Maile O’Keefe In The Running For 2023 AAI Award
Mar 15, 2023, 9:20 AM
SALT LAKE CITY – It’s been an amazing year for Red Rock Maile O’Keefe. The “Beam Queen” has not only cemented herself in Utah gymnastics history but is now up for the AAI Award given to the top female senior gymnast in the country.
O’Keefe is one of six finalists for the award that is voted on by NCAA women’s gymnastics head coaches and sponsored by American Athletic, Inc.
O’Keefe is the first Red Rock to be named a finalist for the award since fellow beam sensation Baely Rowe in 2017. Georgia Dabritz was the last Red Rock to win the AAI back in 2015.
Congratulations to @maile_okeefe for being selected as a 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯 𝗔𝗔𝗜 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁!
Maile is one of six gymnasts in the nation to be named a finalist for the award and is the first Red Rock to do so since 2017.
🔗 https://t.co/P0IEgSAbh5#RedRocks x #AAI pic.twitter.com/dQzrf1QQDD
— Utah Gymnastics (@UtahGymnastics) March 15, 2023
Luisa Blanco (Alabama), Sierra Brooks (Michigan), Lynnzee Brown (Denver), Trinity Thomas (Florida) and Raena Worley (Kentucky) join O’Keefe as the 2023 hopefuls for the award to be given out next month at the NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championships in Fort Worth, Texas.
All About Maile O’Keefe
As the school record holder for most 10.0s on beam in a career, and the school record holder for most 10.0s on beam in a single season, O’Keefe has been a stalwart for the Utes since she set foot on campus.
Beam isn’t the only arena O’Keefe has been a force in for the Utes though, hitting 130 consecutive routines to start her Red Rock career, and ranking second in school history for the longest streak of hit routines.
O’Keefe currently leads the Red Rocks as an 11-time All-American. She is a four-time All-American on beam, three-time All-American in the all-around, three-time All-American on bars, while also earning one honor on floor as well.
And most of the perfect routine 😍 pic.twitter.com/i0kXszJI7G
— Michelle Bodkin (@BodkinKSLsports) February 25, 2023
In 2021, O’Keefe became the national champion on both bars and floor, marking the fifth time in school history a Utah gymnast has won two national titles in the same year.
O’Keefe earned Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year, Pac-12 all-around champion, and became Pac-12 champion on bars, beam, and floor in 2021. O’Keefe followed that up in 2022 as the Pac-12 Specialist of the Year.
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.–12 p.m.) on The KSL Sports Zone. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram: @BodkinKSLsports
