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

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

Two visions can be made of the latest performances by the Utah gymnastics team, that the disappointing displays would be a great wake-up call for the Pac-12 Championship or meant that the Utes had passed their peak and were in decline at the wrong time of year.

Well, I think we know which theory was right.

The Utah gymnastics team came out of their crisis 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 last rotation to finish second with 197,375, while the Bruins were third (196,725) and the State of Arizona fourth (196,375). Utes won the last conference meeting in 2017.

“It was a great night,” said Utah coach Tom Farden. “I am super proud of the team and the athletes and staff. It takes a lot of people to win a conference championship, and I’m feeling very grateful now. “

UCLA, who won in 2018 and 2019, was the closest competitor to the Utes in the first half of the competition and really led Utah by 49,525-49,325 after the first rotation.

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

With the bars behind them, the Utes had the kind of performance they said they were capable of, as Utah posted a score after score of 9.9 or more. Altogether, the Utes ended with 13 scores of 9.9 or more, a score that Farden has been emphasizing lately.

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

That mark was good enough to put Utes ahead of UCLA 99-98.95. The beam’s performance, as impressive as it may be, was not surprising, given the Utes’ talent in the device over the past two years.

What was surprising was Utah’s ability to match the score on the ground. There, O’Keefe, Jaedyn Rucker and Sydney Soloski had 9.95s, giving Utah a comfortable margin of 148.675 against UCLA’s 148.3 going into the final rotation.

The Vault was disappointing, with the Utes scoring just 49.05, but until then the Utes were leading comfortably and the encounter was practically closed.

O’Keefe had a season so strong that Saturday’s efforts seemed almost mundane to her, as he scored 9.95s on everything except the jump, where he had a 9.85. It was only after the final scores were computed that it became evident how great a night she had, as she won the all-around and won a share of each individual title, except for the jump.

The immediate reaction to the Utes’ victory was to show that the Utes can really intensify their gymnastics in major competitions, just as they said they could.

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

In terms of the program, it was a great victory because the conference meeting has eluded the Utes in recent years. After watching UCLA win consecutive titles, Utes thought they would have their chance last year after going undefeated, only to have the post-season canceled due to the outbreak of COVID-19.

Now, Utes can not only enjoy a regular season scan and conference meeting titles, they can look forward to the NCAA regional meeting in two weeks with some renewed confidence.

Indeed, losing Saturday’s competition may have been a devastating loss enough to send Utes into a downward spiral in the ranking and off the national scene.

Saturday’s victory puts the Utes in a whole new position, given the way they dominated.

Yes, the encounter had an unstable start when Abby Paulson fell off the bars in the first position, but the Utes hardly seemed shaken by the creation of so many strong routines that the expected close encounter depended on a total defeat.

It was the kind of encounter that the Utes not only wanted, but were also necessary if they wanted to be taken seriously as the NCAAs approached.