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Utah Gymnastics recently announced the return of former NCAA champion Maile O'Keefe to the University for the 2025 season not as a gymnast but as a student coach.
Maile O'Keefe recently concluded her collegiate gymnastics career after performing for the final time at the Huntsman Center. The champion gymnast was given a great farewell during her final performance as a college gymnast in their home area at the Huntsman Center at the University of Utah.
College athletes can either choose to return to university for further studies or turn pro after the completion of the undergraduate course. It is also a very common phenomenon to turn professional before the completion of an athlete's undergraduate course which was seen in the case of Sha'carri Richardson.
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Maile O'Keefe took to Instagram to inform fans of her final performance at the Huntsman Center.
"Rocked the house one last time in the Huntsman Center," she captioned the image.
The University of Utah took to their official social media handle "utahgymnastics" to announce that O'Keefe is not done yet. She would be returning next season as a student coach at the university.
"She’s not quite done yet! We’re so excited to announce that @maile_okeefe will be returning as a student coach next season!," they captioned the image.
Maile O'Keefe's gymnastics career
Maile O'Keefe showed great potential as a young gymnast. She qualified for junior elite status in 2013 as an 11-year-old. Over the years, as a junior gymnast, O'Keefe improved immensely and participated in various domestic meets.
She made her debut at the national championships in 2014 where she finished 13th. The following year O'Keefe placed 17th. Maile O'Keefe clinched the junior national all-around title in 2016 at the US National Gymnastics Championships.
Furthermore, she topped the all-around once again at the Junior National Championships in 2017 and moved on to senior competition in 2018. O'Keefe decided to join the University of Utah and compete in the NCAA in 2019.
In the 2021-2022 season, O'Keefe scored a perfect 10 for the second time and was named the Pac-12 gymnast of the week. Furthermore she became the Pac-12 specialist of the year and was a major reason that led Utah to win the team title at the championships.
O'Keefe continued her momentum in the 2022-2023 season by scoring three perfect tens and was named the Pac-12 specialist of the year once again. In the process, O'Keefe became the seventh NCAA gymnast to win an individual title in four events.
