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 3
Salt Lake City, UT
6:00 PM
University of Utah
196.425
vs
195.350
Kentucky
Photo by: Dan Lofgren
No. 5 Ute Gymnasts Knock Off No. 12 Kentucky 196.425-195.350 To Open Season
1/3/2020 9:33 PM | Gymnastics
Kim Tessen wins three event titles to lead Utah.
SALT LAKE CITY – Despite struggling to build momentum throughout the season opener on Friday night, the No. 5 Ute gymnasts claimed a 196.425-195.350 win over the No. 12-ranked Kentucky Wildcats before a crowd of 14,417 fans in the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
Although Utah never trailed Kentucky during the meet, the Red Rocks battled to find momentum and were caught leaving points on the board from uncharacteristic deductions. The talented Ute team was able to pick up the win in convincing fashion over Kentucky to open the season, but the gymnasts and coaching staff know there is plenty more to come from this team.Â
 "I didn't see as much aggressive execution as I thought we were going to see," said head coach Tom Farden. "We were a little bit timid. Overall, I am pleased that we were able to have a nice opening score and hit routines without having any major errors. I do think that this team is hungry for more and can do more than what they showed tonight."
In arguably one of the best meets of her career, senior Kim Tessen shined in the season opener. Tessen picked up event titles in all three events she competed on – vault, bars, and floor – to give the Red Rocks a huge boost. Tessen had previously won two career vault titles, which both occurred during her sophomore season in 2018.
"It feels amazing," said Tessen on her season-opening performance. "I chose confidence today and that is something that I have to work on as an individual every single day, but today I told myself that I need to be confident for myself and for my team. I am hoping that that can carry over to the rest of my team members as well."
Utah debuted many routines in front of their home crowd, including the first two vault routines to start the meet. Sydney Soloski and Cammy Hall both competed in their first career vaults and scored 9.80 and 9.825, respectively, to start of the set. Battling long pauses between routines in the first rotation, the Utes were recharged after Kim Tessen scored 9.90 with a beautiful Yurchenko 1.5. After the first rotation, Utah led Kentucky 49.125-48.900.
Starting to pick up momentum from vault, Utah received a clean 9.875 bar routine from bars specialist Hunter Dula, but the rhythm was cut short after Utah suffered a fall. Utah's two seniors stepped up to ensure Utah remained in the lead with Missy Reinstadtler posting a 9.825, while Tessen continued her hot start and matched her career-high of 9.925 in the anchor spot. The bars lineup would put together a 49.000 set.
Freshman Abby Paulson shined in her first collegiate routine and tabbed a 9.90 on beam to spark the third rotation. Cristal Isa picked up right where Paulson left off and scored 9.925 to win her second career beam title. Maile O'Keefe rounded out the beam lineup and tallied a 9.80 to put the Utes ahead 147.225-146.375 from a 49.100 beam total.
Looking to end the meet strong, Paulson had another solid routine in the second position for Utah's floor lineup, while Adrienne Randall was steady in the middle and posted a 9.850. Once again, the key returners for the Utes stepped up to close out the floor set when Tessen and Soloski had fans on their feet following exceptional routines. Tessen closed out her night with a career-high 9.90, while Soloski earned a 9.90 of her own to have both Utes claim the floor title. Utah posted a 49.200 in their highest event score of the night.
"With the pedigree of so many of the athletes on this team, they should never be satisfied. Not that we did anything glaring, but like I said, they are hungry for more and it is our job as coaches to guide them to that path. We did open the door of deductions tonight, so we will go back to practice and work on some of those deductions."
No. 5 Utah will be back in action next Saturday, Jan. 11 for the inaugural Rio Tinto Best of Utah NCAA Gymnastics meet. The podium event will be held at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah and will feature all four in-state Division I gymnastics programs in Utah, Brigham Young, Southern Utah, and Utah State.
Meet Notes
• Utah has now won seven-straight season openers following the win over Kentucky.
• Aided by the program's record-breaking 9,376 season ticket holders, the meet drew a crowd of 14,417 fans on Friday night.
• Kim Tessen notched three event titles in all three events she appeared on – vault (9.90), bars (9.925), and floor (9.90). Tessen set a new career-high on floor with her 9.90 performance, while matching her career-best 9.925 on bars.
• Sydney Soloski competed the first scored vault of her career (9.80). Soloski tied teammate Kim Tessen for the floor title (9.90) and now has three career floor wins.
• Cristal Isa won the beam title with her 9.925 performance. This is Isa's second beam title and has only competed in two career beam routines.
• Freshman Abby Paulson finished second in the individual beam standings, posting a 9.90 in her first collegiate routine.
• Abby Paulson (beam, floor), Maile O'Keefe (vault, bars, beam), Cammy Hall (vault), and Emilie LeBlanc (bars, beam) saw their debuts against Kentucky.
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Although Utah never trailed Kentucky during the meet, the Red Rocks battled to find momentum and were caught leaving points on the board from uncharacteristic deductions. The talented Ute team was able to pick up the win in convincing fashion over Kentucky to open the season, but the gymnasts and coaching staff know there is plenty more to come from this team.Â
 "I didn't see as much aggressive execution as I thought we were going to see," said head coach Tom Farden. "We were a little bit timid. Overall, I am pleased that we were able to have a nice opening score and hit routines without having any major errors. I do think that this team is hungry for more and can do more than what they showed tonight."
In arguably one of the best meets of her career, senior Kim Tessen shined in the season opener. Tessen picked up event titles in all three events she competed on – vault, bars, and floor – to give the Red Rocks a huge boost. Tessen had previously won two career vault titles, which both occurred during her sophomore season in 2018.
"It feels amazing," said Tessen on her season-opening performance. "I chose confidence today and that is something that I have to work on as an individual every single day, but today I told myself that I need to be confident for myself and for my team. I am hoping that that can carry over to the rest of my team members as well."
Utah debuted many routines in front of their home crowd, including the first two vault routines to start the meet. Sydney Soloski and Cammy Hall both competed in their first career vaults and scored 9.80 and 9.825, respectively, to start of the set. Battling long pauses between routines in the first rotation, the Utes were recharged after Kim Tessen scored 9.90 with a beautiful Yurchenko 1.5. After the first rotation, Utah led Kentucky 49.125-48.900.
Starting to pick up momentum from vault, Utah received a clean 9.875 bar routine from bars specialist Hunter Dula, but the rhythm was cut short after Utah suffered a fall. Utah's two seniors stepped up to ensure Utah remained in the lead with Missy Reinstadtler posting a 9.825, while Tessen continued her hot start and matched her career-high of 9.925 in the anchor spot. The bars lineup would put together a 49.000 set.
Freshman Abby Paulson shined in her first collegiate routine and tabbed a 9.90 on beam to spark the third rotation. Cristal Isa picked up right where Paulson left off and scored 9.925 to win her second career beam title. Maile O'Keefe rounded out the beam lineup and tallied a 9.80 to put the Utes ahead 147.225-146.375 from a 49.100 beam total.
Looking to end the meet strong, Paulson had another solid routine in the second position for Utah's floor lineup, while Adrienne Randall was steady in the middle and posted a 9.850. Once again, the key returners for the Utes stepped up to close out the floor set when Tessen and Soloski had fans on their feet following exceptional routines. Tessen closed out her night with a career-high 9.90, while Soloski earned a 9.90 of her own to have both Utes claim the floor title. Utah posted a 49.200 in their highest event score of the night.
"With the pedigree of so many of the athletes on this team, they should never be satisfied. Not that we did anything glaring, but like I said, they are hungry for more and it is our job as coaches to guide them to that path. We did open the door of deductions tonight, so we will go back to practice and work on some of those deductions."
No. 5 Utah will be back in action next Saturday, Jan. 11 for the inaugural Rio Tinto Best of Utah NCAA Gymnastics meet. The podium event will be held at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah and will feature all four in-state Division I gymnastics programs in Utah, Brigham Young, Southern Utah, and Utah State.
Meet Notes
• Utah has now won seven-straight season openers following the win over Kentucky.
• Aided by the program's record-breaking 9,376 season ticket holders, the meet drew a crowd of 14,417 fans on Friday night.
• Kim Tessen notched three event titles in all three events she appeared on – vault (9.90), bars (9.925), and floor (9.90). Tessen set a new career-high on floor with her 9.90 performance, while matching her career-best 9.925 on bars.
• Sydney Soloski competed the first scored vault of her career (9.80). Soloski tied teammate Kim Tessen for the floor title (9.90) and now has three career floor wins.
• Cristal Isa won the beam title with her 9.925 performance. This is Isa's second beam title and has only competed in two career beam routines.
• Freshman Abby Paulson finished second in the individual beam standings, posting a 9.90 in her first collegiate routine.
• Abby Paulson (beam, floor), Maile O'Keefe (vault, bars, beam), Cammy Hall (vault), and Emilie LeBlanc (bars, beam) saw their debuts against Kentucky.
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