Kara Eaker Earns First 2023 Pac-12 Honors For Red Rocks
Jan 17, 2023, 3:28 PM
SALT LAKE CITY – Utah gymnast Kara Eaker dropped a show-stopping beam performance last week at the Rio Tinto Best of Utah Meet that earned her Pac-12 Specialist of the Week honors for the Red Rocks on Tuesday.
Eaker was an alternate on Team U.S.A. at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics before joining the Utes as a highly touted freshman with an unlimited ceiling for their 2022 season. Unfortunately, Eaker’s debut season as a Red Rock was cut short after an accident warming up on vault at the Best of Utah Meet last season.
The talented beam worker showed no fear last Friday at the Maverik Center competing on floor and beam for the Utes. It was Eaker’s beam routine however that got the crowd talking, earning the Red Rocks’ first perfect 10 of the 2023 season.
Your @pac12 Specialist of the Week!
A perfect 🔟 on beam earns @_karaeaker her first Pac-12 weekly award!
🔗 | https://t.co/cMiU0Bz9F9#trUSt pic.twitter.com/0SYWxbH9mT
— Utah Gymnastics (@UtahGymnastics) January 17, 2023
An Early Rundown Of The 2023 Red Rocks
So far, the Red Rocks have competed in two meets in their early 2023 season with a big one coming down the pipeline. On January 22, Utah will be traveling to Norman, Oklahoma to go against the reigning National Champion Oklahoma Sooners.
Utah has looked impressive both in the Best of Utah Meet last week against all of the in-state gymnastics teams, along with their season opener against LSU. Their early efforts have earned them a No. 5 national ranking making them the second-highest ranked Pac-12 team. (UCLA currently sits at No. 4.)
You can catch the Red Rocks in action this Sunday at 6 p.m. MT. The meet will be aired on ESPN, the second of three total meets that will be broadcast on a large network for Utah this season. (LSU was the first on ESPN2 and UCLA will be coming up on ESPN 2 on February 3.)
Michelle Bodkin is the Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of both the Crimson Corner Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and The Saturday Show (Saturday from 10 a.m.–12 p.m.) on The KSL Sports Zone. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram: @BodkinKSLsports
