Red Rocks Stamp Their Ticket To 47th Straight Nationals Appearance
Apr 1, 2023, 7:56 PM | Updated: Apr 3, 2023, 12:46 pm
LOS ANGELES – Only two could advance from the L.A. Regional Final and the Red Rocks are one of those teams marking their 47th straight appearance at Nationals.
Conference mate UCLA will be joining the Utes in Dallas from the L.A. Regional. Nationals will take place in two weeks on April 13 and 15.
Utah led the meet from the jump after a hot start on vault that included another Jaedyn Rucker perfect 10. In the second rotation, Utah and Missouri were tied, but strong beam and floor rotations to finish out the meet gave the Utes the 198.050 advantage to move on.
𝟒𝟕 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓.
The Red Rocks have punched their ticket to the National Championships in Fort Worth! #trUSt x #NCAA pic.twitter.com/842jeNbJXv
— Utah Gymnastics (@UtahGymnastics) April 2, 2023
The Red Rocks had a very dominant outing overall in Los Angeles posting a 198.125 in Thursday’s meet with Rucker and teammate Maile O’Keefe both posting perfect 10s. The Utes appear to be peaking at the right moment as they will now turn their attention to preparing for another run at the National Title.
Rotation One: Utah Vault, UCLA Bars, Missouri Beam, UW Floor
Wow!!! Jaedyn Rucker with another 10 on vault in this regional. Third of her career. So awesome for her.#GoUtes #UteProud #trUSt #22Forever
— Michelle Bodkin (@BodkinKSLsports) April 2, 2023
Maile O’Keefe – 9.925
Abby Brenner – 9.900
Jillian Hoffman – 9.900
Makenna Smith – 9.850
Jaedyn Rucker – 10.00
Jaylene Hoffman – 9.825
Utah Vault: 49.575
UCLA Bar: 49.400
Missouri Beam: 49.400
UW Floor: 49.150
Rotation Two: Utah Bars, UCLA Beam, Missouri Floor, UW Vault
Cristal Isa leads us on bars with a 9.90! 🙌
💻 ESPN+
📲 https://t.co/c4ljVhoZNj pic.twitter.com/EOOaxrIYsQ— Utah Gymnastics (@UtahGymnastics) April 2, 2023
Amelie Morgan – 9.850
Makenna Smith – 9.875
Abby Brenner – 9.850
Sage Thompson – 9.875
Maile O’Keefe – 9.825
Cristal Isa – 9.900
Utah Total: 98.925
Missouri Total: 98.925
UCLA Total: 98.725
UW Total: 98.300
Rotation Three: Utah Beam, UCLA Floor, Missouri Vault, UW Bars
Amelie Morgan – 9.800
Abby Paulson – 9.900
Kara Eaker – 9.950
Cristal Isa – 9.875
Maile O’Keefe – 9.950
Jaylene Gilstrap – 9.850
Utah Total: 148.450
UCLA Total: 148.425
Missouri Total: 148.375
UW Total: 147.200
Rotation Four: Utah Floor, UCLA Vault, Missouri Bars, UW Beam
Utah has stamped their ticket to #Nationals with Maile O'Keefe left to go. The #RedRocks already are first with a 198.00. Whatever O'Keefe gets is icing on the cake.#GoUtes #UteProud #trUSt #22Forever
— Michelle Bodkin (@BodkinKSLsports) April 2, 2023
Abby Brenner – 9.875
Jaylene Gilstrap – 9.900
Abby Paulson – 9.900
Makenna Smith – 9.950
Jaedyn Rucker – 9.925
Maile O’Keefe – 9.925
Utah Final: 198.050
UCLA Final: 197.925
Missouri Final: 197.600
UW Final: 195.650
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