Utah gymnast Maile O’Keefe scores a pair of perfect 10s to lead the Red Rocks to a bounce-back victory

Utah’s gymnastics team has produced a lot of memorable moments in the Huntsman Center throughout the years.

Friday night was another one for the books as the fourth-ranked Utes used a record-breaking bar set to down No. 9 Minnesota 198.575-197.85 in front of 12,253. Utah’s final score was just short of the school record 198.6 scored against BYU in March 2004.

The Utes set a school-record 49.8 on the bars behind 10.0s from Maile O’Keefe and Sage Thompson and a 9.95 from Cristal Isa.

The score tied a floor set against BYU on March 23, 2001, for the highest event score in school history and was the first time two gymnasts had 10.0s on the bars in the same meet.

O’Keefe also scored a 10.0 on the balance beam, becoming the first gymnast to earn two 10.0s in a meet since Theresa Kulikowski scored 10.0s on the uneven bars and floor on Feb. 26, 1999, against Utah State and BYU.

Kristen Kenoyer holds the school record for most 10s in a meet, scoring perfect marks on everything except the balance beam in the WAC Championships on March 20, 1993.

Suzanne Metz is the only other Utah gymnast to earn two 10s in a meet, doing so on the vault and floor, against BYU on March 25, 1995.

The three-10.0 night just missed matching the school record of four in a meet by the Utes. That school record was set on March 25, 1995, when Metz had her 10.0s on the vault and floor, Sandy Woolsey earned one on the uneven bars and Traci Sommer earned one on the balance beam.

How is that for a night full of records?

Isa said in the warmups it felt like a special night and her feelings were confirmed when senior Cammy Hall scored a 9.925 on the vault.

“I was like, ‘Oh yeah, we are going to get it together this meet,” she said. “Then Cammy stuck her vault and the fact she did it right after the senior intros, we wanted to do this for our seniors tonight.”

Utah coach Tom Farden was as pleased with the score as seeing his team finally hit 24-for-24 routines. Doing so allowed the team to build the scores from routine to routine, putting the judges in a bit of a corner.

“The buildup was great,” he said. “We only had a couple little setbacks.”

Utah’s bars have been strong this year, with Amelie Morgan frequently leading off with scores in the 9.9 range.

She had a 9.875 to start Utah’s set, but then fellow freshman Grace McCallum delivered a 9.975, sparking Utah’s run.

“Grace set the tone with that routine,” Farden said. “She changed the meet.”

Thompson’s perfect mark was the most surprising, given she is a freshman whose previous best were three 9.925s.

Her set was impeccable Friday, causing the Huntsman Center to explode into cheers when the score flashed.

O’Keefe, whose previous best was a 9.95 on the event, followed matching Thompson’s clean routine, leaving the judges with no choice but to give her a 10.

Isa, whose bar routines have hovered around the 9.875 range, had only a slight wobble on a handstand that prevented her from getting a 10.0 as well. Her 9.95 tied her career-best.

“We let loose tonight with the mindset of what is the worst thing that can happen,” Isa said. “It worked out nice for us.”

The momentum helped the Utes power through the beam where they tied their season-high of 49.725, led by a 9.975 from Isa and a 9.95 from McCallum.

Freshman Kara Eaker competed for the first time since injuring her ankle in the season opener, scoring a 9.9. She replaced Adrienne Randall, who fell on the beam in Utah’s loss at Arizona a week ago.

Floor capped off the wild night with a 49.675, a mark that tied the season-high. The Utes were paced by a 9.975 from Sydney Soloski and a 9.95 from O’Keefe.

It goes without saying the win was a much-needed salve after the disappointing showing at Arizona last week.

Now Utah can go into its regular-season finale at No. 5 LSU Friday with some record-breaking confidence.

“I said earlier this week as long as the comeback is bigger than the setback, that’s what matters,” Soloski said.