This story is jointly published by nonprofits Amplify Utah and The Salt Lake Tribune to elevate diverse perspectives in local media through student journalism.
Maile O’Keefe stands at the edge of the mat behind the vault, the heels of her shoes digging into the soft flooring. Paired with billowing crimson slacks and a crisp white blazer, her look is a distinct shift from the sparkly leotards she wore as a Utah gymnast the previous five seasons.
A year after finishing her bachelor’s degree, O’Keefe — the 2023 NCAA all-around champion, dubbed the “beam queen” for her winning record in the balance event — now works for the University of Utah’s Red Rocks as a student coach.
On meet days, she cheers on the gymnasts as they take to the vault, hurling down the runway and catapulting off the springboard and through the air.
“It’s the highlight of my day because they do a great vault, and they stick it, and it’s just such joy,” O’Keefe said. “I enjoy being the first person there, while I’m in my heels trying not to break my ankle jumping on the squishy mat.”
Utah compiled a record of 15-4 in the regular season, ranking fourth in the country with a team national qualifying score of 197.780. The Red Rocks, as fans commonly call the team, made a dramatic come-from-behind win in their NCAA Regional Final.
The Red Rocks overcame a potential third-place finish with a season-defining floor rotation that catapulted them into first place in the regional meet, and secured their spot in the NCAA Championships, which are set for Thursday and Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas.
O’Keefe finished her senior season less than a year ago, when she helped Utah with a record-setting 48th consecutive NCAA Championship appearance. Now, she returns to the Red Rocks for a final ride to nationals, this time as a coach.
Carly Dockendorf, the Utes’ head coach, said she has loved O’Keefe’s addition to her coaching staff, because she gives the Red Rocks a weapon other teams might not have: a legend.
“I got spoiled to get to work alongside her for five years doing her gymnastics, and now getting to work together with her has been amazing,” Dockendorf said.
There are different ways for a coach to build a relationship with an athlete, Dockendorf said, and O’Keefe is able to give that valuable insight.
“For Maile to be able fill me in on some different ways on what the athlete’s feeling when they’re up on the beam, that’s been really helpful.” she added.
O’Keefe set multiple school records, boasting 15 career perfect scores — 14 of those on the beam, six of them in just one season.
She said she didn’t feel like walking away from the sport to which she’s devoted her life.
“If you’re really passionate about your sport and developing younger athletes, it’s a great way to continue on your passion,” she added. “There’s no way I would have just been fine. I probably would have had an identity crisis, and my world would have been in shambles for a bit.”
Applying her passion to student coaching, she said, seemed like the obvious next move.
“It was really the only thing that I could have done to be happy, honestly,” she added.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah student assistant coach Maile O'Keefe hugs Zoe Johnson after her vault, in the NCAA gymnastics regional finals at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on Saturday, April 5, 2025.
‘A lot of mutual respect’
O’Keefe’s transition from athlete to coach has been challenging, she said, from not performing gymnastics after more than 20 years to adjusting her relationship with former teammates.
“This sounds superficial, but one of the main things I struggled with was [no longer being] the ‘important person,’” O’Keefe said. “Understanding that and settling into my new role was definitely hard.”
O’Keefe said she quickly realized how different the experience would be at the beginning of the summer, when she first started coaching for Utah.
“I definitely felt weird and out of place a little bit,” she said. “Standing around in the gym versus doing flips — I was waiting for somebody to look at me and be like, ‘Maile, what are you doing? Get to work.’”
At first, O’Keefe said, she thought it would be uncomfortable coaching her former teammates, especially those who had been on the team longer.
“It was actually the opposite,” she said. “We had a lot of mutual respect. I was more uneasy with the younger girls, because I didn’t know their personalities as well, and I wasn’t sure how they’d respond to someone younger giving corrections or feedback. It’s turned out to be one of my favorite challenges.”
Despite the challenges, the best thing O’Keefe said she has taken away from her season coaching is perspective. For example, she said she noticed the gymnasts often have an anxious look during competition.
“I was so focused on the gymnastics … that I never realized how we can come off so nervous,” she added. “It’s so important to remember gymnastics isn’t everything. I try to remind the girls it’s a big part of our life, but it’s not the end-all be-all.”
Former teammate Grace McCallum, for one, said she foresaw this trajectory into coaching for O’Keefe.
“Maile has always had amazing coaching and mentoring qualities,” McCallum, a senior and Olympic silver medalist. “She’s always been good at taking you under her wing, really helping you out, being a good leader.”
McCallum said she has benefited from O’Keefe’s perspective, and that her coaching helped her earn first-team All-American on both bars and beam, and second team in the all-around.
“It’s been nice to have somebody that you just know on a more personal level, and she can relate to you really well because she was just an athlete, your teammate, last year,” McCallum said. “It’s been really nice to have somebody that I can always go to for advice.”
O’Keefe’s influence on McCallum goes even further. On Senior Night against UCLA, McCallum announced that she, too, would be returning to Utah next season as a student coach.
“Coaching has always been something that’s been in the back of my mind, and who better to learn from than these amazing coaches here?” McCallum said. “I just feel like I’ll learn so much. … How could I say no?”
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Ashley Glynn and student assistant coach Maile O'Keefe react after Glynn's vault, in Utah Utes gymnastics action against Utah State at the Jon M. Huntsman Center, on Friday, Jan. 3, 2025.
Encouraging a rookie gymnast
O’Keefe said she has the benefit of being just a few years removed from her inaugural season on the team and applies a lesson she learned as an athlete: patience is everything.
“I had all this pressure and expectations coming in, and I really couldn’t and didn’t understand how to handle all that,” O’Keefe said. “Then I had a great year, a great career at the end of everything. [it] takes time.”
Avery Neff, a freshman gymnast and last year’s No. 1 recruit, said working with O’Keefe as a coach has helped build her confidence.
“I grew up watching Maile. … You just can’t help but look up to her in so many ways,” Neff said. “She’s literally the sweetest human ever, and just so easy to talk to.”
O’Keefe’s presence came at the right time for Neff, who suffered a severe ankle sprain on Jan. 17 against Iowa State. Such an injury can take months to heal, but Neff returned to competition just three weeks later — and credited O’Keefe for helping her along the way.
“Maile told me that you just have to be confident in yourself,” Neff said. “She told me her experiences, so the little encouragements and tips that she gives me are all I need and all I could ask for.”
The goal of winning a national championship has never changed for O’Keefe, she said, despite never taking the title as an athlete.
“As a coach, that’s something I want to help guide my athletes to,” she said. “To be a part of that from this side would be so amazing.”
Note to readers • Sean Stetson wrote this story as a journalism student at the University of Utah for a capstone course focused on women’s sports. It is published as part of a collaborative including nonprofits Amplify Utah and The Salt Lake Tribune.
