Deseret News
What’s it like being gymnasts of color at the University of Utah?
A third of the 2020-21 Utah team are racial minorities Cammy Hall, Cristal Isa, Jaedyn Rucker and Alani Sabado
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Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
When the 2020-21 NCAA women’s gymnastics championships kick off Friday morning in Fort Worth, Texas, more than a few noteworthy competitors will be people of color.
When healthy, Florida’s Trinity Thomas is inarguably the best gymnast competing at the collegiate level. Denver’s Lynnzee Brown triggered the rise of the Pioneers’ program and will be competing for the all-around title. Michigan’s Sierra Brooks, LSU’s Haleigh Bryant, Minnesota’s Mya Hooten, Alabama’s Luisa Blanco, Utah’s Cristal Isa and Cal’s Kyana George each are vital contributors on title-contending teams. And who can forget UCLA’s Chae Campbell and Nia Dennis, both of whom have had performances on floor go viral on social media this year.
Jan 21, 2021
SAN FRANCISCO The Pac-12 Conference office announced today its first women’s gymnastics weekly honors for the 2021 season. Gymnast of the Week has been selected every week of the season since 2001. The Specialist of the Week award was added in 2008, the Freshman/Newcomer of the Week honor kicked off in 2013 and the weekly Coaches’ Choice began in 2020.
Gymnast of the Week: Maile O’Keefe, So., Utah (Las Vegas, NV)
In then-No. 3 Utah’s showdown with then-No. 2 Oklahoma, the 2020 First-Team All-Pac-12 selection captured the beam and all-around titles.
Leading score in the all-around event (39.550) was a career high.
Kicked off season strong with a 39.375 all-around performance and a 9.925 beam score at the Rio Tinto Best of Utah competition in only another match so far in 2021.
In an instant, it was all gone.
Utah s 2020 meet at the Huntsman Center against in-state opponent Utah State, it s final meet of the season and Senior Night for Kim Tessen and Missy Reinstadtler was canceled the day before as the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic began to take shape in the state. The entire season would soon follow as sports, and life as many knew it, shut down indefinitely. It definitely was a big blow and something I think all of us will remember for a lifetime, head coach Tom Farden said. But there s a lot of resilience, and we tried to patch things back as best as possible and keep them engaged through that long quarantine.
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