Maile O'Keefe exudes focus and determination. Those traits are clearly visible, particularly when she performs on balance beam, where O'Keefe has reeled off 10.0 performances at a record-breaking pace.
    
Already a four-time NCAA individual champion as she comes down the home stretch of her final season, O'Keefe's mettle has served her well. However, without it, the possibility exists that O'Keefe would have never made it to the University of Utah—and it has nothing to do with gymnastics.
    
As O'Keefe was ready to begin the second semester of her junior year in high school, she was desperately in need of a change. An accomplished elite level gymnast who was a two-time P&G all-around national champion and a three-year member of USA National Team from 2016-18, O'Keefe had suddenly hit the proverbial wall. Her dreams of becoming an Olympian were fading. 
    
O'Keefe's stoic demeanor was no longer a byproduct of her drive, but rather disappointment. 
    
"There was a time when I wasn't even thinking about college," O'Keefe recalled. "I was going to compete in the Olympics and make a lot of money and never come to college. Then, it wasn't happening like I had hoped. Training had become a grind. I wasn't very happy, I was burned out, and I was ready for a change. That's when I decided that I wanted to go to college. 
    
"I think, honestly, if I would have stayed another year in club gymnastics and high school and everything, I'm not sure if I would have made it here. That's just where I was then."
    
There to present her with a path forward was former Utah head coach Tom Farden. A full-ride scholarship to Utah was available for the 2019-20 season if O'Keefe wanted it. The catch was that she would need to graduate high school at least a semester early.
    
"My mom and I met with Tom, and after he offered that possibility to me we were just like, we need to do whatever we need to do to do this," O'Keefe explained. "If I would have come in January [of 2020] at the semester break, I would have missed all of preseason and that time with the girls. That didn't make any sense to me. So, I decided that wanted to come in the fall.
    
O'Keefe talked to her counselor at Odyssey Charter School in Las Vegas and developed a plan. During the spring of 2019, O'Keefe loaded up on 10 classes, including three in English and three in mathematics. It was a grueling schedule, which still included time in the gym to stay sharp. But as someone who was re-energized by a life that was being re-routed, O'Keefe channeled her intense focus and determination to academics and graduated high school a year early.
    
Once she arrived on the U campus, O'Keefe's was ready to take her gymnastics, as well as her life, in a different direction.
    
"There was definitely a transition but I never had any regrets on the decision I made," O'Keefe said. "Even with my gymnastics, I had a lot of growth to do. I had grown up with the same club coaches my entire career since I was three. I was only 17-and-a-half when I got here, so I was pretty young. I had a lot of growing to do socially, personally, in every aspect. But it definitely worked out for the best." 
    
As a freshman in 2020, O'Keefe competed in the all-around in four of the nine meets, highlighted by season highs of 9.975 on beam and 9.925 bars. The season was cut short due to the COVID-19 outbreak in mid-March. However, the disappointment of losing out on post-season competition was countered by a bonus year that would be offered. 
    
O'Keefe was at the age of most freshmen when her second season began, already armed with a year of collegiate experience. During her club days, it was not uncommon for O'Keefe to train in excess of 30 hours a week. In college, she was limited to 20, which took some adjustment.
    
"I was doing well my freshman year but I still wasn't completely comfortable," O'Keefe said. "I wanted to condition more, I wanted to do more reps. That's just how I'm wired and it was weird for me. I was probably going into my sophomore year, once we came back from the COVID stoppage, before I was comfortable with the new training schedule. I started to understand that by the time you reach college you are really just fine-tuning skills you already have. I started to relax and enjoy the extra time to do other things. I really leaned in on spending time with my teammates outside of the gym and other friends.
    
During O'Keefe's sophomore year in 2021, she captured four Pac-12 Conference titles on bars, beam, floor and the all-around. She was crowned the NCAA champion on bars and floor. 
    
In essence, Maile was becoming Maile. But the learning processes was still underway.
    
In 2022, O'Keefe became a second team All-American on bars and a first team All-American on beam and the all-around. However, despite breaking the school single-season record with three 10.0s on beam being ranked No. 1 the majority of the season, a national title on her best event continued to elude her.
    
Things were different a year later, when O'Keefe scored a 10.0 on beam to anchor Utah's last rotation at the national semifinals. Finally achieving that perfect performance on the biggest stage gave her not only the beam championship, it also propelled her to the NCAA all-around title and locked down the Red Rocks' session victory over No. 1 seed Oklahoma.
    
"My approach was totally different," O'Keefe said. "In years past, I approached it as though I had to be perfect. Carly [Dockendorff] and I worked a lot last year on not trying to be perfect because we realized that doesn't work. The more you try to be perfect the harder it is. So, my approach was really just to go up and hit a good routine like I know how to. We saw how that turned out!
    
"After chasing the balance beam title my whole career, it was probably the most fulfilling of all my titles. The all-around was completely unexpected. I never thought that I would win that."
    
Ironically, O'Keefe wasn't aware she had won the all-around title until she was ready to appear on ESPN's SportsCenter. 
    
"After getting a 10.0, I knew that I had won beam. But it was at the end of the meet and all the scores in the arena were taken down quickly. Then I got pulled over do SportsCenter and they said, 'When we come back, we will be with our new NCAA all-around champion…' My jaw dropped. I had no idea."
    
O'Keefe became Utah's first all-around national champion since 1999 and the fifth in program history. She was first Ute to record a perfect score on beam at the NCAA Championships, where she recorded consecutive 10.0s in the semifinals as well as the finals to give her six for the season and break her own school record. O'Keefe also finished as the runner-up on bars and fourth on floor with a pair of 9.95 scores.
    
The Red Rocks couldn't take down Oklahoma for a second time in the finals, placing third for a third-consecutive year. Even for a team that was seeded No. 5 entering the postseason, finishing third felt hollow after what they had done two nights earlier. That has fueled the fire for O'Keefe and her teammates.
       
As the 2024 season enters the last month, the Red Rocks are ranked No. 5 and Maile has been Maile, already rolling up three perfect scores on beam to tie the school career record of 14.

O'Keefe earned her bachelor's degree last spring with a major kinesiology and a minor in nutrition. This year she is working on a certificate in positive psychology and wants to get into coaching, eventually working her way to the college level.
    
"A scholarship is everything to us, to be able to compete and get an education," said O'Keefe. "I read that only one percent of college athletes get a full-ride scholarship. To be a part of that one percent is surreal. Without our amazing donors, we wouldn't be able to do what we do. Our NIL collective Who Rocks the House is amazing. There is no pro gymnastics, so it's cool to be able to get some extra income off our name, image and likeness."
    
Before she moves on to the next phase of her, O'Keefe has a few more things she would like to accomplish, including at least one more 10.0 to take over sole possession of the top line in the Utah record books.
    
"That would be incredible," she said. "I know it would not be possible without this fifth year. I looked at all those records coming in freshman year and I was like, I'm not sure I can get there.

"I have already won four NCAA titles so I really want to get one for our team and our fans," she concluded. "First, we want to win the last Pac-12 Championship. That's the first step in our process in the postseason. Then to be able to win a national team title, that would be the ultimate goal. But to get there, you just have to stay on the grind and stay on pace with your improvement."