You could hear it in Maile O’Keefe’s voice Thursday when she was asked about winning the NCAA title on the balance beam and all-around. The Utah gymnast started talking about the individual accomplishment then drifted into future possibilities, of what it would be like to possibly win an NCAA team title Saturday.
“I have done a lot of things by myself but they are never as fulfilling as winning a Pac-12 or an NCAA title as a team,” she said.
O’Keefe went on to address all the logistics of what a win would need: focus, clean routines, staying in the Utah bubble. But really she and everyone who will watch the NCAA Championships on Saturday knows ultimately it will come down to whichever team has that last little bit of magic to win.
As Thursday’s semifinal showed and O’Keefe’s comments revealed, there is no reason that team couldn’t be the Utes.
NCAA Gymnastics Championships
Saturday, 2 p.m. MT
Fort Worth, Texas
Teams: Oklahoma (vault), LSU (bars), Florida (beam), Utah (floor)*
TV: ABC
Radio: ESPN 700
*starting event in parentheses
Utah makes its bid for its first NCAA title since 1995 on Saturday in Fort Worth against Oklahoma, LSU and Florida. The Utes beat LSU earlier in the year and have split with the defending champion Sooners after winning Thursday’s session.
The Utes have been in a similar position before, finishing third the last two seasons, but it hasn’t been since 2020, the season that unfortunately ended abruptly due to COVID, that the Utes have had a team with the winning energy this one has.
Utah coach Tom Farden knew that team was special. He’ll stop short of making the comparisons between the two, at least right now, but he knows the commonality. It only remains to be seen if the Utes can conjure one more win.
(Tony Gutierrez | AP) Utah's Abby Brenner celebrates after competing in the vault during the semifinals of the NCAA women's gymnastics championships Thursday, April 13, 2023, in Fort Worth, Texas.
“This team wants to swing for the fences and see where it takes us,” he said. “Does it end in a national championship? I can’t guarantee that but I’ve been working my entire career on this. You have to keep tinkering to figure it all out and this is part of the process. Winning the semis is part of the process. They are building blocks.”
What was so impressive about Thursday’s semifinal win was the Utes straight up won. None of their opponents fell apart, allowing the Utes to simply sneak in. Kentucky, UCLA and Oklahoma all had their big events just like the Utes — and ultimately Utah rose to the top with a strong uneven bars set and fantastic finish on the beam.
Working in the Utes’ favor Saturday is the random draw gave them the same rotation. They will start on floor again while Oklahoma starts on vault, LSU starts on the uneven bars and Florida starts on the beam.
The rotation was great for the Utes Thursday, they just need to avoid the dip on the vault they had Thursday when Makenna Smith’s 9.9 was the team high.
“We feel like we left a few tenths out there and we’d like to pick those up,” Farden said. “We want to get off to a good start and maintain a good even pace throughout the meet.”
You can bet every team in the finals is looking at their scoresheet from Thursday and saying the same thing, where a tenth can be gained and a deduction eliminated.
Farden found a little extra on Thursday when he gambled and used Grace McCallum, who hadn’t competed since injuring her knee on Feb. 11, on the balance beam and uneven bars. She delivered, scoring a 9.95 on the bars and a 9.925 on the beam.
Utah celebrates after achieving the highest score in the second session of the semifinals of the NCAA women's gymnastics championships, Thursday, April 13, 2023, in Fort Worth, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
After her bars routine, she broke into tears, an acknowledgment of the hard work it took to get back in the lineup. She called it the most fulfilling moment of her gymnastics career, thoughts echoed by Farden.
“Her determination drove her to compete again,” Farden said. “We even went into the gym the night of regionals so she could train. We just had to keep breaking things down every week depending on what she was cleared to do.”
On the sidelines cheering for her were Smith and Jaylene Gilstrap, the two athletes she had replaced in the lineups. Their absence from the lineups and how they handled the situation reveal just how close the team is. When all the talent is equal, perhaps the chemistry of this Utah team will set it apart.
“Nobody took it personally,” Farden said. “Makenna said, ‘I’m so happy with my freshman year, I get it now.’ We have such a team-centric team. When you have that and everyone has roles, that’s what you want.”
And they might just get what they need.