SALT LAKE CITY—The Utah gymnastics team landed one of the best gymnasts in the country today, signing USA National Team member and two-time national all-around champion
Maile O'Keefe from Las Vegas, Nev., to a National Letter of Intent. O'Keefe becomes the third member off the 2016-17 USA National Team to join the Utes, along current junior
MyKayla Skinner and incoming freshman
Abby Paulson.
O'Keefe is the fourth addition to this year's recruiting class, joining Paulson and Junior Olympic national champions
Jillian Hoffman and
Jaedyn Rucker, who signed in November.
"We are elated that Maile has signed a National Letter of Intent with us," said Utah co-head coach
Tom Farden. "She is a world class gymnast with amazing credentials. Her gymnastics has the perfect blend of power, elegance and consistency that makes for exceptional routines on every event. Our fans are going to love this extremely talented freshman class that will be competing for us next year."
O'Keefe, a USA National Team member from 2016-18, is the first P&G national all-around champion ever to sign with the Utes. She has captured five total individual titles at the P&G Championships in the junior division, winning the all-around gold in 2016 and 2017, beam and floor in 2016, and bars in 2017. She won silver medals on vault, beam and floor at the 2017 P&G Championships.
Other major national competition results came in 2013-17 at the U.S. Classic and 2013-16 at the American Classic. O'Keefe's top U.S. Classic finishes came in 2017, when she placed second in the all-around and on vault and floor. She won the floor title at the 2016 American Classic and tied for second on beam at the 2014 event.
O'Keefe, who qualified as an International Elite in 2013, also owns an impressive international resume. She won bronze in the all-around at the 2018 American Cup and won the all-around and beam, while finishing second on vault, bars and floor at the 2017 International Junior Japan meet. She was the all-around and floor champion for gold-medal Team USA at the 2017 Gymnix International in Montreal, placing second on vault and third on beam. O'Keefe also played a key role in Team USA's gold medal at the City of Jesolo Trophy in Italy, winning a silver in the all-around and floor, and a bronze on bars and beam.
The daughter of Matthew and Tori Lynn O'Keefe is coached by Tammy and Sorin Salcianu at Salcianu Elite in Henderson, Nev. She will graduate this spring from Odyssey Charter School.