Utah Athletics | 2020-21 Accomplishments
COMPETITION HIGHLIGHTS
- Skiing won the NCAA Championship, its 14th national title (Utah’s 28th team national championship all-time)
- Skiing’s Sydney Palmer-Leger won both Nordic individual national titles and team earned 16 All-America awards
- Gymnastics placed 3rd at NCAA Championship Finals, with its highest score at a national championship meet (197.9875)
- Team had two individual national champions and earned six All-America honors
- Gymnastics won both the Pac-12 regular season title and Pac-12 Championship Meet
- Volleyball ranked as high as 7th in the nation and qualified for fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament as the 14th overall seed
- Football linebacker Devin Lloyd was one of five finalists for the Butkus Award, honoring nation’s top linebacker, and second-team All-America; team finished with three wins in a row in short season and earned bowl eligibility
- Academically, Utah’s student-athletes performed spectacularly in the classroom in 2019-20
- 94% NCAA Graduate Success Rate in 2020 – fourth consecutive year over 90%.
- GSR tied for second among all Power-5 public institutions and tied for fifth among all Power-5 institutions.
- 3.407 Academic Year Departmental GPA (highest in school history).
- 3.427 Spring Departmental GPA (second-highest in school history).
- 3.390 Fall Departmental GPA (third-highest in program history).
- Every sport program earned a team GPA over 3.00 both semesters.
- 44% of Utah’s student-athletes made the Dean’s List (3.500 or higher) for the academic year.
- 81% of Utah’s student-athletes made the Athletics Director’s Honor roll (highest in school history).
- 14% of student-athletes earned a perfect semester GPA of 4.000.
- 104 student-athletes graduated during the academic year.
- 283 student-athletes were named to the Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll.
- 183 student-athletes received all A’s over the 2020 Spring and Fall semesters.
National Champions – Individual:
- Maile O’Keefe, Gymnastics (co-champion on bars)
- Maile O’Keefe, Gymnastics (co-champion on floor)
- Sydney Palmer-Leger, Women’s Skiing (5K Classical)
- Sydney Palmer-Leger, Women’s Skiing (15K Freestyle)
- Kenzie Koerber, Volleyball (Senior CLASS Award)
- Devin Lloyd, Football (Butkus Award and Pop Warner College FB Award)
- Poppy Tank, Women’s Cross-Country (27th place at NCAA Championships)
- Poppy Tank, Women’s Track & Field (10K; 9th place)
- Devin Lloyd, Football (Sporting News 2nd team)
- Ty Jordan, Football (Freshman All-America by 247Sports & The Athletic)
- Maile O’Keefe, Gymnastics (1st team bars)
- Maile O’Keefe, Gymnastics (1st team floor)
- Maile O’Keefe, Gymnastics (2nd team all-around)
- Sydney Soloski, Gymnastics (2nd team floor)
- Cristal Isa, Gymnastics (2nd team bars)
- Emilie LeBlanc, Gymnastics (2nd team bars)
- Novie McCabe, Women’s Nordic Skiing, (5K Classical, 1st team)
- Novie McCabe, Women’s Nordic Skiing (15K Freestyle, 1st team)
- Sydney Palmer-Leger, Women’s Nordic Skiing (5K Classical, 1st team)
- Sydney Palmer-Leger, Women’s Nordic Skiing (15K Freestyle, 1st team)
- Katie Parker, Women’s Alpine Skiing (Giant Slalom, 2nd team)
- Julia Richter Women’s Nordic Skiing (5K Classical, 1st team)
- Katie Vesterstein, Women’s Alpine Skiing (Slalom, 1st team)
- Samuel Hendry, Men's Nordic Skiing (10K Classical, 1st team)
- Samuel Hendry, Men’s Nordic Skiing (20K Freestyle, 1st team)
- Luke Jager, Men’s Nordic Skiing (10K Classical, 1st team)
- Joachim Lien, Men’s Alpine Skiing (Giant Slalom, 1st team)
- Joachim Lien, Men’s Alpine Skiing (Slalom, 1st team)
- Wilhelm Normannseth, Men’s Alpine Skiing (Giant Slalom, 2nd team)
- Bjørn Riksaasen, Men’s Nordic Skiing (10K Classical, 1st team)
- Bjørn Riksaasen, Men’s Nordic Skiing (20K Freestyle, 2nd team)
- Gustav Vøllo, Men’s Alpine Skiing (Giant Slalom, 1st team)
- Luke McDivitt, Men’s Swimming & Diving (platform diving, 1st team … 6th place; highest platform finish in school history)
- Cooper DeRyk, Men’s Swimming & Diving (50 free, 2nd team)
- Cooper DeRyk, Men’s Swimming & Diving (200 medley relay, 2nd team; 15th place)
- Andrew Britton, Men’s Swimming & Diving (200 medley relay, 2nd team; 15th place)
- Andrei Ungur, Men’s Swimming & Diving (200 medley relay, 2nd team; 15th place)
- Finn O’Haimhirgin, Men’s Swimming & Diving (200 medley relay, 2nd team; 15th place)
- Dani Drews, Volleyball (1st team AVCA; 1st Utah player to earn two first-team A-A awards)
- Kenzie Koerber, Volleyball (2nd team AVCA; second time as second-team A-A)
- Dani Drews, Volleyball (AVCA Pacific South Region Player of the Year)
- Men’s & Women’s Skiing (14th national title; 13th NCAA … 28th Utah team national title, all sports)
- Gymnastics (Pac-12, regular season and Championship meet)
- Men’s & Women’s Skiing (RMISA)
- Men’s Diving (Pac-12)
- Luke McDivitt, Men’s Swimming & Diving (Pac-12 platform)
- Maile O’Keefe, Gymnastics (Pac-12 all-around)
- Maile O’Keefe, Gymnastics (Pac-12 bars)
- Maile O’Keefe, Gymnastics (Pac-12 beam)
- Maile O’Keefe, Gymnastics (Pac-12 floor)
- Cristal Isa, Gymnastics (bars, beam)
- Abby Paulson, Gymnastics (beam)
- Jaedyn Rucker, Gymnastics (floor)
- Sydney Soloski, Gymnastics (floor)
- Richard Marschner, Men’s & Women’s Swimming & Diving (Pac-12 Diving Coach of the Year)
- Ty Jordan, Football (Pac-12 Freshman and Pac-12 Newcomer of the Year)
- Maile O’Keefe, Gymnastics (Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year)
- Alexia Burch, Gymnastics (Pac-12 Specialist of the Year)
- Luke McDivitt, Men’s Swimming & Diving (Pac-12 Men’s Diver of the Year)
- Dani Drews, Volleyball (Pac-12)
- Skiing, NCAA Championship Meet (1st)
- Men’s Golf, NCAA Regional
- Gymnastics, NCAA Championship Meet (3rd; NCAA Regional Champion)
- Volleyball, NCAA Tournament
- Football, Bowl-eligible but opted out of bowl consideration
- Britain Covey, Football (CoSIDA Academic All-America 1st Team; CoSIDA Academic All-District 1st Team)
SPORT-BY-SPORT
Baseball
- Jayden Kiernan, a catcher from Coronoa, Calif., was named All-Pac-12 honorable mention after hitting .325 on the season with 17 RBI.
- Veteran shortstop Matt Richardson led the Utes with a .360 batting average and drove in 28 runs.
- Gary Henderson, the 2018 NCBWA National Coach of the Year at Mississippi State, was promoted to head coach after spending the past two years as Utah’s associate head coach, following the retirement of 18-year head coach Bill Kinneberg.
- Forward Timmy Allen was named first-team All-Pac-12 and All-District by the USBWA and NABC.
- Center Branden Carlson, one of the veterans returning in 2021-22, was third on the team in scoring (9.4 ppg) and ranked second in the Pac-12 in blocked shots (1.68 bpg).
- Craig Smith, who led Utah State to three NCAA Tournament bids in three years, was named the Runnin’ Utes head coach in March.
- Brynna Maxwell and Kemery Martín earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention.
- Maxwell, from Gig Harbor, Wash., ranked in the top 12 in the Pac-12 in scoring (12.8 ppg) and three-pointers made (43), and led the league in free throw percentage (.924). Martín, from Sandy, Utah, started 17 times and scored in double-digits in 10 of the last 12 games.
- Utah placed fifth at the 2020 Pac-12 Cross Country Championships, led by All-Pac-12 first-team performer Poppy Tank, who finished sixth.
- Tank also earned cross country All-America honors by placing 27th at the NCAA Championships.
- Tank wrapped up her incredible season by placing ninth to earn second-team All-America in the 10K and honorable mention All-America in the 5K at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
- Utah rallied to win its last three games in a shortened season and finished with a winning record (3-2) for the 14th time in 16 years under head coach Kyle Whittingham.
- Linebacker Devin Lloyd was one of five finalists for the Butkus Award, honoring nation’s top linebacker, and earned second-team All-America recognition.
- Running back Ty Jordan, who tragically passed away last December, was named the Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year and the Associated Press Pac-12 Newcomer of the Year.
- The Utes qualified for NCAA Regionals for the first time since 1992 and finished seventh, narrowly missing out on qualifying for nationals under head coach Garrett Clegg.
- Tristan Mandur advanced to the NCAA Championships as in individual and placed 17th, the highest finish in program history.
- Mitchell Schow finished in the top 10 at the Pac-12 Championships.
- Javier Barcos was named to the Pac-12 All-Newcomer Team.
- The Red Rocks placed third at the NCAA Championships by recording the highest Nationals score in program history (197.9875).
- Utah captured the NCAA Regional crown as well as the Pac-12 regular-season and post-season titles under head coach Tom Farden.
- Maile O’Keefe won a pair of individual national championships by tying for first on both bars and floor, and was named the Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year after winning the conference all-title.
- MyKayla Skinner, who elected to not come back for her senior year, was the silver medalist on vault at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
- Utah was led by attacker Tyler Bradbury, who had 25 assists.
- Attacker AJ McMahon and midfielder Carson Moyer had 11 goals apiece.
- Drew McMinn, who directed the program at Robert Morris the past 10 years, took over as head coach for the 2022 season, when Utah becomes a member of the A-SUN Conference.
- The Utes won their third NCAA crown in the last four championships and the 14th national title in the program’s history in 2021.
- Freshman Sydney Palmer-Leger won both Nordic individual national titles in the 5K classical and 15K freestyle.
- Novie McCabe, Samuel Hendry, Joachim Lien, Bjørn Riksaasen captured All-America honors in both of their events at nationals as the team piled up 16 All-America awards overall for head coach Fredrik Landstedt.
- The Utes had three wins and two draws in Pac-12 Conference play in the 2020 season that was played in the spring of 2021.
- Taliana Kaufusi fired a team-high 20 shots on goal and was named to Pac-12 All-Freshman Team. Courtney Talbot and Anna Escobedo led the team in points.
- Hideki Nakada took over as head coach following the season, after spending the previous seven years as an assistant at Stanford.
- Haley Denning, who played outfield and shortstop, was named to the NFCA All-Region first team and All-Pac-12 second team after ranking in the top 11 in the nation in hits and stolen bases.
- Infielder Ellessa Bonstrom earned All-Pac-12 third-team honors.
- Halle Morris, who played both corner infield positions and pitched, was named to the NFCA All-Region third team.
- The Utes won the Pac-12 Conference diving team title and placed fourth in swimming.
- Luke McDivitt was named the Pac-12 Diver of the Year after winning the platform title and placed sixth in the same event at nationals to earn first-team All-America honors.
- Five who earned All-America honors will return in 2021-22, including captains Ben Waterman and Andrew Britton, as well as Cooper DeRyk, who is one of the top sprinters in the country.
- Utah placed fifth in swimming and second in diving at the Pac-12 Championships, recording their best finishes in nine years as a league member.
- Lizzy DeCecco delivered the program’s first springboard podium finish at the Pac-12 Championships.
- Audrey Reimer set school records in both the 100 and 200 back.
- Finished 18-10 in 2021 as the team was No. 50 in the Oracle/ITA final rankings.
- Finished the year No. 2 in the Mountain Region and had four individuals ranked in the top 20 for singles play with Franco Capalbo coming in No. 3 and Geronimo Busleiman at No. 5 to lead the way.
- Capalbo earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention.
- Finished the season 7-2 in Mountain Region play.
- Anastasia Goncharova in earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention.
- Madeline Lamoreaux finished the year ranked No. 6 in singles in the Mountain Region, while Lamoreaux and Emily Dush came in ranked No. 4 in the region for doubles.
- The Utes climbed as high as No. 7 in the AVCA poll.
- Team qualified for their fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament as the 14th overall seed.
- Beth Launiere picked up her 600th career win in 31 seasons at Utah.
- Outside hitter Dani Drews became the first player in school history to be named a first-team AVCA All-American for a second time.
- She was also selected as the Pac-12 Player of the Year and the AVCA Pacific South Region Player of the Year.
- Marissa Koch and Sage Patchell played most of their matches at the No. 1 position, each picking up a pair of wins.
- Grace Andrews saw time primarily with the No. 2 group, also earning two wins.
- Keana Smalls also played a significant amount of time with Utah’s second group.
2018-19 Accomplishments
