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 13
West Valley City, UT
6:45 PM
University of Utah
197.750
vs
195.800
Utah State
Red Rocks Crowned Rio Tinto Best of Utah Champions for Fourth-Straight Season
1/13/2023 10:20 PM | Gymnastics
Beam explodes for a 49.675, highlighted by Kara Eaker's perfect 10.
WEST VALLEY CITY – The sixth-ranked Utah Gymnastics team once again defended its title at the Rio Tinto Best of Utah, downing in-state opponents Southern Utah, Utah State, and BYU with a score of 197.750 at the Maverik Center.
Southern Utah placed second (196.175), while Utah State finished in third place (195.800) and BYU placed fourth (195.175). Utah won every event title on Friday night with Grace McCallum leading the way. She won the all-around (39.675) and bars (9.975) titles outright, as well as a share of the floor title (9.925). Jaedyn Rucker scored a 9.925 to win vault, while Kara Eaker's second career perfect score on beam would end as the meet high. Eaker's first 10.0 of the season and second career perfect score comes on just her ninth career beam routine as a Red Rock.
"It is always challenging to open on floor," said head coach Tom Farden. "That event itself and just to settle in is difficult. We really looked forward to seeing how we would handle back-to-back leg events right away. We made some changes and we put the athletes that weren't vaulting on floor close to last to see if we could get better vaults out of it and that strategy worked so we were excited about that."
Farden continued, "Floor and vault were good. We need to keep increasing some artistry on floor, and vault was obviously a big success with five 10.0 starts. We have more (10.0s) training so we are excited about where we are at. On bars, we were a little too anxious and not quite what we saw in practice. I don't know what to say about balance beam because it is probably the best balance beam I've seen. I keep saying it every year, but it's pretty incredible and jaw-dropping."
The Red Rocks improved three event scores from the opening week of competition beginning with its floor performance on Friday night. Abby Paulson led off the group with a 9.775, but the five floor workers behind her managed to drop the score. Rucker, Makenna Smith and Maile O'Keefe all posted 9.85s for Utah, while Jaylene Gilstrap recorded a career-high tying 9.90 in the fifth spot. The highlight of the rotation came from McCallum's event-winning 9.925 in the fourth position.
Leading by 0.350 after floor's 49.375 performance, Utah continued the momentum on vault where it matched its season-opening score of 49.350 to extend the lead even more over the in-state rivals. Jillian Hoffman opened the lineup with a 9.80 before Abby Brenner added a 9.825. Lucy Stanhope dropped in a 9.90 for the group, while Smith followed with a 9.85. Rucker floated through the air and nearly stuck her vault, which went on to score a 9.925, and McCallum closed the event with a 9.85.
On bars, Utah got things started with Smith's 9.875, but struggled to build from there. Brenner and Cristal Isa collected 9.85s for the lineup, and Sage Thompson and O'Keefe added 9.80s. McCallum delivered a near-perfect routine in the anchor spot to lift the rotation score after recording a season-best 9.975. With the 49.350 on bars, Utah led the next highest team by nearly a full point heading into the final rotation.
The Red Rocks left the arena dazzled by their beam performances to close the night, posting the nation's best beam score this season. Utah counted no lower than a 9.90 and was highlighted by Eaker's perfect score in the fourth spot. Amelie Morgan led off the jaw-dropping rotation with a 9.875, but would be followed with stellar routines to end up dropping her score. Paulson and Isa each recorded 9.90s, while McCallum added a 9.925. Closing out the rotation was O'Keefe, who scored a 9.95 to push Utah's beam score to 49.675.
Sixth-ranked Utah heads to top-ranked Oklahoma next Sunday, Jan. 22, to take on the reigning national champions on its home floor. The Utes and Sooners will compete at 6 p.m. MT on ESPN at the Lloyd Noble Center. It will be the third year in a row that the two teams have gone head to head in non-conference action with each team winning the meet at their respective home arenas in the previous two meetings.
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Southern Utah placed second (196.175), while Utah State finished in third place (195.800) and BYU placed fourth (195.175). Utah won every event title on Friday night with Grace McCallum leading the way. She won the all-around (39.675) and bars (9.975) titles outright, as well as a share of the floor title (9.925). Jaedyn Rucker scored a 9.925 to win vault, while Kara Eaker's second career perfect score on beam would end as the meet high. Eaker's first 10.0 of the season and second career perfect score comes on just her ninth career beam routine as a Red Rock.
"It is always challenging to open on floor," said head coach Tom Farden. "That event itself and just to settle in is difficult. We really looked forward to seeing how we would handle back-to-back leg events right away. We made some changes and we put the athletes that weren't vaulting on floor close to last to see if we could get better vaults out of it and that strategy worked so we were excited about that."
Farden continued, "Floor and vault were good. We need to keep increasing some artistry on floor, and vault was obviously a big success with five 10.0 starts. We have more (10.0s) training so we are excited about where we are at. On bars, we were a little too anxious and not quite what we saw in practice. I don't know what to say about balance beam because it is probably the best balance beam I've seen. I keep saying it every year, but it's pretty incredible and jaw-dropping."
The Red Rocks improved three event scores from the opening week of competition beginning with its floor performance on Friday night. Abby Paulson led off the group with a 9.775, but the five floor workers behind her managed to drop the score. Rucker, Makenna Smith and Maile O'Keefe all posted 9.85s for Utah, while Jaylene Gilstrap recorded a career-high tying 9.90 in the fifth spot. The highlight of the rotation came from McCallum's event-winning 9.925 in the fourth position.
Leading by 0.350 after floor's 49.375 performance, Utah continued the momentum on vault where it matched its season-opening score of 49.350 to extend the lead even more over the in-state rivals. Jillian Hoffman opened the lineup with a 9.80 before Abby Brenner added a 9.825. Lucy Stanhope dropped in a 9.90 for the group, while Smith followed with a 9.85. Rucker floated through the air and nearly stuck her vault, which went on to score a 9.925, and McCallum closed the event with a 9.85.
On bars, Utah got things started with Smith's 9.875, but struggled to build from there. Brenner and Cristal Isa collected 9.85s for the lineup, and Sage Thompson and O'Keefe added 9.80s. McCallum delivered a near-perfect routine in the anchor spot to lift the rotation score after recording a season-best 9.975. With the 49.350 on bars, Utah led the next highest team by nearly a full point heading into the final rotation.
The Red Rocks left the arena dazzled by their beam performances to close the night, posting the nation's best beam score this season. Utah counted no lower than a 9.90 and was highlighted by Eaker's perfect score in the fourth spot. Amelie Morgan led off the jaw-dropping rotation with a 9.875, but would be followed with stellar routines to end up dropping her score. Paulson and Isa each recorded 9.90s, while McCallum added a 9.925. Closing out the rotation was O'Keefe, who scored a 9.95 to push Utah's beam score to 49.675.
Sixth-ranked Utah heads to top-ranked Oklahoma next Sunday, Jan. 22, to take on the reigning national champions on its home floor. The Utes and Sooners will compete at 6 p.m. MT on ESPN at the Lloyd Noble Center. It will be the third year in a row that the two teams have gone head to head in non-conference action with each team winning the meet at their respective home arenas in the previous two meetings.
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Players Mentioned
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