UTAH UTES
Utes Bulletin: Things Happening In Utah Athletics (Week Of 2/6/23)
SALT LAKE CITY โย With football on a bit of a hiatus till spring ball kicks off and several of the smaller sports in full-swing and having success, we thought a one-stop-shop for little tidbits of Utah Athletics information might be helpful for you, the fan, with the Utes Bulletin.
If you missed any of the highlights from the previous week, you can review that here.
Without further ado, here is this weekโs Utes Bulletin that includes ranking updates, upcoming events for the week, and important dates to keep track of among other things of interest concerning Utah Athletics for the week of 2/6/23.
๐จ๐๐ฎ๐ต ๐๐๐ต๐น๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ ๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ช๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ธ
๐พ @UtahTennis
๐พ @UteWomensTennis
โท๏ธ @utahskiteam
๐ฅ @Utah_Softball
๐โโ๏ธ @UTAHswimdive
๐ฅ @UtahLacrosse
๐โโ๏ธ @Utah_trackfield
๐คธโโ๏ธ @UtahGymnastics
๐ @UtahMBB
๐ @UtahWBB๐๏ธ https://t.co/pL7bwJAt8N#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/4e0dJKJgej
— Utah Athletics (@utahathletics) February 6, 2023
Utah Gymnastics
Maile O'Keefe gets her fifth career Perfect ๐ on beamโผ๏ธ @UtahGymnastics pic.twitter.com/b1yQw9HYPV
— ESPN (@espn) February 4, 2023
Maile O’Keefe scored a perfect 10 on beam while Grace McCallum, and Kara Eaker were close with 9.975s. Jillian Hoffman flirted with perfection as well on vault, also scoring a 9.975.
Red Rocks In The Rankings
There has been no new movement with the Red Rocks in the rankings as they continue to stay steady at No. 4 in the country, but they are most certainly accomplishing what they need to in order to have the best seeding when it comes time for Regionals and Nationals in postseason play.
๐ช๐๐๐ ๐ฑ โจ ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ป๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฑ #๐ฐ
Event Rankings โคต๏ธ
Vault: 3rd
Bars: 6th
Beam: 1st
Floor: 8th#trUSt pic.twitter.com/Ho0HDMX1hN— Utah Gymnastics (@UtahGymnastics) February 6, 2023
One area the Utes did move up this week in the rankings is bars. The Red Rocks went from No. 8 in the country to No. 6 after their meet against UCLA. Utah’s other three events have remained the same from the week before coming in No. 8 on floor, No. 3 on vault and No. 1 on beam.
Who, What, When, Where
This week the Red Rocks are on the road heading to Dallas, Texas, for the Metroplex Challenge against Illinois, Illinois State, and No. 18 Georgia on Saturday, February 11. The meet will take place at the Fort Worth Convention Center with a start time of 1:15 pm MT.
Details on how to watch if you aren’t in the Dallas/Fort Worth area are pending and will be updated when they become available.
Utah Women’s Basketball
The Utah women had one heck of an outing on the road last week and are currently tied with Stanford for first in the Pac-12 after beating Oregon State in overtime Friday night and dropping 100 on Oregon Sunday afternoon.ย
Alissa Pili tonight:
30 PTS | 7 REB | 6 AST | 12-18 FG
#7 Utah defeats Oregon 100-92! #NCAAW | @UTAHWBB pic.twitter.com/d2qRp49lm6
— Womenโs Hoopz (@WBBWorldWide) February 6, 2023
Utah Women Hold Steady In The Rankings
Utah stays steady this week at No. 7 in the country despite some big road wins. This is the highest ranking for the women’s team in program history.
This weekโs @AP_Top25 poll just dropped. ๐#Pac12WBB | @Vegas pic.twitter.com/dORWtzjbPk
— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) February 6, 2023
Who, What, When, Where
The Utes return home to host the Washington schools this week at the Huntsman Center.
First up, the Huskies will roll in Friday night at 7 pm MT. Then the Cougars of Washington State will take their turn on Sunday before the Super Bowl with a 12:00 pm MT tip. Both games can be viewed on the Pac-12 Network.
Utah Men’s Basketball
The Runnin’ Utes had a mix-bag week splitting the NorCal schools while receiving some bad news about Gabe Madsen and his availability moving forward through the season.
Utah stumbled Thursday night against the Stanford Cardinal posting their second loss in a row, however, they had a nice bounce back game against Cal Sunday afternoon in the Huntsman Center.ย ย
Another double-double for our guy @ballerbranden35โผ๏ธ pic.twitter.com/1jk77tvEDk
— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) February 6, 2023
Who, What, When, Where
The Runnin’ Utes will also continue to be home this weekend, but will only have one game as they host the Colorado Buffaloes on Saturday, February 11. Tipoff is set for 8:00 pm MT and can be viewed on FS1.
Utah Ski Team
Yes, we have some awesome news coming out of the Utah ski team this week.
Luke Jager, Sophia Laukli, Novie McCabe, and Sydney Palmer-Leger all represented Team USA at the FIS Nordic U23 World Championships in British Columbia this past weekend.
โผFour of the top U23 skiers ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ฅ๐ are Utesโผ
Read about the week that was for Luke, Novie, Sophia and Syd in Whistler
๐ธ https://t.co/kqG3JPClkr
๐ฐ https://t.co/65YNSD55nt#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/5Gh9vX0aZH— Utah Ski Team (@utahskiteam) February 5, 2023
Laukli, McCabe, and Palmer-Leger all finished in the Top-Nine- a rather unusual feat considering all three hail from the same NCAA team. It is also worth noting Palmer-Leger is a Utah local who grew up in Park City.
Utah Football
The Utes announced their date for their annual Coaches Clinic held in the spring every year. The event will take place on March 25 with keynote speaker Teddy Atlas.
๐ฆ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ
Utah Football Coaches Clinic
๐๏ธ: March 25More details to come! pic.twitter.com/1lLCVjiIry
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) February 3, 2023
East-West Shrine Bowl
Utah had two participants competing in the East-West Shrine Bowl last week and by all accounts they did what they needed to. Running back Tavion Thomas and linebacker Mohamoud Diabate both had their turns to shine through the week leading up to the game as preparation for more NFL Draft evaluations gets underway.
Progression On Aaron Lowe’s Murder Trial
After months of delays, a preliminary hearing took place last Friday, February 3, in the murder of Utah football player Aaron Lowe.
The prosecution presented enough evidence against suspect Buk Muwat Buk for Utah 3rd District Court Judge Paul B. Parker to move forward with a trial. The first pre-trial conference is set for April 10, 2023.
Buk Mawut Buk was ordered to stand trial for aggravated murder in the 2021 shooting death of University of Utah football player Aaron Lowe.https://t.co/nIWiqwVgjf
— KSL 5 TV (@KSL5TV) February 3, 2023
Buk faces first-degree charges for aggravated murder and attempted aggravated murder along with second-degree charges for possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person and obstructing justice. Buk has pled not guilty to all charges.
It will be two years in September since Lowe’s life was tragically taken after a fight broke out at a house partying following a Utah football game back in 2021.
Pro Bowl Snoop
Former Utah quarterback Tyler Huntley got the call up to perform in the NFL Pro Bowl over the weekend after injuries took some participants out. Huntley once again took an opportunity that presented itself to him and ran with it, turning heads with the reps he received.
.@_SNOOP1 had himself a day ๐ #ProUtes https://t.co/YOpeLLiw58
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) February 6, 2023
Super Bowl Utes
Former wide receiver Britain Covey will be the only player out on the field as a punt returner for the Eagles. Former quarterback Brian Johnson will join Covey as the quarterback coach for Philly.
On the opposite side of the gridiron, former linebacker and son of head coach Kyle Whittingham, Alex Whittingham will also be participating in the Super Bowl as a defensive quality control coach.
Michelle Bodkin is the Utah Utes Insider for KSLsports.com and host of both the Crimson Corner Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and The Saturday Show (Saturday from 10 a.m.โ12 p.m.) on The KSL Sports Zone. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram: @BodkinKSLsports
