The University of Utah gymnastics team wins the Pac-12 Championships

Utah wins the conference meeting for the first time since 2017, with Cal being second and UCLA third.

Two points of view could be taken regarding the last few performances of the Utah gymnastics team, that the disappointing performances would be a big wake-up call to the Pac-12 Championships or meant that Ute had passed the top and was on its way to the wrong time of year.

Well, we assume we know which theory was correct.

The Utah gymnastics team came out of its collapse to have a dominant performance on Saturday to win the Pac-12 Championship at Maverik Center with a 197,725. California overtook UCLA in the final round to finish in second place with 197,375, while the Bruins settled for third place (196,725) and Arizona was in fourth place (196,375). Utes last won the conference meeting in 2017.

“It was a great night,” Utah coach Tom Farden said. “I am very proud of the team, the athletes and the staff. It takes a village to win a conference championship and I feel very grateful right now. ”

UCLA, which won in 2018 and 2019, was Utes’ closest competitor in the first half of the meeting and actually led Utah with 49,525-49,325 after the first rotation.

There was no sense of panic among the Utes, however, as they assumed the opening event on the bars would be their low score, even if it was the best season.

With the bars behind them, Ute achieved the kind of performance they said they were capable of, as Utah posted one score after another of 9.9 or higher. In total, the Utes finished with 13 scores of 9.9 or higher, a number that Farden has pointed out lately.

The Utes absolutely dominated the balance, scoring 49,675 with Cristal Isa, Maile O’Keefe and Abby Paulson, all scoring 9.95.

This mark was good enough to put the Utes ahead of UCLA 99-98.95. This beam performance, however impressive, was not surprising, given Utes’ talent on the device over the past two years.

What was surprising was Utah’s ability to match that score on the floor. There, O’Keefe, Jaedyn Rucker and Sydney Soloski all had 9.95, giving Utah a comfortable margin of 148,675 compared to 148.3 for UCLA entering the final rotation.

Vault was disappointing, with the Utes only getting 49.05, but until then the Utes were driving comfortably and had the meeting almost blocked.

O’Keefe had such a strong season Saturday’s efforts seemed almost trivial, as he scored 9.95 on anything but the safe, where he had a 9.85. Only after the final scores were recorded, it was obvious how great a night he had when he won the all-around and won a piece of each individual title, except for the vault.

The immediate reaction to Utes’ victory was that he showed that Utes could indeed step up his gymnastics in big meetings, as they said he could.

“They were hungry,” Farden said. “I said that the last two weeks of training were good, solid and confident and they fed on that tonight in a close competition. They had a chip on their shoulder and something to prove. “

As for the program, it was a big win, because the conference meeting missed Ute in recent years. After seeing UCLA win back-to-back titles, the UTEs thought they would get the hit last year after being undefeated, for the postseason to be canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Now, Utes can not only enjoy a series of regular season and conference titles, but can look forward to the two-week NCAA regional meeting with renewed confidence.

Indeed, the loss of Saturday’s meeting could have been a devastating enough loss to make Utes fall in the standings and out of the national table.

Saturday’s win puts Utes in a whole new position, given how they dominated.

Yes, the meeting started in a shaky start when Abby Paulson fell off the bars at the venue, but the Utes seemed struggling as they put together so many powerful routines that the long-awaited close meeting was over. influenced by the fact that it was a complete routine.

It was the kind of meeting Ute not only wanted to have, but needed if they wanted to be taken seriously as the NCAAs approached.