Red Rocks Bond over Labor Day Weekend

9/4/2018 4:20 PM | Gymnastics

By: Ute Gymnasts enjoy team life skills retreat.

DEER VALLEY, Utah—There is more to making a championship-caliber team than laboring in the gym, which is why the Utah Red Rocks spent Labor Day weekend at the world-famous Deer Valley Ski Resort participating in a life skills retreat.

For the sixth year of the preseason event, Utah co-head coaches Tom Farden and Megan Marsden decided to shake things up a little. For starters, the activities began in the Salt Lake valley before moving up to the mountains. New to the agenda was a visit to the Mystery Escape room, which offered a variety of team building activities and emphasized the five foundation principles of great teams. Inside the Mystery Escape room, the Red Rocks engaged in a series of entertaining exercises that served as practical applications for how to work better as a team.

From there, the Ute gymnasts, Farden, Marsden, assistant coach Robert Ladanyi, director of recruiting and development Carly Dockendorf and gymnastics chief of staff Jennifer White, made the 30-mile trip to Deer Valley Resort and the dual mansions they would call home for the next three days.

Surrounded by mountain splendor and a break from the heat, the team held spirited life skills discussions, participated in a variety of team building activities, set goals for the 2019 season and created a team vision board.

The mitts finally came off for the annual cooking competition—a rousing success that gave the gymnasts firsthand experience in preparing a well-rounded nutritional meal using healthy ingredients.

Before heading back to the valley, the team elected seniors Kari Lee and MaKenna Merrell-Giles as the team co-captains.

More fun lies ahead for the Red Rocks, who begin official practices on Sept. 17. The annual photo shoot, which has earned the Utah gymnastics program national acclaim for its unique branding, is scheduled for Sept. 29. Senior Shannon McNatt, a 4.0 student with a double major in honors business economics/analytics and quantitative analysis of markets and organizations, will be featured in a promotional video for the University of Utah that will premiere at a donor event on Sept. 21. The entire team plans to attend the football homecoming game against USC on Oct. 20.

It is also time for Ute fans to begin preparing for the 2019 season. The season renewal deadline is Wednesday, Sept. 19. Renew your seats today by calling the ticket office 801-581-UTIX or online at UtahTickets.com. The Expand the Dumke fundraising campaign is also in full swing. Click here for more information.

Fans will have an early opportunity to see their 2019 Utes in action at the Red Rocks Preview on Dec. 7. Parking and admission are free to the event and seating is open. The Red Rocks Preview will give Ute fans their first look at the four newest Utes in action: freshmen Hunter Dula, Cammy Hall, Cristal Isa and Adrienne Randall. They have joined 10 returners from last year's fifth-place NCAA finisher: Lee, Merrell-Giles, McNatt, Alexia Burch, Missy Reinstadtler, Macey Roberts, MyKayla Skinner, Sydney Soloski, Kim Tessen and Lauren Wong.