Hey guys! It’s your girl, Jessica, live from my couch once again (one of these days I’ll actually be attending a meet, I promise).
I am SO excited to say that the time has officially come and the 2024 gymnastics season is underway!
This matchup is going to be a good one in my opinion. The Huntsman Center is in for a treat!
Boise State looks to try and upset the Utes. The Broncos have five fresh faces to potentially add to lineups, in addition to a handful of returners. Names to look out for include Courtney Blackson, Adriana Popp, and Emily Lopez. Ranking 29th in the WCGA preseason poll, the Broncos are bound to be a delight to watch this season!
Utah has a big night ahead of it. After a somewhat rocky offseason, the Utes get a fresh start. The Utes looked clean and solid during the Red Rocks Preview. Carly Dockendorf begins her first season as the Utes head coach from the comfort of Utah’s home turf. With gymnasts such as Maile O’Keefe, Amelie Morgan, Grace McCallum, and Jaylene Gilstrap all returning and a few new faces, the lineups are going to have some depth. Finishing third at NCAA championships and ranking fourth in the WCGA preseason poll, the Utes look to have another successful season in 2024.
This meet is already off to a great start. Utah’s mascot, Swoop, did their version of a beam routine, and I give it a 10. In other exciting news, there is also snow on the ground in Salt Lake City…I wish Asheville would hurry up and get some snow.
Rotation 1: Utah Vault, Boise State Bars
Gilstrap: Solid Yurchenko full, fights for the stick but takes a small hop. 9.700
Werline: Clean lines. Nice Shaposh. The last two handstands are a little short. Nice stuck double back to finish it off. 9.725
Winger: Yurchenko 1.5, lacked amplitude a little and slight hop forward. 9.775
McGovern: She misses the first handstand. nice piked Gienger. Recovers well and fights through the rest of routine. Solid half in half out. 9.175
Zirbes: Yurchenko 1.5, block was a little short but overall pretty to watch. 9.750
Hamby: Nice handstand. Pretty Ray. Clean transitions but the last handstand was a little short. Double lay, solid landing. 9.775
Glynn: Yurchenko 1.5, big step forward. LOVE seeing all of these 10.0 vaults. 9.850
Smirnov: A little loose in Shaposh. has bobble and does an extra handstand (I don’t think the judges noticed haha). Gorgeous toe point and lines. Great double lay dismount. 9.275 (okay I take it back maybe they did notice)
Smith: Beautiful half-on pike, takes the tiniest of hops forward. 9.900
Blackson: I missed the first part of her routine ah! Gorgeous Delchev. Great handstands and lines.
Looks like her knees gave out on her dismount and she sat it down:( 9.375
Rucker: Sky-high Yurchenko 1.5, almost stuck. Man I missed watching her vault. 9.875
Lopez: Pretty straddle Jaeger. Great bail and clean handstands throughout. Stuck double lay. She’s still so pleasing to watch ah. 9.875
After Rotation 1:
This wasn’t the best start I’ve seen from both teams but it was a solid start overall. Both teams seem a little timid, personally. I can’t be too judgy right out of the gate though…it is the first event of the first meet after all.
Rotation 2: Boise State Vault, Utah Bars
Kho: Clean Yurchenko full, little undercooked in my opinion. 9.650
Smith: Pretty Pak and nice Maloney half. super pretty lines and handstands. toe-on pike half, small arm swing for balance. Overall, very pretty. 9.850
McGovern: Yurchenko full, slightly overcooked it and had a slight step back. 9.700
Sabado: Nice handstand. pretty Jaeger straight to bail, slight form break after bail. clean double lay, slight foot movement. 9.850
Popp: Front handspring half, great landing. 9.800
Zirbes: A little off from the start, Ray was slightly over. does a clear hip on low bar after to recover. great full-twisting double back. 9.550
Vulaj: The stream glitched and I missed her whole vault…grrrr. 9.775
Morgan: Nice Maloney. solid Jaeger. Great lines overall. Nice dismount, slight step. 9.775
Lopez: Yurchenko full, little too much sauce overall. 9.725
McCallum: Pretty Pak to stalder, gorgeous lines as always. Nice Maloney and Van Leewen. Beautiful double lay, slight step. 9.925
Blackson: pretty Yurchenko full, slight step and out of bounds. 9.825
O’Keefe: Gorgeous Shaposh to Pak, which was so high. Pretty release and beautiful lines, per usual. Arabian front dismount, stuck! There may be a hole in the floor from her stick haha. 9.925
After Rotation 2:
The front half of both lineups weren’t fantastic but were nice to watch. McCallum and O’Keefe look beautiful as always. I also loved the organization of Boise State’s vault lineup and how they fared on the event.
Rotation 3: Utah Beam, Boise State Floor
Smith: Pretty mount. Nice front aerial split jump. Back handspring back layout step-out, slight balance check. The leap series was a little off. Nice round-off gainer full dismount, chest down a little. 9.700
Vulaj: Nice round-off back handspring 1.5 front full. Pretty switch leap split half. Round off back handspring double pike, little forward on landing. She seems a little out of gas in this routine. 9.625
Gilstrap: Wolf full turn, little off. Back handspring pike, very cool to watch. Gorgeous switch leap ring jump. Back handspring gainer full, stuck. The artistry in this was *chef’s kiss* 9.775
Leitch: Round-off back handspring double pike, front layout front full, little short. Unclear of her leap pass for some reason…I must have glitched while I was watching lol. Round-off back handspring, slightly underrotated. 9.350
McCallum: Triple wolf turn, makes it look easy. Side aerial layout step-out, super pretty. Sissone switch leap, love the uniqueness. Gainer tuck full, stuck! 9.875
Pascal: Round-off back handspring double back, sky high. Great switch leap wolf full. Round-off back handspring 1.5 punch front lay, pretty long lines. Punch front 2.5, slight hop forward. Overall, a pretty routine. 9.825
Paulson: Beat jump aerial layout step-out, clean and nice to watch. Pretty full turn. Gorgeous gainer full, stuck. The dance in this was STUNNING and t-swizzle was her beam music…LOVE 9.875
Loyim: Round off whip double back, nice landing. Switch leap popa, clean and pretty. Round off back handspring double pike, nice and high. The dance in the was some of my favorite so far. 9.825
Morgan: Cool layout mount. Back handspring back handspring layout step-out, not my favorite but pretty. Nice full turn. Great switch leap split jump. Gainer front full, stuck. 9.850
McGovern: Front 1.5 back layout step-out, really pretty. Dance is fun and engaging. Nice leaps, little short on rotation. Round-off back handspring double back, chest was slightly down but solid overall. 9.800
O’Keefe: Pretty mount. Side aerial layout step-out, GORGEOUS. Pretty leaps, 180 degrees. Nice full turn. Beautiful back handspring gainer full, stuck cold. THE FIRST 10.0 OF THE SEASON!!!
Blackson: Round off back handspring 1.5 front layout, goes out-of-bounds. Switch full split full, pretty. Round off 2.5, nice and high. Loved the spunky music montage starring the queen herself, Beyonce. 9.875
After Rotation 3:
This was a great rotation for both the Utes and the Broncos. The artistry and creativity in most routines was eye-catching and overall fun to watch. My favorite thing in this rotation was Paulson and O’Keefe holding up 22’s in their beam routines to honor Ty Jordan and Aaron Lowe, the two Utah football players who passed away in 2020.
Rotation 4: Boise State Beam, Utah Floor
Vulaj: nice gainer layout layout step out. switch leap layout step-out. solid front toss. round-off 1.5, stuck. 9.675
Smith: Front handspring front double full, nice landing. Ring leap tuck full wolf full, pretty lines. Front handspring front 1.5 back layout, clean and stuck. Super fun dance throughout. Front handspring 2.5 double stag jump, chest a little low but pretty. 9.875
Kho: Back handspring pike, clean landing. Sissone switch half, just short of 180. Round off 1.5, slight step to the side. Solid routine overall. 9.675
Paulson: Front through to 2.5, pretty landing. Punch front layout front double full. Switch full sissone. Round off 1.5 front layout. Abby must be in her Taylor era and I’m so here for it. 9.825
Loyim: Beautiful triple series. Nice full turn. Pretty aerial. Switch leap switch leap straight into gainer full dismount. Leaps just short of 180 but stuck dismount. 9.775
Gilstrap: Front full rudi, nice and high. Front 1.5 front layout, a little low on the landing. Switch leap split full, pretty and high. Punch front layout front full, solid landing. A nice routine all the way around. 9.875
Lopez: Nice back handspring layout step-out. Pretty switch leap straddle half. Little off on her front toss, slight balance check. Pretty dance throughout. back gainer full, stuck. 9.650
Rucker: Round off back handspring half in half out, a little short. Switch leap Shushunova, love to see the resurrection of the shush. And I missed the start of her last pass as the stream froze but a nice, clean landing. 9.850
Popp: Pretty front aerial and full L turn. The queen of the triple series has returned, nice height on back layout. Beautiful switch leap. Lovely gainer full, stuck. 9.700
McCallum: Slight delay on the start of her routine due to a scoring discrepancy with Rucker’s routine. Round-off back handspring full in. Switch leap switch full split full, super pretty. Punch front layout front 1.5, nice landing. This was a stunning routine ah! 9.900
Leitch: Back handspring back pike, love seeing this series so much tonight. Nice front toss. Switch leap to gainer pike dismount, this was a fun combination to see. 9.750
O’Keefe: Round-off back handspring double pike, absolutely beautiful. Great lines in switch full split full (I think, I looked down for a second and then blanked on what she did.) Punch front layout front double full, beautiful again. Round off 1.5 punch front layout, great landing. 9.950
After Rotation 4:
The Broncos look like they are ready to get into the swing of things as season starts. Not their best showing on every event, but the Broncos normally start their season a week or two later than this year. I loved watching their creativity and joy on every event. Boise State will be a treat to watch as the season goes on. The Utes also looked a little rocky in some areas but overall Utah looked fantastic. The Utes look almost postseason ready…and it’s only the first week. As for both teams, it was nice seeing so many exhibition routines to start the year off. It showed each team’s depth and potential for lineups, which is refreshing to see as many of those gymnasts were allowed to showcase their talent and potentially make a lineup in the future.
FINAL: Utah: 197. 3 Boise State: 194. 35
VT: Mckenna Smith (Utah) 9.9
UB: Grace McCallum (Utah) & Maile O’Keefe (Utah) 9.925
BB: Maile O’Keefe (Utah) 10.00
FX: Maile O’Keefe (Utah) 9.950
AA: Mckenna Smith (Utah) 39.325
READ THIS NEXT: How to Watch College Gymnastics in 2024
Live blog by Jessica Brock
Enjoyed your commentary. Just a correction on Abby and Maile holding up 22. Ty Jordan died in December of 2020 and Aaron Lowe in September of 2021. The “22” represents the number they both wore, not the year they died.