Completed Event: Gymnastics versus NCAA Championship Final on April 19, 2025 , , 4th of 4 (197.2375)
Final Score
Gymnastics
4th of 4 (197.2375)
vs NCAA Championship Final
Friday, January 24
Salt Lake City, UT
7:00 PM
University of Utah
197.050
vs
194.300
Arizona State
Photo by: Russ Isabella
No. 5 Utah Gymnastics Cruises Past Arizona State in Pac-12 Opener
1/24/2020 10:46 PM | Gymnastics
Utes remain undefeated, pick up first conference victory.
SALT LAKE CITY – The No. 5-ranked Utah gymnastics team cruised by Arizona State in their Pac-12 opener on Friday night, topping the Sun Devils 197.050-194.300 in front of a capacity crowd of 15,558 fans at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Utah improved to 5-0 overall (1-0 Pac-12) on the season, while dropping Arizona State to 3-3 overall (0-1 Pac-12).
Utah swept all event titles with six different Utes claiming event victories. Alexia Burch shined on vault when she stuck a clean Yurchenko 1.5, scoring a career-high 9.95. Cristal Isa and Hunter Dula tied for the bars title (9.90), Emilie LeBlanc won beam (9.90), Isa and Abby Paulson (9.90) claimed the floor title, while Maile O'Keefe finished first in the all-around (39.225).
"We never really sustained the efforts on all the events," said head coach Tom Farden. "I thought we were very sluggish on our start on vault, but then Alexia hit that vault and really turned things around and got some momentum, and it carried over to bars. The first few routines on bars were really nice and then we lost our break again. We started good on beam and then tailed off, and we started good on floor and we tailed off. I think it is characteristic of a team that is looking for 14 routines and where more than 50 percent of routines are done by freshmen and sophomores. Those inconsistencies are things we will continue to work through and grow throughout the season to become more experienced and more confident."
Utah's first three vaulters saw steps on landings that would result in no score going higher than a 9.750 through three routines. Needing to find a change of momentum, Maile O'Keefe put the Utes back on track with a 9.80.
Alexia Burch then fired off a Yurchenko 1.5 that she stuck perfectly to get the crowd on their feet. Fans roared as Burch's vault came in as a career-high 9.95, which would win the junior the vault title on the night. Closing out the lineup, Kim Tessen followed with a 9.925 from another explosive Yurchenko 1.5. Utah took an early 49.150-47.775 lead over Arizona State after the Sun Devils were forced to count two falls on bars.
The strong end to vault kicked off a terrific start to the bars set, first with Emilie LeBlanc leading off with a 9.825. Cristal Isa built off LeBlanc's routine and went on to match her career-high of 9.925 on bars. Bars specialist Hunter Dula followed with another routine filled with stellar handstands and a stuck double layout dismount for another 9.925. After leaving points on the board at the No. 4 and No. 5 spots, Tessen came through with a solid 9.825 to close out the event.
Leading Arizona State 98.425-96.525, LeBlanc started Utah's beam set with her best beam routine as a Ute and scored a 9.90. LeBlanc won the beam title for her first career victory as a Ute, while the 9.90 score matched her career-high she had previously earned while competing at Maryland.
Burch and Adrienne Randall posted back-to-back 9.875s for Utah at the No. 2 and No. 3 spots. Isa scored another 9.875 for the Utes in the fifth position, before O'Keefe closed out the event with a 9.775 to push Utah's beam score to a 49.300 and extend the lead 147.725-145.450.
Floor followed suit with bars and beam with Utah getting it going early in the lineup, but then leaving points on the floor as the event came to a close. Utah posted four floor scores of 9.875 or higher to open the set, but couldn't capitalize on the terrific start to floor. Isa and Paulson both earned career-highs of 9.90 to open the set, and were followed 9.875s from Randall and O'Keefe. After a fall from Tessen, Soloski finished the night with a 9.775 after suffering a deduction from stepping out of bounds on her first pass.
Utah will turn their attention toward a trip to Tucson, Ariz., when the Utes travel to take on Arizona next Saturday, Feb. 1. The first road meet of the conference season for Utah will begin at 2 p.m. MT at the McKale Center.
Meet Notes
• Utah scored season-highs on bars (49.275) and beam (49.300), while matching their season-high on floor (49.325).
• Sophomore Cristal Isa earned event victories on bars and floor to total three event wins this season and four in her career. Isa matched her career-high of 9.925 on bars and achieved a career-high mark on floor, scoring a 9.90.
• Junior Emilie LeBlanc posted her best scores as a Ute with a 9.825 on bars and a matched a career-high of 9.90 on beam. LeBlanc gained her first event victory as a Ute from the beam performance.
• Junior Alexia Burch scored a career-high 9.95 on vault to win her first event title of the season and second of her career. Her other event win also came on vault.
• Sophomore Hunter Dula's career-high 9.925 on bars earned her the first event victory of her career.
• Freshman Maile O'Keefe competed in the all-around for the second-straight meet and won the title with a 39.225, scoring season-highs on vault (9.80), bars (9.775), and floor (9.875). O'Keefe scored a 9.775 on beam.
Utah swept all event titles with six different Utes claiming event victories. Alexia Burch shined on vault when she stuck a clean Yurchenko 1.5, scoring a career-high 9.95. Cristal Isa and Hunter Dula tied for the bars title (9.90), Emilie LeBlanc won beam (9.90), Isa and Abby Paulson (9.90) claimed the floor title, while Maile O'Keefe finished first in the all-around (39.225).
"We never really sustained the efforts on all the events," said head coach Tom Farden. "I thought we were very sluggish on our start on vault, but then Alexia hit that vault and really turned things around and got some momentum, and it carried over to bars. The first few routines on bars were really nice and then we lost our break again. We started good on beam and then tailed off, and we started good on floor and we tailed off. I think it is characteristic of a team that is looking for 14 routines and where more than 50 percent of routines are done by freshmen and sophomores. Those inconsistencies are things we will continue to work through and grow throughout the season to become more experienced and more confident."
Utah's first three vaulters saw steps on landings that would result in no score going higher than a 9.750 through three routines. Needing to find a change of momentum, Maile O'Keefe put the Utes back on track with a 9.80.
Alexia Burch then fired off a Yurchenko 1.5 that she stuck perfectly to get the crowd on their feet. Fans roared as Burch's vault came in as a career-high 9.95, which would win the junior the vault title on the night. Closing out the lineup, Kim Tessen followed with a 9.925 from another explosive Yurchenko 1.5. Utah took an early 49.150-47.775 lead over Arizona State after the Sun Devils were forced to count two falls on bars.
The strong end to vault kicked off a terrific start to the bars set, first with Emilie LeBlanc leading off with a 9.825. Cristal Isa built off LeBlanc's routine and went on to match her career-high of 9.925 on bars. Bars specialist Hunter Dula followed with another routine filled with stellar handstands and a stuck double layout dismount for another 9.925. After leaving points on the board at the No. 4 and No. 5 spots, Tessen came through with a solid 9.825 to close out the event.
Leading Arizona State 98.425-96.525, LeBlanc started Utah's beam set with her best beam routine as a Ute and scored a 9.90. LeBlanc won the beam title for her first career victory as a Ute, while the 9.90 score matched her career-high she had previously earned while competing at Maryland.
Burch and Adrienne Randall posted back-to-back 9.875s for Utah at the No. 2 and No. 3 spots. Isa scored another 9.875 for the Utes in the fifth position, before O'Keefe closed out the event with a 9.775 to push Utah's beam score to a 49.300 and extend the lead 147.725-145.450.
Floor followed suit with bars and beam with Utah getting it going early in the lineup, but then leaving points on the floor as the event came to a close. Utah posted four floor scores of 9.875 or higher to open the set, but couldn't capitalize on the terrific start to floor. Isa and Paulson both earned career-highs of 9.90 to open the set, and were followed 9.875s from Randall and O'Keefe. After a fall from Tessen, Soloski finished the night with a 9.775 after suffering a deduction from stepping out of bounds on her first pass.
Utah will turn their attention toward a trip to Tucson, Ariz., when the Utes travel to take on Arizona next Saturday, Feb. 1. The first road meet of the conference season for Utah will begin at 2 p.m. MT at the McKale Center.
Meet Notes
• Utah scored season-highs on bars (49.275) and beam (49.300), while matching their season-high on floor (49.325).
• Sophomore Cristal Isa earned event victories on bars and floor to total three event wins this season and four in her career. Isa matched her career-high of 9.925 on bars and achieved a career-high mark on floor, scoring a 9.90.
• Junior Emilie LeBlanc posted her best scores as a Ute with a 9.825 on bars and a matched a career-high of 9.90 on beam. LeBlanc gained her first event victory as a Ute from the beam performance.
• Junior Alexia Burch scored a career-high 9.95 on vault to win her first event title of the season and second of her career. Her other event win also came on vault.
• Sophomore Hunter Dula's career-high 9.925 on bars earned her the first event victory of her career.
• Freshman Maile O'Keefe competed in the all-around for the second-straight meet and won the title with a 39.225, scoring season-highs on vault (9.80), bars (9.775), and floor (9.875). O'Keefe scored a 9.775 on beam.
Players Mentioned
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