Red Rocks easily win Best of Utah meet
WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah (ABC4 Sports) – The University of Utah gymnastics team rebounded from a disappointing performance against some of the top teams in the country on Saturday to easily win the Best of Utah quad meet at the Maverik Center on Monday.
For the fifth year in a row, the 5th-ranked Red Rocks took the top spot against the competition from around the state with a score of 197.725, beating second place BYU by nearly two full points. The Cougars had a score of 195.775. SUU and Utah State rounded out the competition with scores of 194.000 and 193.600, respectively.
Makenna Smith was the only Utes gymnast to compete in all four events. She had the high score on vault with a 9.875.
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Grace McCallum and Amelie Morgan both turned in stellar performances on the bars, with each gymnast earning scores of 9.95, while Maile O’Keefe had a season-high 9.925.
O’Keefe then scored her second perfect-10 of the season on beam. That was O’Keefe’s 12th career perfect 10 on the event, and her 13th overall. Morgan added a 9.95 as the Utes started to pull away from the pack.
Utah’s best team performance of the day was on the floor exercise. O’Keefe and McCallum both had 9.95s, while Smith earned a 9.925.
BYU’s Anna Bramblett took home the MVP award for the Cougars after scoring a 9.875 on bars.
The bar swingers got things rolling for the Cougars in the first rotation. Kylie Eaquinto earned a 9.850 for the second time this season, followed by a team-high 9.875 by Bramblett in the anchor position.
Brynlee Anderson notched a new career-high score of 9.900 on the beam, as the Cougars closed out the second rotation with a beam score of 48.975.
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Millar-Crossman earned a 9.825 with her first floor routine of the season for the Cougars. Adding a pair of 9.825s from Sophie Dudley and Eaquinto, BYU finished the rotation with a floor score of 49.075.
Ava Jorgensen scored her second-straight 9.800 to open the final rotation for the Cougars. Anchoring on the vault for BYU, Raesly-Patton earned a 9.725. The Cougars ended the night with a final vault score of 48.775.
Utah next hosts Arizona State at the Huntsman Center on Friday, while BYU heads to Iowa State for their first Big 12 matchup on Friday.
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