#4 Red Rocks Return Home to Host Stanford on Friday Night

Friday, February 23

Salt Lake City, UT

6:00 PM

University of Utah

Stanford

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#4 Red Rocks Return Home to Host Stanford on Friday Night

2/20/2024 4:41 PM | Gymnastics

Meet Notes - Stanford

Utah Gymnastics Eras Tour hits the Huntsman Center as the Red Rocks celebrate Alumni Night

MEET WEEK
Fourth-ranked Utah Gymnastics returns to action in Salt Lake City on Friday, Feb. 23, to host Stanford University, after back-to-back Pac-12 road contests at Washington and UCLA. The Red Rocks and Cardinal will compete in the Jon M. Huntsman Center with introductions set to begin at 5:45 p.m. MT, and the first vault set for 6 p.m. MT.

Stanford will begin on bars and Utah will open on vault. The meet will be televised on Pac-12 Network with Jim Watson and JaNay Honest on the call. Utah's flagship radio ESPN 700 will broadcast the meet live from the arena with Mike Lageschulte and Kyndal (Robarts) Pond covering the action.

FOR THE FANS
The Red Rocks Eras Tour hits the Huntsman Center on Friday, Feb. 23, as Utah Gymnastics will also celebrate Alumni Night during the meet against Stanford. Kids are encouraged to check-out the concourse setup with displays of different era's of Utah Gymnastics, showcasing old leos and past alumni. There will be Red Rocks Era's Tour shirts and poster giveaways, friendship bracelets and photo booths on the concourse.

IN THE RANKINGS
Utah has spent five weeks as the #4 team in the nation, using the season average scores, reaching their highest ranking after the first week of competition, and jumping up to the second spot. The Utes ranked among the top 10 programs in each event for the seventh consecutive week. The staple event for the Red Rocks program continues to be their beam performances as Utah ranks second in the nation for the third consecutive week. Utah has maintained a top-five beam lineup since the season began. Utah has put together a 'dance party' with their floor routines, not dropping outside the top six since the second week of the season. Remaining in the top 10, Utah comes off their best outing on bars scoring a season-high 49.575 on the apparatus and ranking ninth in the nation. The Red Rocks vault squad jumps up one spot, coming in at #9 after seven weeks of competition.

QUICK STICKS
• Maile O'Keefe and Grace McCallum share the lead with nine event wins on the season for the Red Rocks.
• O'Keefe secured her fourth win on beam this season at UCLA and her first win of the season on the apparatus that didn't earn a score of 10.0. Along with four wins on beam, O'Keefe has three wins on floor and a pair of wins on bars so far this season.
• Amelie Morgan announced her intentions to return to international competition at the end of January, in pursuit of the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Morgan has been the leadoff performer on beam in nearly every meet of her Utah career. She will look to rejoin the Red Rocks for the Pac-12 Championships on March 23.
• Maile O'Keefe cemented her legacy in the Utah Gymnastics record books moving into a share of the top spot for career 10.0 scores with Theresa Kulikowski at 14, after earning her third perfect 10.0 score on beam of the season against Oregon State.
• Utah has had a gymnast named to one of the Pac-12 weekly awards in each of the first three weeks of the season. Gymnast of the Week: Maile O'Keefe (Jan. 9). Newcomer of the Week: Camie Winger (Jan. 16). Specialist of the Week: Amelie Morgan (Jan. 23).

CHALK TALK
• The Red Rocks have hit 157 of 168 routines throughout the 2024 season.
• Utah has five individuals in the top 25 of separate events including; Abby Paulson (T3/beam), Makenna Smith (T12/vault, 22nd/all-around), Grace McCallum (T6/bars, T18/floor, 20th/all-around).
• Amelie Morgan and Ella Zirbes cracked the top 25 individual rankings at the midway point, with Morgan sitting at #21 in the beam rankings. Zirbes comes in at T10 on floor.
• Utah has seen four first career victories so far this season, with Ashley Glynn (vault) and Camie Winger (vault), and Amelie Morgan (bars).

STANDOUT STATS
• Utah leads the series against Stanford, owning an overall record of44-6.
• Utah has posted a 16-1 record against the Cardinal in home meets.
• Utah has eclipsed the 49-point mark in each event in every meet so far during the 2024 campaign.
• On the road at Washington, Utah recorded a 197.775, which was the highest regular-season road score since 2022.
• The Red Rocks have brought down the house with the floor routines, posting a season-high 49.600 at the Best of Utah and following up with a 49.550 against Oregon State.
• Utah set a new season-high on bars against Washington, with a 49.525.
• The Red Rocks have scored above a 49.500 in three of their last five meets on floor.

SCOUTING STANFORD

Head Coach: Tabitha Yim
2024 Week 7 Ranking: 32nd

• Stanford earned its season-best road score in Corvallis Saturday, falling 197.100-196.600 to No. 19 Oregon State
• The Cardinal saw a career-best performance from Anapaula Gutierrez, posting a score of 9.950 on vault and becoming the first Stanford gymnast to earn the event title since Feb. 20, 2023.
• Stanford recorded its second consecutive meet with all four event team scores above the 49.000-point threshold.

UP NEXT
The Red Rocks will hit the road on Saturday, Mar. 2, traveling to the University of California. The Pac-12 showdown between the Utes and Bears will begin with introductions at 3:00 p.m. MT.
The meet will be live streamed on the Pac-12 Insider.