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Maile O'Keefe

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Maile O'Keefe
Full nameMaile Suzanne O'Keefe
Country represented United States
Born (2002-02-26) February 26, 2002 (age 22)
Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
ResidenceSalt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
DisciplineWomen's artistic gymnastics
LevelJunior Elite (2013–17)
Senior Elite (2018)
Level 10 (2019)
NCAA (2020–24)
Years on national team2016 – 18 (USA)
ClubSalcianu Elite Academy of Gymnastics
College teamUtah Red Rocks (2020–24)
Head coach(es)Tammy Salcianu
Sorin Salcianu
Tom Farden
Medal record
Representing the  United States
FIG World Cup
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
All-Around World Cup 0 0 1
Representing Utah Red Rocks
NCAA Championships
Gold medal – first place 2021 Fort Worth Uneven Bars
Gold medal – first place 2021 Fort Worth Floor Exercise
Gold medal – first place 2023 Fort Worth All-Around
Gold medal – first place 2023 Fort Worth Balance Beam
Silver medal – second place 2023 Fort Worth Uneven Bars
Silver medal – second place 2024 Fort Worth Floor Exercise
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Fort Worth Team
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Fort Worth Team
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Fort Worth Team
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Fort Worth Team
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Fort Worth Balance Beam

Maile O'Keefe (/ˈmaɪli/ MY-lee) (born February 26, 2002)[1] is an American artistic gymnast. She was a member of the U.S. National Team and is the 2016 and 2017 U.S. Junior National Champion. She is the 2023 NCAA all-around champion as well as a 4x NCAA event champion.

Early life

[edit]

O'Keefe was born on February 26, 2002, to Matthew and Tori Lynn O'Keefe in Las Vegas, Nevada. She has three siblings, Paige, Caitlin & Dylan.[1] She completed high school through Odyssey Charter School,[2] graduating a year early in 2019.[3]

Elite gymnastics career

[edit]

2013

[edit]

In 2013, O'Keefe, then eleven, was a level 9 gymnast. She attended a developmental camp at the Karolyi Ranch where she earned the opportunity to compete at an elite qualifier. At the qualifier, she performed at a high enough level where she was qualified to Junior Elite status, bypassing level 10 completely.[4]

2014–16

[edit]

O'Keefe competed at various domestic meets. She finished 13th and 17th at the 2014 and 2015 National Championships respectively. She encountered breakthrough during the 2016 season, where she won the all-around title in the Junior division at the 2016 U.S. National Gymnastics Championships, in addition to the beam and floor titles too.[5]

2017

[edit]

In March, O'Keefe competed at International Gymnix in Canada where she placed first in the all-around and finished top three on every event.[6] In April, she participated in the 2017 City of Jesolo Trophy. In Jesolo she finished second in the all-around behind Gabby Perea.[7] O'Keefe also won bronze medals in the uneven bars and balance beam finals, as well as a silver medal in the floor exercise final.[8] In June O'Keefe announced that she had verbally committed to attend the University of Utah on a gymnastics scholarship.[9] In August, she won the all-around at the 2017 U.S. National Gymnastics Championships.[10] She along with silver medalist Emma Malabuyo were selected to represent the USA at the 2017 International Junior Gymnastics Competition the following month in Japan.[11] There O'Keefe won gold in the all-around and on beam and silver on floor, vault, and uneven bars.[12]

2018–19

[edit]

O'Keefe became age-eligible for senior competition in 2018. In February she was named as the wildcard athlete for the 2018 American Cup.[13] In her senior international debut, O'Keefe finished third with a score of 54.365, behind fellow American Morgan Hurd and Mai Murakami of Japan.[14] In the spring O'Keefe underwent wrist surgery to fix a ganglion cyst. She spent the remainder of the year recovering.[15]

In early 2019, O'Keefe announced that she had dropped back down to level 10. Her first meet was at the Brestyan’s Las Vegas Invitational in February.[16] After the meet she announced that she received early admission to the University of Utah and would be competing with their gymnastics program in the 2019–2020 season.[17]

Collegiate gymnastics career

[edit]

O'Keefe signed her National Letter of Intent with the University of Utah in March 2019. She joined Abby Paulson, Jillian Hoffman, and Jaedyn Rucker as the freshmen class of the 2019–2020 season.[18]

2019–2020 season

[edit]

O'Keefe made her NCAA debut in a meet against the Kentucky Wildcats where she competed on vault, uneven bars, and balance beam to help Utah win 196.425 to 195.350.[19] She made her all-around debut at the inaugural Best of Utah meet against BYU, Southern Utah, and Utah State, where she helped Utah win and individually she placed third in the all-around.[20]

2020–2021 season

[edit]

In a meet against defending national champions the Oklahoma Sooners, O'Keefe competed all four events. Although Utah lost, O'Keefe claimed the all-around and balance beam titles with scores of 39.550 and 9.95 respectively.[21] She was subsequently named as the Pac-12 gymnast of the week.[22] The following week in a meet against Arizona O'Keefe only competed on vault, uneven bars, and balance beam. She received the highest score, a 9.90, on the latter two events.[23]

On January 30, in a meet against Washington, O'Keefe earned her first perfect 10, achieving this score on the balance beam. Additionally she won the all-around with a score of 39.525.[24] As a result O'Keefe was named as the Pac-12 gymnast of the week for the second time this season.[25]

After the regular season concluded, O'Keefe was announced as the Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year.[26] In March O'Keefe competed at the Pac-12 Conference Championships. She helped Utah finish first while individually winning the all-around title and co-winning the uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise titles.[27]

In April O'Keefe competed at the NCAA Championships. She competed all four events for Utah and finished 11th in the all-around after having minor issues on the balance beam. However she finished first on both the uneven bars (tied with Maya Bordas of California) and on floor exercise (tied with Lexi Graber of Alabama and Anastasia Webb of Oklahoma). Additionally she helped Utah advance to the team finals.[28] During the team finals O'Keefe recorded the highest balance beam and uneven bars scores of the day and helped Utah place third.[29]

2021–2022 season

[edit]

O'Keefe competed at the Best of Utah meet where she competed on only the uneven bars and balance beam to help Utah win. She put up the highest uneven bars score of the night, a 9.875.[30] On January 29, in a meet against Stanford, O'Keefe earned her second career perfect ten on the balance beam.[31] As a result she was named Pac-12 gymnast of the week.[32]

O'Keefe was named Pac-12 Specialist of the Year.[33] At the Pac-12 Championships O'Keefe helped Utah win their second consecutive team title. Individually she placed third in the all-around behind Jade Carey and teammate Grace McCallum.[34]

2022–2023 season

[edit]

O'Keefe spent the majority of the regular season only competing on uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise. She earned three perfect tens on balance beam on February 3, 11, and 24. However, after teammate Grace McCallum suffered an injury, O'Keefe began training on vault again.[35] Even though O'Keefe had started competing in the all-around, she was named Pac-12 Specialist of the Year for the second consecutive year.[36] At the Pac-12 Championships O'Keefe led Utah to their third consecutive title and individually placed second in the all-around behind Jade Carey.[37]

In the post season O'Keefe earned her fourth perfect ten on balance beam while competing at the UCLA regional semifinal. On the first day of the NCAA Championships O'Keefe helped Utah qualify to the final. Individually she earned her fifth perfect ten of the season on balance beam and earned the balance beam title. Additionally she won the all-around title ahead of Jordan Chiles and Haleigh Bryant.[38] At the NCAA team finals O'Keefe helped Utah place third for the third consecutive year and also earned her sixth perfect ten of the season on balance beam. In winning the all-around and balance beam titles, O'Keefe became the seventh NCAA gymnast to win an individual title on at least four of the five events after she had won the uneven bars and floor exercise titles in 2021.

Career perfect 10.0

[edit]
Season Date Event Meet
2021 January 30, 2021 Balance Beam Utah vs Washington
2022 January 29, 2022 Balance Beam Utah vs Stanford
March 4, 2022 Uneven Bars
Balance Beam		 Utah vs Minnesota
April 2, 2022 Balance Beam NCAA Regional Finals
2023 February 3, 2023 Balance Beam Utah vs UCLA
February 11, 2023 Metroplex
February 24, 2023 Utah vs California
March 30, 2023 UCLA Regional Semifinal
April 13, 2023 NCAA Championship Semifinal
April 15, 2023 NCAA Championship Final
2024 January 5, 2024 Utah vs Boise State
January 15, 2024 Best of Utah
February 2, 2024 Utah vs Oregon State
March 23, 2024 Pac-12 Championships

NCAA Regular season ranking

[edit]

[39]

Season All-Around Vault Uneven Bars Balance Beam Floor Exercise
2020[a] N/A N/A 152nd 13th 66th
2021 6th 58th 11th 1st 33rd
2022 N/A N/A 52nd 3rd 30th
2023 N/A N/A 18th 1st 51st
2024 N/A N/A 33rd 2nd 24th
  1. ^ The season was cancelled after the 10th week of competition due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Competitive history

[edit]
Year Event Team AA VT UB BB FX
Junior
2013 American Classic 9 8 8
2014 American Classic 6 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
U.S. Classic 6 6 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
P&G National Championships 13 19 14 16 13
2015 American Classic 7 4
P&G National Championships 17 19 16 10 13
2016 American Classic 8 4 1st place, gold medalist(s)
U.S. Classic 6 6 4 4
P&G National Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 6 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2017 Gymnix International 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s)
City of Jesolo Trophy 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
U.S. Classic 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 4 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
P&G National Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Junior Japan International 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Senior
2018 American Cup 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
NCAA
2020 PAC-12 Championships Canceled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in the USA [40][41]
NCAA Championships
2021 Pac-12 Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 7 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s)
NCAA Championships 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 11 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2022 Pac-12 Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
NCAA Championships 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 10 13 4
2023 Pac-12 Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 10 4 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
NCAA Championships 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 19 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 4
2024 Pac-12 Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s) 34 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
NCAA Championships 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 44 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s)

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "USA Gymnastics | Maile O'Keefe". usagym.org. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  2. ^ "Student Spotlight – Maile O'Keefe". Odyssey Online Learning. September 22, 2017.
  3. ^ "Utah Utes Profile: Maile O'Keefe". Utah Utes.
  4. ^ "Get to Know Young U.S. Junior Maile O'Keefe". The Gymternet. August 19, 2014.
  5. ^ "Maile O'Keefe wins junior national title". Excelle Sports. June 28, 2016.
  6. ^ "2017 International Gymnix Results". The Gymternet. March 10, 2017.
  7. ^ "US Women Sweep 10th Jesolo Trophy". International Gymnast Magazine. April 1, 2017.
  8. ^ "Finale Qualification" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. April 2, 2017.
  9. ^ "Maile O'Keefe Commits To The University Of Utah, 2020-2021". FloGymnastics. June 18, 2017.
  10. ^ "MyUSAGym". myusagym.com.
  11. ^ "Emma Malabuyo, Maile O'Keefe To Represent USA At International Junior Japan". FloGymnastics. August 20, 2017.
  12. ^ "O'Keefe, Malabuyo strike gold in Japan". USA Gymnastics. September 18, 2017.
  13. ^ "Bower, O'Keefe added to American Cup roster". USA Gymnastics. February 6, 2018.
  14. ^ "American Cup, Morgan Hurd push gymnastics forward amid sexual abuse scandal". USA Today. March 3, 2018.
  15. ^ "Simone Biles Pleased With Performance on First Day of U.S. National Championships". Sports Illustrated. August 18, 2018.
  16. ^ @chalkwarrior (February 6, 2019). "Maile O'Keefe will be competing level 10 at the Brestyan's Las Vegas Invitational" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  17. ^ "Interview: Maile O'Keefe - 2019 Brestyan's Las Vegas Invite". FloGymnastics. February 8, 2019.
  18. ^ "USA National Team Gymnast Maile O'Keefe Signs with Utes". Utah Utes. March 4, 2019.
  19. ^ "No. 5 Ute Gymnasts Knock Off No. 12 Kentucky 196.425-195.350 To Open Season". Utah Utes. January 3, 2020.
  20. ^ "Utah freshman Maile O'Keefe 'closing in on a complete, amazing meet'". Deseret News. January 13, 2020.
  21. ^ "'We saw where we stack up and we have work to do': Utah falls short in measuring stick meet against Oklahoma". Deseret News. January 17, 2021.
  22. ^ "Pac-12 announces first women's gymnastics weekly honors of 2021 season". Pac-12 Conference. January 21, 2021.
  23. ^ "No. 6 Utah Gymnastics Begins Pac-12 Play With Dominating Win Over Arizona". KSL Sports. January 23, 2021.
  24. ^ "A perfect 10 and the second-best score by any team this season? Yeah, everything went right for Utah in win over Washington". Deseret News. January 31, 2021.
  25. ^ "Maile O'Keefe named Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week". Pac-12 Conference. February 2, 2021. Archived from the original on February 8, 2021.
  26. ^ "Pac-12 Announces 2021 Women's Gymnastics Awards". Pac-12 Conference. March 20, 2021. Archived from the original on March 21, 2021.
  27. ^ Wood, Trent (March 21, 2021). "Utah showed it can contend for a national title by winning the Pac-12 championships". Deseret News.
  28. ^ "Maile O'Keefe wins 2 national championships, joins exclusive group of Utah greats". Deseret News. April 16, 2021.
  29. ^ "A record-breaking performance propelled Utah to its best finish at the national championships in years". Deseret News. April 17, 2021.
  30. ^ Wodraska, Lya (January 7, 2022). "Utah gymnastics team opens season with victory in Best of Utah Meet". The Salt Lake Tribune.
  31. ^ "Maile O'Keefe perfect on beam as Utah gymnastics team tops Stanford". The Salt Lake Tribune. January 29, 2022.
  32. ^ "Pac-12 Women's Gymnastics Weekly Awards - Feb. 1, 2022". Pac-12 Conference. February 1, 2022.
  33. ^ "Pac-12 announces 2022 Women's Gymnastics Awards". Pac-12 Conference. March 19, 2022. Archived from the original on March 19, 2022.
  34. ^ "Utah claims 2022 Pac-12 Women's Gymnastics Championship". Pac-12 Conference. March 19, 2022. Archived from the original on March 21, 2022.
  35. ^ "What's the latest on Grace McCallum's injury?". Deseret News. February 15, 2023.
  36. ^ "2023 Pac-12 Women's Gymnastics All-Conference honors and Annual Awards, presented by Gatorade". Pac-12 Conference. March 24, 2023. Archived from the original on March 21, 2023.
  37. ^ "Utah claims third straight Pac-12 Women's Gymnastics Championship". Pac-12 Conference. March 18, 2023. Archived from the original on March 23, 2023.
  38. ^ "NCAA all-around champion Maile O'Keefe: How opportunity knocked and I answered". International Olympic Committee. May 9, 2023.
  39. ^ "Road to Nationals - NCAA Gymnastics Rankings". roadtonationals.com. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
  40. ^ "Pac-12 statement on men's basketball tournament, Pac-12 sport competitions and Pac-12 championship events". Pac-12 Conference. March 11, 2020. Archived from the original on March 12, 2020. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  41. ^ "NCAA cancels remaining winter and spring championships due to coronavirus concerns". NCAA. March 13, 2020.
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