No. 5 Red Rocks bounce back with season-high performance at Best of Utah meet

WEST VALLEY CITY — Two days after an "uncharacteristic" performance by the Red Rocks, Monday was all about gaining back confidence.

And it's safe to say the Red Rocks achieved that.

In the fifth-annual Best of Utah meet at the Maverik Center, the Red Rocks bounced back from a disappointing fourth-place finish in Saturday's Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad meet with a much-improved performance Monday night.

The Red Rocks topped the in-state competition with a 197.725 score, the highest of the season. BYU was the next closest team with a final score of 195.775, with Southern Utah finishing with a 194.000 score and Utah State rounding out the competition with a 193.600 score.

"Really proud of the team tonight," Utah head coach Carly Dockendorf said. "That was much more reflective on what we're capable of doing. Just so proud that we came back and were aggressive and dynamic and confident, and just truly showcased the beautiful routines that we have on the team."

Dockendorf said Saturday brought the nerves and "doubt" for her gymnasts, but Monday her team "believed in one another, and I think that the results showed."

Most telling was that of the performance of veteran gymnast Maile O'Keefe, who had an off day Saturday in which she fell of the beam and stubbled in her floor routine in a rare showing for the fifth-year senior.

Dockendorf said she contemplated resting O'Keefe Monday and holding her out of the beam lineup, but "there was no way after Saturday that she was going to wait two weeks to redeem herself."

And redeem herself she did — in a big way.

Two days after earning a rare 9.150 score on beam as the team's anchor, O'Keefe returned to form and recorded another flawless performance that resulted in her second 10.0 score of the season — the 12th of her career on beam as the all-time leader.

"I think that just shows who Maile is, who her character is," Dockendorf said.

For O'Keefe, it wasn't more about trying to regain her confidence on an event that she's dominated on for much of her career. And outside of her rare fall Saturday, she's scored a 10.0 every time she's performed in competition this season.

"I really was just kind of trying to come in and hit my gymnastics," O'Keefe said. "On Saturday, I was a little bit weary, of course — I'm sure you could tell — and I just wanted to be confident my gymnastics today."

It was a nigh-and-day difference for the veteran gymnast, who also scored a 9.925 on uneven bars and a 9.950 on floor to closeout the night.

But it wasn't just O'Keefe who had a better performance Monday, it was a collective effort to return to form for the whole team.

Amelie Morgan recorded two 9.950 scores — bars and beam — to earn career highs in the events, and sophomore Makenna Smith continued to show improved confidence in her all-around to score a meet-high 39.525 score, beating out Utah State's Brianna Brooks (38.875) and Southern Utah's Niya Randolph (38.525).

"I think for us, it was so great that we had another meet so soon after Saturday," Morgan said. "We knew that we could have done so much better. So to have this opportunity to show what we actually can do, I think it was just like empowering and gave us more confidence knowing that we — this is what we can do, and we can do even more going into the rest of season."

"We came back yesterday and really talked about making sure that the energy was up, even going into the meet, so we were really trying to have the most amount of fun that we could," Smith added. "I was really trying to spread my energy as much as I could to everybody else. So I think that the energy was a lot higher today, and it definitely showed from our performance."

Outside of Utah, the remaining teams struggled to piece together consistent performance, but BYU's Brynlee Andersen recorded a team-high 9.90 on beam and Southern Utah's Isabella Neff earned a 9.90 on bars.

Team scores

No. 5 Utah, 197.725

• Vault: 49.075
• Bars: 98.575, 49.500
• Beam: 148.125, 49.550
• Floor: 197.725, 49.600

No. 25 Southern Utah, 194.000

• Floor: 48.225
• Vault: 97.000, 48.775
• Bars: 146.350, 49.350
• Beam: 194.000, 47.650

BYU, 195.775

• Bars: 48.950
• Beam: 97.875, 48.925
• Floor: 147.000, 49.075
• Vault: 195.775, 48.775

Utah State, 193.600

• Beam: 48.425
• Floor: 95.925, 47.675
• Vault: 144.525, 48.600
• Bars: 193.600, 49.075

Red Rocks scores

1st Rotation: Vault (49.075)

• Camie Winger: 9.800
• Ella Zirbes: 9.850
• Ashley Glynn: 9.650
• Makenna Smith: 9.875
• Jaedyn Rucker: 9.825
• Jaylene Gilstrap: 9.725

2nd Rotation: Bars (49.500)

• Makenna Smith: 9.850
• Alani Sabado: 9.775
• Ella Zirbes: 9.825
• Amelie Morgan: 9.950
• Grace McCallum: 9.950
• Maile O'Keefe: 9.925

3rd Rotation: Beam (49.550)

• Amelie Morgan: 9.950
• Liz Gantner: 9.750
• Makenna Smith: 9.875
• Grace McCallum: 9.775
• Abby Paulson: 9.950
• Maile O'Keefe: 10.0

4th Rotation: Floor (49.600)

• Makenna Smith: 9.925
• Camie Winger: 9.800
• Abby Paulson: 9.925
• Jaylene Gilstrap: 9.850
• Grace McCallum: 9.950
• Maile O'Keefe: 9.950

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