utah Maverik Center crowd jumped to their feet in celebration.

Like clockwork, the judges returned a perfect 10.0 score to round out the beam lineup, giving O'Keefe the all-time Utah record for perfect scores in a career.

"I feel like I really just needed to kind of turn into business mode a little bit, because I've been thinking about that way too much," O'Keefe said about breaking the record. "I was just glad after it. I mean, it's stressful, of course, especially when you're last person up and you're having to kind of fall at that moment. So I really feel like it was nice to be able to switch into business mode."

Red Rocks head coach Carly Dockendorf said O'Keefe had been putting the pressure on herself for weeks to get another perfect score, but she told her that "you're gonna get a 10 when it counts the most."

So when it finally happened, Dockendorf reminded her of that conversation, along with a big, emotional hug.

"It was just a really special moment," Dockendorf said. "She's capable of a 10 every single time, and she's just wanted it so bad to the point where it kind of held her back a little bit."

The ending to the beam lineup helped the Red Rocks stay in contention midway through the meet. But it was just a part of the story as the Red Rocks took a lead after the third rotation and secured a 198.000 score to win the team's fourth consecutive Pac-12 championship, and the last ever in the Pac-12.

UCLA finished in second (197.875), followed by California (197.325) and Oregon State (196.775) in the second session of the Pac-12 championship.

"Ecstatic. I mean, we're so excited," McCallum said. "We knew we could do it. ... It's just an unreal feeling."

"It's pretty amazing to go back-to-back-to-back-to-back in the last-ever Pac-12 championship," O'Keefe added.

Though O'Keefe recorded a perfect score on beam, it was the Red Rocks' performance on floor that changed the tone of the quad meet.

Smith opened up the event with a 9.925 to set the early tone in which every gymnast for the Red Rocks finished with a 9.90 or higher on floor. Paulson upped the scores with a 9.950 in the second spot, and Jaylene Gilstrap and O'Keefe each added a 9.950 of their own before Grace McCallum rounded out the scores with a 9.925 in the anchor spot.

It was good enough that the Red Rocks could throw out Jaedyn Rucker's 9.90 score.

After finding itself in second place after the first two rotations, the floor performance lifted the Red Rocks to the top of the leaderboard, edging out UCLA with a 0.025 lead going into the final event of the night.

The Red Rocks then did just enough on vault to propel the team to a win behind a 9.925 by freshman Camie Winger in the leadoff spot and a 9.950 in the fifth spot by Rucker. McCallum rounded out the scores with a 9.90 to give the Red Rocks another 198 score of the season.

But the Red Rocks still had to wait for the Bruins to finish bars for the title to be crowned.

"We had talked about it likely would come down to the last rotation into that last vault, so I think their mindset was very focused in knowing that it was going to be critical," Dockendorf said. "But they were fired up. They saw the scores, they knew what they needed to do; and for them to put it together was, obviously, exactly what we needed.

"We were gonna fight to the very end, and that's what we did."

Bruins star Chae Campbell fell off the uneven bars in the leadoff position, putting pressure on a UCLA team that had an otherwise good meet. The Bruins did enough, but by the time Selena Harris prepared to closeout the night in the anchor spot, the reality of the moment set in.

Even if Harris scored a 10.0 on bars, it wouldn't be enough to overtake the Red Rocks.

Another Red Rocks championship, in dramatic fashion no less.

The Red Rocks set the tone of the night on bars by recording a near season high of a 49.500 behind a 9.90 by Smith in the leadoff spot, followed by a 9.90 by Ella Zirbes, a 9.925 by Morgan, and another 9.925 by McCallum.

Team scores

No. 2 California

• Vault: 49.175
• Bars: 98.600 (49.425)
• Beam: 147.800 (49.200)
• Floor: 197.325 (49.525)

No. 5 Utah

• Bars: 49.500
• Beam: 98.800 (49.300)
• Floor: 148.500 (49.700)
• Vault: 198.000 (49.500)

No. 11 UCLA

• Beam: 49.475
• Floor: 99.100 (49.625)
• Vault: 148.475 (49.375)
• Bars: 197.875 (49.400)

No. 17 Oregon State

• Floor: 49.550
• Vault: 98.775 (49.225)
• Bars: 148.225 (49.450)
• Beam: 196.775 (48.550)

Red Rocks scores

1st Rotation: Bars (49.500)

• Makenna Smith: 9.900
• Ella Zirbes: 9.900
• Amelie Morgan: 9.925
• Maile O'Keefe: 9.800
• Grace McCallum: 9.925
• Alani Sabado: 9.850

2nd Rotation: Beam (49.300)

• Amelie Morgan: 9.200
• Makenna Smith: 9.725
• Elizabeth Gantner: 9.725
• Grace McCallum: 9.925
• Abby Paulson: 9.925
• Maile O'Keefe: 10.0

3rd Rotation: Floor (49.700)

• Makenna Smith: 9.925
• Abby Paulson: 9.950
• Jaedyn Rucker: 9.900
• Jaylene Gilstrap: 9.950
• Maile O'Keefe: 9.950
• Grace McCallum: 9.925

4th Rotation: Vault (49.500)

• Camie Winger: 9.925
• Ella Zirbes: 9.825
• Ashley Glynn: 9.900
• Makenna Smith: 9.800
• Jaedyn Rucker: 9.950
• Grace McCallum: 9.900

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