Utah Gymnastics Claims Second Straight Best Of Utah Title

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah – For the second straight time in the event’s history, Utah Gymnastics won the Best of Utah meet at the Maverik Center on Saturday night.

Utah Gymnastics opened the season as the No. 4 team in the country heading into the Best of Utah event. The Red Rocks posted a team score of 196.900 and is 3-0 to start the year after beating BYU, Utah State and Southern Utah in the event.

“It was really fun to be back out there with the gang,” said head coach Tom Farden. “I thought our athletes handled it well. In terms of a first meet, it was a really nice meet as a jumping off point. We went 28-for-28 routines. That was our goal to come in here and hit, and hit every exhibition. One of the things you always worry about as a coach is consistency. By them coming out and hitting 28 routines showed they are ready to check that box, do what they do in practice, and simulate it in a meet.”

🅆🄴🄴🄺 🄾🄽🄴 #StickLakeCity | #𝙉𝙊𝙄𝙎𝙀 pic.twitter.com/JCkDu2Nx9d

— Utah Gymnastics (@UtahGymnastics) January 10, 2021

No. 17 BYU finished in second place with a score of 195.700. Utah State was third with 194.350 and Southern Utah in fourth with 194.325. Cristal Isa edged out Maile O’Keefe for the all-around crown. Isa finished with a 39.400, while O’Keefe posted a 39.375 score.

O’Keefe won a share of the floor title and a share of the beam. Her and Abby Paulson had 9.925 scores on the beam. Cammy Hall recorded a 9.90 score on the vault, it was her first career win.

The 𝙍𝙚𝙙 𝙍𝙤𝙘𝙠𝙨 kicked off the season strong with a 196.90! 🙌🏼#𝙉𝙊𝙄𝙎𝙀 pic.twitter.com/8QxOCNcgxG

— Utah Gymnastics (@UtahGymnastics) January 10, 2021

The Red Rocks will now turn their attention to a top-5 showdown when they head to Norman to face No. 2 Oklahoma on Sunday, January 17 at 3 p.m. MST on ESPN2.

Trevor Allen is a Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Crimson Corner podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @TrevorASports. You can download and listen to the podcast, here.