GYM: No. 3 Utah vs. No. 14 UCLA Live Thread: Red Rocks Win 197.225-197.100

After some harsh judging on Utah star Maile O'Keefe, junior Sydney Soloski nailed a huge floor routine in the anchor position to lead the Red Rocks to an extremely narrow victory and run their winning streak to four meets

With the eyes of the nation watching, No. 3 Utah (6-1, 3-0 Pac-12) will have the opportunity to further cement its status as a legit national title contender.

The team standing in the Red Rocks way is longtime Pac-12 rival UCLA (4-0, 3-0 Pac-12), a perennial national title contender who's undefeated and ranked No. 14 in the country. They'll square off on Friday night at the Jon M. Huntsman Center, beginning at 7 p.m. and televised on ESPNU.

Prior to the bye week, Utah is coming off three consecutive dominating performances when they broke the coveted 197-point barrier in victories over Arizona, Washington and No. 16 Arizona State.

They also swept the conference weekly awards in two of those three weeks, with Maile O'Keefe becoming the rising star after being named the Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week both times. She's won the award three times this season.

She won her third all-around title of the season after scoring her second-straight 39.525, narrowly edging out Arizona State's Hannah Scharf’s 39.475. O'Keefe finished with career-highs in vault (9.900) and floor (9.925).

“Maile was stunning on floor exercise,” Utah head coach Tom Farden said following the Arizona State meet. “I think her performance quality continues to get more confident as the season goes on.”

Already with a perfect 10 score on the balance beam, O’Keefe ranks first in the Pac-12 on beam and all-around. She is No. 2 in the nation on beam and No. 7 in the all-around, and only getting better according to Farden.

Maile O'Keefe, Utah Gymnastics — Courtesy of Utah Athletics

Utah is looking to prove itself as national title contenders after No. 1 Florida, No. 2 LSU and No. 4 Oklahoma (who already has a victory over the Utes) have all posted scores of 198 or higher on the season. Utah's season-high is 197.475 while the Sooners posted a nation-high 198.225 last week at the Metroplex Challenge.

Follow this live thread for updates and analysis. You can also follow @Ryan_Kostecka and @UtahUtes_SI on Twitter for up-to-the-second action.

PRE MEET STATS
*Utah ranks No. 3 in the country in balance beam, No. 4 on floor, No. 6 on vault and No. 8 on the uneven bars

*O'Keefe is ranked No. 2 in the country on balance beam and No. 7 in the all-around

*Cristal Isa is ranked No. 14 on the uneven bars, Sydney Soloski is tied for 17th on floor and Cammy Hall is tied for 24th on vault

*Two weeks against Arizona State, Utah scored season-highs on vault (49.475) and floor (49.425). At that point, the vault score was the second-highest in the nation

*Utah leads the all-time series with UCLA 55-36-1, posting a near-perfect and dominant record at home against the Bruins by going 27-3. 

*Last year's meet was full of drama as the Red Rocks snapped a five-meet losing streak against UCLA when Abby Paulson scored a perfect 10 on the balance beam to seal the comeback and the 198.075-198.025 victory

Sydney Soloski, Utah Gymnastics — Courtesy of Utah Athletics

*UCLA is led by former All-American Nia Dennis, who made her return last week against BYU by winning the all-around and tying for first on vault, beam and floor.

*Margzetta Frazier captured her first all-around title of the year with a season-high 39.325 in last week's victory over Washington

*Chae Campbell took home victories in the vault and beam against the Huskies as well

FIRST ROTATION — Utah = Vault / UCLA = Uneven Bars
*UTAH
- Cristal Isa = 9.825
- Maile O'Keefe = 9.800
- Lucy Stanhope = 9.875
- Cammy Hall = 9.625
- Alexia Burch = 9.975
- Jaedyn Rucker = 9.825
TOTAL = 49.300

*UCLA
- Chae Campbell = 9.775
- Kalyany Steele = 9.750
- Sara Ulias = 9.875
- Frida Esparza = 9.800
- Nia Dennis = 9.900
- Margzetta Frazier = 9.750
TOTAL = 49.100

SECOND ROTATION — Utah = Uneven Bars / UCLA = Vault
*UTAH
- Abby Paulson = 9.775
- Alani Sabado = 9.825
- Alexia Burch = 9.825
- Maile O'Keefe = 9.875
- Emilie LeBlanc = 9.825
- Cristal Isa = 9.875
TOTAL = 49.225

*UCLA
- Pauline Tratz = 9.825
- Kendal Poston = 9.825
- Margzetta Frazier = 9.875
- Nia Dennis = 9.800
- Chae Campbell = 9.850
- Emma Andres = N/A
TOTAL = 49.175

THIRD ROTATION — Utah = Beam / UCLA = Floor
*UTAH
- Alexia Burch = 9.850
- Lucy Stanhope = 9.775
- Adrienne Randall = 9.850
- Cristal Isa = 9.875
- Maile O'Keefe = 9.900
- Abby Paulson = 9.225
TOTAL = 49.250

*UCLA
- Emma Andres = 9.825
- Sekai Wright = 9.875
- Pauline Tratz = 9.900
- Margzetta Frazier = 9.850
- Chae Campbell = 9.950
- Nia Dennis = 9.725
TOTAL = 49.400

FOURTH ROTATION — Utah = Floor / UCLA = Beam
*UTAH
- Jaylene Gilstrap = 9.875
- Abby Paulson = 9.900
- Lucy Stanhope = 9.875
- Jaedyn Rucker = 9.875
- Maile O'Keefe = 9.750
- Syndey Soloski = 9.925
TOTAL = 49.450

*UCLA
- Kendal Poston = 9.875
- Samantha Sakti = 9.900
- Margzetta Frazier = 9.925
- Nicole Shapiro = 9.725
- Frida Esparza = 9.875
- Chae Campbell = 9.850
TOTAL = 49.425

Utah escapes with the 197.225-197.100 victory after Soloski's floor routine seals in a tighter-than-expected battle. UCLA's Campbell pulled off the upset by winning the all-around, taking out O'Keefe 39.425-39.325.

Making a profile is free and it only takes ~1 minute to set up. Also, be sure to like us on social media for future coverage:

Twitter — @UtahUtes_SI and Ryan Kostecka at @Ryan_Kostecka