(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Makenna Smith performs her floor routine as the No. 3 University of Utah hosts No. 6 LSU during the Utes season opener at the Huntsman Center, Jan. 6, 2023.
Friday’s gymnastics meet against LSU was just one meet, but it had all the flavorings and elements that gave an idea of what a whole season could look like for the third-ranked Utes.
Utah downed No. 6 LSU 197.275-196.775 in front of 11,585 at the Huntsman Center.
“It was a great start for this program,” Utah coach Tom Farden said. “The two mistakes we did have were on new skills, and in a meet with 11 new skills you know something could go wrong.”
There were plenty of notable performances but what stood out the most were two newcomers, Abby Brenner, a fifth-year transfer from Michigan, and freshman Makenna Smith.
Brenner introduced herself to the Utah crowd in a big way with a 9.875 on the vault and followed that up with a 9.875 on the uneven bars.
Smith, who stood out in the team’s Red Rocks event with her confidence, did it again on Friday in front the Utes’ electric atmosphere. Often a crowd like Utah’s can be intimidating for gymnasts, who come into college having spent most of their competitive careers in half-empty arenas.
But Smith competed like she belonged on a big stage, scoring a team-high 9.9 on the vault, then leading off the team with a 9.85 on the uneven bars.
“They were aggressive and didn’t hold back,” Farden said. “There were some fantastic performances tonight.”
As attention-getting as the newcomers’ performances were, there were other storylines to note as well.
Grace McCallum, who had a bad start to her season as she sat her vault, came back like the Olympian she is with a 9.925 on the uneven bars, helping the Utes log the 49.225 on bars.
That score gave the Utes a 98.575-98.3 edge at the midpoint.
It was a close meet at the time, but well, here comes another familiar storyline for the Utes — their domination on the balance beam.
The Utes greeted the season with a 49.475 on the event, displaying all the skills that have made them so good on the beam.
Cristal Isa, back for a fifth year, almost mocks the balance beam with her daring skills. The 2021 Pac-12 beam co-champion skipped and bopped along to a near flawless routine that earned her a 9.875. After McCallum and Abby Paulson matched that score, Kara Eaker delivered a 9.9 and O’Keefe posted a 9.95 with a routine that looked so easy, fans probably wondered if she included all the necessary elements.
Of course she did and, of course, just like last year, the beam proved to be the pivotal point in the meet.
The Utes’ score gave them a 148.05-147.675 lead going into the final rotation. Even though the Tigers were within a fall away from the Utes, there was a strong sense the Utes weren’t going to give them that kind of mistake on such a big opening night.
That sense proved correct as the Utes put together a solid floor routine with every score going 9.8 or higher except for Jaedyn Rucker, who fell on her first pass.
That was the second mistake of the night that Farden was referring to when noting the new skills so it was forgivable, especially since the meet already was won by then.
“There was an exactness in our skills,” Farden said. “For the first meet and it being LSU and on ESPN there could be some jitters and I really thought the team handled it well.”
Perhaps the best way to rate how the Utes did against their expectations is even such an impressive win was met with the anticipation it was going to end the way it did.
The Utes, who return 21 of 24 routines, have been around long enough to expect meets like Friday’s, even in the opener.
“We still have some room to grow,” O’Keefe said. “We didn’t come out and be perfect, but it was a great start for us
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