alt=Trent WoodTalk about a bounce-back performance.
Less than a week after a somewhat disappointing showing at No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 4-ranked Utah gymnastics returned home and put on a show against No. 25 Washington.
Inside a packed Huntsman Center on the campus of the University of Utah, the Utes recorded a new season-high team score — a 197.975 — narrowly missing out of the their first 198 of the season.
The Red Rocks also recorded new season highs on floor exercise (49.475) and uneven bars (49.450), in what was Utah’s most complete performance of the season thus far.
It was more than enough to give Utah its first win in Pac-12 competition, over No. 25 Washington (196.350), and wash away any lingering disappointment from the showing against Oklahoma.
“This was exactly what we wanted to do today,” senior Abby Brenner said. “We wanted to go out, hit 24 routines and do the best that we can... This was exactly what we needed to get under our feet. We can go out and feel really confident out there and just build on from this.”
Added senior Maile O’Keefe added: “I feel like it is a perfect spot. Still room to grow, but we are moving our way up, in confidence and everything like that.”
O’Keefe was one of three event winners for Utah (the Red Rocks swept the individual awards), along with sophomore Grace McCallum and senior Jillian Hoffman.
McCallum won the all-around title and the floor title, sharing the bars title with O’Keefe. O’Keefe also won the title on beam, while Hoffman snagged the vault title after debuting the first 10.0 valued vault of her Utah career.
“Echoing what the athletes said, this was exactly what we wanted to do,” Utah head coach Tom Farden said. “We wanted to get back on track, hit 24 of 24 (routines) and see where it took us.
“There was some strategy with lineups tonight and I’m really glad it worked, because you never know. The way they handled things today, I know it sounds small and not significant but our athletes absorbed everything, took care of each other and were really engaged in helping each other. It just shows the maturity and the confidence of this team.”
Defining moment
There were no shortage of standout moments for Utah on Saturday, event by event or with individual gymnasts performances.
The bars and floor lineups were better than they’d been at any point this season, the vault lineup continues to exceed outside expectations and on beam Utah only counted scores of 9.90 or better, narrowly missing out on a new season high.
O’Keefe came incredibly close to the fifth perfect 10 of her career, McCallum continues to grow more and more confident and comfortable at the NCAA level, and then there was Brenner’s debut on floor and Jaylene Gilstrap’s debut on vault.
No single moment stood out more, however, than Hoffman’s event-winning vault.
Hoffman has struggled with injuries throughout her collegiate career, struggling being a complete understatement.
The first three seasons of her Utah career were all cut short by season-ending injuries, each more devastating than the last.
A month into her senior season, with her most recent injury being a ruptured Achilles tendon, Hoffman competed her first Yurchenko 1.5 at the NCAA level — the vault is valued at 10.0 — and was nearly perfect, scoring a 9.95.
It was a long time coming.
“I’ve been watching (that vault) progress from her sophomore year until now,” Farden said. “It was start training, get good (at it) and then injuries would hit. ... It was really, really awesome to see Jillian rewarded for her self belief and determination.”
Farden moved Hoffman to the anchor position in the lineup, setting the stage for the vault itself.
“That was strategy based,” he said. “We wanted to make sure that we hit five good vaults and we did. We were close enough to where I wanted us to be score-wise, so I just let her rip.”
And Hoffman rewarded him for the move.
“She has been nailing that vault,” he said. “This last two weeks she has been on fire. She has a knack and ability to work through that table.”
With Hoffman, Utah now has six vaults valued at 10.0 that are now able to be competed this season, with the potential for more on the way.
“I am very thankful for my teammates that went before me,” Hoffman said. “They went 5 for 5 so it made my job easier to go out there and do what I know how to do. ... I just told myself to go big and it obviously worked out in my favor.”
Needs work
There were things to nitpick about Utah’s performance, even with an outing as strong as the one the Red Rocks had.
While Utah eliminated scores that were in the 9.70 range or lower — those kinds of scores were particularly damaging against Oklahoma — the Red Rocks didn’t consistently break into the 9.90 range.
That was true on three events — bars, floor and vault — where Utah counted only two 9.9s or better.
Beam was the lone outlier, as the Red Rocks only counted scores of 9.90 or higher on that event.
Utah took a slight step back on vault, at least as far as scoring goes, scoring a 49.425 against Washington after scoring a 49.525 on vault against Oklahoma.
Individual gymnasts weren’t at their best at times too, be it McCallum (9.850) and Jaedyn Rucker (9.875) on vault, Makenna Smith (9.825) and Cristal Isa (9.850) on bars, Amelie Morgan (9.825) on beam or Abby Paulson (9.850) and Smith (9.800) on floor.
Landings, on every event, could have been cleaner, with Farden lamenting that McCallum did not stick her dismount on beam.
“She rushed her dismount,” he said. “On her lead leg, when she sauntered into it. She stepped, rushed and didn’t get full extension, threw her head back a little bit and her shins didn’t come up. I knew she was going to hop forward. I knew before it even happened.”
He also came to the defense of Isa, though, on bars.
“There is a level of subjectivity to it, but I thought Cristal’s flow was excellent,” Farden said. “Her command was outstanding. The thing that gets a little bit gray with her bars is there can be an amplitude deduction on her dismount. I understand that.
“However, the thing I take concern (with that deduction) is she is doing it from a full blind change. You have to take that into consideration. You are packing a D (skill) plus an E (skill) at the end of a bar routine, which no one on Washington or Utah did. She is the only one that does that. There are clauses in the rules that say take into consideration the point of the angle.”
That’s encouraging
Utah had every reason to walk away from Saturday’s meet encouraged.
Season highs will do that.
The Red Rocks looked much improved on both of their weakest events — bars and floor — and that was without All-American gymnasts Sage Thompson (on bars) or O’Keefe (on floor) in lineups.
Gilstrap impressed on vault, filling in for an injured Lucy Stanhope (Stanhope wore a boot after bruising her heel), and scored a 9.850 from the leadoff position.
Bounce-back performances by Paulson (on beam) and Rucker (on floor) helped greatly.
Utah’s beam lineup also showed once again that it is the best in the country. Right now there isn’t much debate about that.
Arguably the most encouraging thing from the meet, though, was Brenner’s overall performance.
The graduate transfer from Michigan has been nothing but consistent for Utah through the opening month of the season, never scoring lower than a 9.80 while competing every week on bars and vault.
Against Washington, though, she was better than ever, scoring a 9.85 on bars and vault, before making her debut in Utah’s floor lineup. Her floor routine, for which she scored a 9.875, provided a jolt of energy and excitement that buoyed the remainder of the rotation.
“I believe she is one of those athletes that inspire the rest,” Farden said. “Her being in that lineup gives them a good vibe over there. You can see it, the kid’s energy is just unreal.
“She is now three events which tells you what she brings. The kids just love being around her. She is very charismatic.”
Farden believes she still has room to improve too, despite being one of Utah’s most consistent competitors thus far this season.
“I watch what she is doing and I still think she has tenths to improve on here and there,” he said. “She was a very consistent athlete for Michigan and she is very consistent every day in the gym.
“For a grad transfer, soaking in the mechanics, what we need to get done for her to be more refined, she is like a freshman. It is uncanny. That just tells you her humility.”