#4 Utah Gymnastics Heads To Metroplex Challenge

Saturday, February 11

Fort Worth, TX

1:30 PM

University of Utah

Illinois State

#4 Utah Gymnastics Heads To Metroplex Challenge

2/7/2023 12:35 PM | Gymnastics

Meet Notes - Metroplex Challenge

Utes to take on #18 Georgia, #22 Illinois, and Illinois State on podium.

MEET WEEK
Fourth-ranked Utah Gymnastics continues competition at the Metroplex Challenge this weekend, taking on #18 Georgia, #22 Illinois and Illinois State in the afternoon session. The quad meet competed on podium will begin at 1:30 p.m. MT at the Fort Worth Convention Center in Fort Worth, Texas. There will not be a live stream or live stats. Fans can follow @UtahGymnastics on Twitter for meet updates.

Because of scheduling conflicts, Utah (afternoon session) and Stanford (evening session) will take its scores and be counted as the regular season dual meet between Utah and Stanford. The Cardinal compete 6:30 p.m. MT against top-ranked Oklahoma, #11 Alabama, and #16 Arkansas.

IN THE RANKINGS
Utah remained fourth in the nation for the third week in a row. Utah's beam team is ranked first in the nation for the fourth-straight week, while vault is third in the nation for the third-straight week. Utah's bars lineup improved to sixth overall and floor is ranked eighth.

Individually, Grace McCallum is ranked 13th in the all-around, 14th on floor, 16th on bars, and 24th on beam. Maile O'Keefe is the top gymnast in the country on beam, while teammate Kara Eaker is second in the nation behind her. Rounding out the Utes in the top-25 on beam is Cristal Isa, who ranks 17th. On vault, Jaedyn Rucker is 16th in the nation and Makenna Smith is 19th.

BY THE NUMBERS
• Utah matched its school record on beam last weekend against UCLA, scoring a 49.775. The Utes previously recorded a school-record 49.775 against UCLA in 2020 with a lineup that featured three Red Rocks that contributed to last week's score – Maile O'Keefe, Cristal Isa, and Abby Paulson.
• Utah's 49.775 on beam stands as the highest score on any event in the nation this season.
• Utah recorded its first 198 of the season against UCLA (198.200) and is one of just three teams to score a 198 or better this season. The 198.200 is tied for the fifth-best score in program history.
• Maile O'Keefe recorded her first Perfect 10 of the season on beam last week, improving her career total to five perfect scores on beam. She is one perfect score on beam shy of tying the school-record held by Theresa Kulikowski.

CHALK TALK
• Jillian Hoffman debuted a Yurchenko 1.5 on vault against Washington two weeks ago for the first time of her gymnastics career and scored a career-high 9.95 to win her first ever vault title. She then followed with a new career high of 9.975 against UCLA and her second-straight vault win.
• The starting six on beam for Utah has remained the same every meet this season.
• Utah has hit 117-120 routines this season. Gymnasts who have hit every routine are Makenna Smith (14-14), Maile O'Keefe (13-13), Abby Brenner (12-12), Cristal Isa (10-10), Amelie Morgan (8-8), Jaylene Gilstrap (7-7), Kara Eaker (6-6), Jillian Hoffman (5-5), Lucy Stanhope (3-3), and Sage Thompson (3-3).
• Individual event winners this season are Grace McCallum (8), O'Keefe (6), Hoffman (2), Rucker (2), Eaker (1), Isa (1) and Smith (1).

SERIES STATS
• Utah trails the all-time series with Georgia 26-29-1, but leads the Bulldogs 13-12-1 in neutral site contests. Utah last competed against Georgia in 2019 where the Utes fell 197.525-197.450 in Athens, Ga., but took the win 198.150-196.350 in Salt Lake City in 2018. In the last 10 meetings, Utah and Georgia are 5-5.
• Utah leads the all-time series against Illinois 6-0 with two wins coming at home and the remaining four being earned at a neutral site. The Utes competed against Illinois last season at the NCAA Regional Second Round where Utah took the 197.800-197.375 win. This will be the just the second meeting ever in the regular season between Utah and Illinois with the other coming in 1981.
• Utah and Illinois State have not met in program history.

SCOUTING GEORGIA
2022 Final Ranking: 23rd
2023 Ranking: 18th
Bulldog Highlights: Georgia is coming off a 197.700-196.925 loss at LSU last weekend and sit 5-5 overall, 1-3 in SEC play so far … Georgia posted a season-high 197.225 against Kentucky, marking its only score above 197 so far this season … The Bulldogs are ranked 11th in the nation on bars, 17th on beam, 21st on floor, and 27th on vault … All-arounders Naya Howard and Haley De Jong lead the team with 39.475 and 39.450 season highs in the all-around, respectively … De Jong is ranked 22nd in the country on bars with a 9.896 season average.

SCOUTING ILLINOIS
2022 Final Ranking: 19th
2023 Ranking: 22nd
Illini Highlights: Illinois is coming off a 196.675-195.775 loss at Minnesota last weekend, but scored nearly a full point higher the week before in its 196.700-195.800 win vs. Nebraska, which marked a season high … Illinois is ranked 21st on vault, 24th on beam, 25th on floor, and 30th on bars … Mia Takekawa is ranked 20th in the nation in the all-around with a season-high 39.525, while she is ranked 12th on beam.

SCOUTING ILLINOIS STATE
2022 Final Ranking: 51st
2023 Ranking: 49th
Redbird Highlights: Illinois State has picked up three straight wins, most recently downing Bowling Green 195.200-192.650 … The 195.200 against Bowling Green matched its season high which Illinois State also recorded the week before against Centenary … Illinois State's top event is floor where it ranks 38th … Alana Laster, Angelica Labat, and Nirel Bart-Williams lead the Redbirds as all-arounders.

UP NEXT
Utah Gymnastics continues Pac-12 play on the road at Arizona State on President's Day, competing in Tempe on Monday, Feb. 20. The Utes and Sun Devils will compete at 1 p.m. MT at Desert Financial Arena and will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.