Fourth-Ranked Utah Gymnasts Close Out Regular Season At #13 Oregon State

Saturday, March 11

Corvallis, OR

3:00 PM

University of Utah

Oregon State

Fourth-Ranked Utah Gymnasts Close Out Regular Season At #13 Oregon State

3/6/2023 12:48 PM | Gymnastics

Meet Notes - Oregon State

Utes wrap up the regular season schedule in Corvallis on Saturday.

MEET WEEK
Fourth-ranked Utah Gymnastics closes out the regular season against #13 Oregon State this Saturday, March 11, at 3 p.m. MT in Corvallis, Ore. The regular season finale will air on the Pac-12 Networks at Gill Coliseum. Rich Burke and Alisa Mowe will be on the call for the Pac-12 Network.

IN THE RANKINGS
Utah dropped one spot back to fourth in the national rankings after week nine of competition. The Utes remained the top-ranked beam team in the nation for the eighth-straight week, and bars is ranked fifth, while vault and floor are both ranked eighth this week.

Individually, Utah holds four gymnasts in its beam lineup in the top-25 of the nation led by Maile O'Keefe, who is the top-ranked gymnast in the country on beam. Kara Eaker is ranked fourth, Cristal Isa is tied for 14th, and Abby Paulson is tied at 19th overall. O'Keefe and Isa are also ranked on bars, sitting at 18th and 25th. Rounding out gymnasts in the top-25 is Jaedyn Rucker, who is ranked 18th on vault.

FOR THE TITLE
Saturday's competition in Corvallis will determine the 2023 Pac-12 Regular Season Championship. With Utah's win over Arizona and Oregon State's loss to Arizona State, the Red Rocks earned at least a share of the Pac-12 regular season title, marking the fourth year in a row Utah has won the title either outright or shared. If Utah wins on Saturday, the Utes will win the title outright. If Oregon State beats Utah, there will be a four-way tie between Utah, Oregon State, California, and UCLA. The Pac-12 Regular Season Championship began in 2020 and Utah has won the title outright twice, as well as a share of the title last season.

BY THE NUMBERS
• Utah finished the 2023 home schedule undefeated, going 5-0 in the Jon M. Huntsman Center. It is the fourth year in a row the Red Rocks have gone undefeated at home and the 10th undefeated home season in the last 11 years.
• Utah recorded its first sellout (15,558 fans) since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 last week against Arizona. It marked the 12th sellout in program history.
• Utah's 198.550 against Cal (Feb. 24) is the third-best score in program history and the second highest in the nation this season.
• Utah is the only team in the nation to score a 49.7 or better on beam more than once this season. The Red Rocks have three scores of 49.7 or better on beam in 2023.
• Utah has scored a 49.500 or better on bars four of the last five meets.
• Utah has scored a 49.475 or better on floor five of the last six meets.

CHALK TALK
• Jaylene Gilstrap made her season beam debut against Arizona, which was just the second beam routine of her career, and Jillian Hoffman made her season debut on floor.
• Eight Utes tied a season high or scored a new season-high score against Arizona.
• Cristal Isa became the third Ute this season to score a Perfect 10 on beam. She is the ninth gymnast in program history to record at least two 10.0s on beam in a career.
• Utah has hit 210-216 routines this season. Gymnasts who have hit every routine are Makenna Smith (29-29), Abby Brenner (24-24), Maile O'Keefe (25-25), Isa (18-18), Amelie Morgan (16-16), Gilstrap (16-16), Kara Eaker (11-11), Jillian Hoffman (10-10), and Lucy Stanhope (3-3).
• Individual event winners this season are O'Keefe (12), Grace McCallum (8), Jaedyn Rucker (5), Isa (3), Smith (3), Hoffman (2), Eaker (2), Abby Paulson (2) and Abby Brenner (1).
• O'Keefe (Feb. 7, Feb. 14), Eaker (Jan. 17) and Rucker (Feb. 28) have been named Pac-12 Specialists of the Week this season, while Makenna Smith earned a Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honor on Feb. 14.

STANDOUT STATS
• Utah has had nine different gymnasts earn at least one event title this season.
• Maile O'Keefe has won an event title on every event this season.
• O'Keefe and Kara Eaker have not scored below a 9.90 on beam this season.
• Cristal Isa has scored a 9.90 or better on 10 of her last 11 routines.
• Jaylene Gilstrap has scored a 9.90 or better on floor her last four routines, while Abby Brenner has done so in her last three floor routines.

SERIES STATS
• Utah leads the all-time series against Oregon State 77-10-1, which includes a 19-9 record in Corvallis, Ore.
• The Utes have won 12-straight against the Beavers, which included three meetings last season. Utah defeated Oregon State in Salt Lake City 198.000-197.150 with the other two wins coming at the Pac-12 Championships and the NCAA Regional in Seattle.
• Utah beat Oregon State last in Corvallis in 2021, winning 197.575-196.425 to claim the program's second-straight Pac-12 Regular Season Championship.
• Utah's last loss to Oregon State was in Corvallis during the 2017 season (196.550-196.525).

SCOUTING OREGON STATE
2022 Final Ranking: 17th
2023 Ranking: 13th
Head Coach: Tanya Chaplin
Beaver Highlights: Oregon State is coming off its first Pac-12 loss last weekend, falling to Arizona State 197.550-197.725 in Tempe … The Beavers tied both UCLA and Cal earlier this season, while their season-high score came in a win over Stanford when OSU scored the first 198 in program history (198.075) … The Beavers rank 3rd in the nation on beam, 5th on floor, 16th on vault, and 21st on bars … Olympian and World Champion Jade Carey is ranked first in the nation in the all-around with a 39.820 NQS … Carey is ranked first on floor, second on vault and beam, and fourth on bars.

UP NEXT
Utah will compete for its third consecutive Pac-12 Championship next Saturday, March 18, at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah. Utah will compete in the evening session of the 2023 Pac-12 Women's Gymnastics Championships at 6 p.m. MT. Tickets are available here.