Salt Lake City NCAA Regional final
When: 7 p.m. MT
Venue: Maverik Center (12,600 capacity; All spectators, working staff, coaches will be required to wear a mask/face covering at all times)
TV: ESPN3
Livestream: WatchESPN
Radio: ESPN 700
The teams
- No. 3 LSU (11-4, 197.813)
- No. 6 Utah (17-1, 197.556)
- No. 11 Arizona State (9-8, 197.088)
- No. 14 Kentucky (8-8, 196.969)
The stakes
The stakes are the same for every team. The two that finish with the best scores in the regional final will earns trips to nationals. The other two — those that finish third and fourth — will go home.
- Utah is vying for a record 45th trip to nationals and the program’s 39th consecutive berth at the NCAA championships (the NCAA sanctioned gymnastics in 1982). The Red Rocks were far and away the best team in their regional semifinal and will hope for the same in the regional final.
- LSU has been one of the better teams of the decade, having qualified for nationals every year since 2012. The Tigers struggled in their regional semifinal, though, so a bounce back performance and a regional championship would go a long way to settling the perceived title contenders.
- Kentucky last qualified for nationals in 2017, the second-to-last year of the Super Six format. The Wildcats won their regional semifinal and were the second best team overall on Friday, a result they’ll hope to repeat.
- Arizona State has already taken a major step forward as a program, having advanced to the postseason for the first time since 2006. That year, they advanced to nationals and finished 9th overall. They’ll have to do better than they did Friday in order to improve upon that performance.
The gymnasts
These are the gymnasts who had the best performances in Friday’s semifinal action.
- Maile O’Keefe (Utah) — Was the regional beam champion with a 9.950 and scored a 39.575 in the all-around.
- Hannah Scharf (ASU) — Won two events — floor and vault — thanks to a 9.925 and 9.900.
- Raena Worley (Kentucky) — Was the regional bars champion, alongside ASU’s Cairo Leonard-Baker, after scoring a 9.950.
- Kiya Johnson (LSU) — Was the regional all-around champion with a 39.700. Was also the floor and vault champion, thanks to a pair of 9.95s.