Per a release from the University of Utah, head gymnastics coach Tom Farden has been placed on administrative leave effective immediately due to "recent conduct and actions not related to student-athlete welfare, which simply do not align with our values and expectations."
Maile O'Keefe is the first Utah gymnast since Theresa Kulikowski in 1999 (against Utah State and Boise State) to earn multiple perfect 10s in the same meet.
Maile O'Keefe is now Utah's record holder for most perfect 10s on beam in a single season, with 3. She just past Kristen Kenoyer, Missy Marlowe, Theresa Kulikowski and Ashley Postell.
Maile O'Keefe is special. That shouldn't be surprising given she is a two-time individual national champion, but every week she shows she is one of the best gymnasts in the country.
This was the most impressive win I have seen for Utah in the six years I've covered the team. With everything going on, the elite gymnastics of Oklahoma and UCLA and Utah beat them both.
Update on Kara Eaker. Per
@UtahGymnastics
, Eaker has a sprained ankle and will be out for a couple of weeks. Considering what happened, it could have been much worse.
With Amelie Morgan set to compete for Utah next season, this has got to be the most talented Red Rocks team ever. Two Olympians, an Olympic alternate, plus everyone back from last season (except Emilie LeBlanc). The NCAA will have a ton of talented teams, but Utah’s loaded.
Utah gymnastics was shut out of Pac-12 awards this season.
Gymnast of Year — Selena Harris (UCLA)
Specialist of the Year — Chloe Widner (Stanford)
Freshman of the Year — Sophia Esposito (Oregon State)
Coaches of the Year — Justin Howell & Elisabeth Crandall-Howell (Cal)
Best thing from Utah's post-meet press conference: Maile O'Keefe didn't know she got a perfect 10 on beam because she ran to the restroom after finishing her routine.
Utah makes Pac-12 history, winning three straight conference titles. What a performance. To do this without Grace McCallum and Jillian Hoffman as well. This is a special group of Red Rocks.
I kind of expected this, but it was just confirmed that the Big 12 gymnastics championships will be held at the Maverik Center in West Valley City next season.
The comeback by Utah today was one for the ages. They couldn't have gotten off to a worse start and Missouri and Michigan State were on fire. Incredible recovery by the Red Rocks.
Utah is going to be loaded next season, with an incoming class that includes three 5-star gymnasts — Elizabeth Gantner, Camie Winger, and Ella Zirbes — another freshman in Olivia Kennedy plus Maile O'Keefe, Jaedyn Rucker and Abby Paulson returning.
I don't know if Utah will win the national championship this year. I don't even know if they'll make it back to the Final Four. But this is the best Utah team I've covered and I started in 2018.
Many of the previous teams were incredible, but none won like this team does.
I think this stat is cool in regards to Jayden Rucker.
She is the first Utah gymnast with a perfect 10 on vault in back-to-back meets since Kristen Kenoyer in 1993. They are the only Red Rocks who've done it.
Kara Eaker and Kim Tessen addressed the Education Committee of the Utah House of Representatives yesterday, regarding a resolution (H.J.R. 7) condemning abusive coaching practices.
You can watch their statements here. Discourse starts at the 32 min mark.
Tom Farden called tonight the most impressive win in recent Utah history. He insinuated that it was the best win by the Red Rocks since he has been at Utah.
If college gymnastics coaching searches were like college football, Michigan State’s Mike Rowe, Missouri’s Shannon Welker and others like them would be loudly speculated as options for UCLA. And of course Jordyn Wieber would be target No. 1.
Abby Brenner is the most enthusiastic and energized gymnast I've ever seen at Utah. It is honestly crazy. I don't know how someone can have that much energy.
Unless I cannot read (which is genuinely possible) Utah should start Saturday's competition on floor again, and end the meet on beam.
I don't think the Red Rocks could ask for a better rotation than that.
Oklahoma should start on vault, Florida on beam and LSU on bars.
Got to talk to Amelie Morgan today (story coming later).
She will be leaving Utah for over a month, but will be back to compete at the Pac-12 championships and the NCAA postseason.
Thoughts on Utah's beam lineup (at Best of Utah
— Kara Eaker has a real argument to being the best beam worker in college gymnastics. Or should by the end of the year.
— The Red Rocks are going to fight for the title of best beam team.
— 49.675. What a showing.
No updates yet on Grace McCallum’s injury, per Utah gymnastics. There is media availability tomorrow so we may find out then. It is also possible that Utah is going to defer and let Grace make any announcements herself on social media.
Lucy Stanhope becomes the second Utah gymnast to enter the transfer portal this offseason, along with Jillian Hoffman.
A junior this past season, Stanhope had flashes of greatness at Utah.
Jillian Hoffman will transfer to another program and utilize her fifth year of eligibility. Cammy Hall did a similar thing last year, transferring to LSU.
Had interviews a couple of hours ago with the Red Rocks and there is good news. Abby Paulson is expected to compete on more than just floor at nationals. Tom Farden wouldn't go so far as to guarantee she'll be back on bars, beam and floor, but it is looking more and more like it.
Cammy went to high five a teammate, went wide-eyed and then fell to the ground. Medical team working on her now on the vault runway. And now she is at least sitting up.
Everyone understandably is hoping for the best case scenario, but I also spoke with multiple Utah gymnasts and they are very confident that if Grace can’t compete the team has the routines it needs. Nearly every gymnast believes this is the deepest Utah team they’ve been on.
No Grace McCallum update today. I have been told that we will have an update some time in the next few days. Utah is (understandably) being very thorough with testing and is awaiting results.
Thoughts on Utah's beam rotation (against Boise State)
— A new look lineup in a lot of ways, but still really really good.
— Maile O'Keefe is a legend. New rules instituted to limit 10s and she gets one the very first meet of the season.
Tonight's result in Denver — the Denver Pioneers and LSU Tigers advancing — illustrates how truly incredible Utah's streak of 47 straight appearances at the national championships is.
Elite teams lose at regionals. It happens. In recent years to both Florida and Michigan.
Thoughts on Utah's bar rotation (NCAA semis)
— Exactly the rotation Utah needed. That was the best they've done on bars as a group this season.
— Utah counted only 9.9s or better.
— GRACE MCCALLUM
The teams — No. 2 LSU, No. 3 Cal, No. 4 Florida and No. 5 Utah.
Utah again finds a way to the national championship meet despite not being seeded in the top 4. That makes three of the last four years the Red Rocks have pulled that off.
Utah will be competing for a national title (first since 1995) Saturday afternoon. What a performance by the Red Rocks, coupled with some of the crazier mistakes in a meet from multiple teams.
Utah gymnastics has released its 2024 roster. Fourteen gymnasts in total, including a four-woman freshman class that I can definitively say Tom Farden is thrilled to have.
This is significant news for NCAA gymnastics. Volunteer coaches have always incredibly difficult to hold on to (for obvious reasons). And now, they will rightly just be coaches.
🚨SOURCES: The
@NCAA
Division I Council has approved a measure to turn all volunteer positions in baseball and softball (and in all sports) into a full-time coaching position without recruiting constraints. Volunteers will officially become full-time coaches on July 1, 2023.
I am at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas for the semifinals of the NCAA women’s gymnastics championships. Figured with Utah ending on beam tonight I should sit by that event.
Jillian Hoffman was resting for Utah today. Tom Farden sang the praises of Jaylene Gilstrap, preached about context mattering (Utah being without two Olympians) and deftly avoided a fine when I asked about judging.
I'm just going to leave this here since Abby Brenner is the latest Minnesotan to come to Utah. Abby Paulson and Brenner were teammates at Twin City Twisters.
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Utah will be competing for a national title (first since 1995) Saturday afternoon. What a performance by the Red Rocks, coupled with some of the crazier mistakes in a meet from multiple teams.
Amelie Morgan confirms that she will be competing at English Gymnastics Championships in March. More to come on what that means for her season at Utah tomorrow.
Not trying to give away stories I am going to write in the next couple of days, but I will say that Carly Dockendorf has the utmost confidence in her gymnasts and expectations that Utah will be great in the future, even if some things change under her leadership.
The most interesting takeaway from Utah’s win over LSU (to me) is the idea that this year’s team has a better vibe/is more connected than any recent version of the Red Rocks. Maile O’Keefe spoke to that again, but so did Abby Paulson.
For the first time since I’ve covered the team (starting in 2018) Utah is ranked in the top 6 on every event entering the NCAA portion of the postseason. That historically has been something of a prerequisite for NCAA champs.
I wasn’t fast enough to catch it on video, but Abby Brenner just had a little heart-warming moment with some of her former Michigan teammates. Hugs, cheers and such.
I’m late on this, but the Red Rocks got a commitment from Olympus Gymnastics’ Sage Curtis. Rated a 3-star recruit (Class of 2025) by College Gym News, Curtis announced her commitment to Utah on Instagram.
Her goal is to make it back to the Olympics, and she is very much doing this for her, for fun, and for her satisfaction.
She emphasized that she wants to do both elite and NCAA gym in a way that will be beneficial to both her and Utah.
Ashley Glynn to Utah is official.
Here's what Tom Farden said about her joining the Red Rocks — "Ashley's work ethic and even-keeled demeanor, along with her four-event experience at Temple will bode well for making lineups at Utah...
Here was Maile O'Keefe's answer (word for word) when I asked her if she was going to return for a fifth year at Utah — "I have thought about it a lot and I have kind of been working on things. It is definitely something I've been thinking about and would love to do."
There we go. Maile O'Keefe is now tied with Theresa Kulikowski for the most perfect 10s on beam in a Utah career.
Maile has every argument to being considered the GOAT on beam for Utah.
Jaedyn has always seemed to do better in the postseason than she does during the regular season. And that was an excellent vault. Perfection for her again,