Upcoming Event: Gymnastics versus Red Rocks Preview on December 12, 2025 at 7:00 PM
7:00 PM
Gymnastics
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The University of Utah Athletics
No. 4 Gymnastics to Face In-State Foes at Best of Utah Meet
1/18/2025 5:42 PM | Gymnastics
Monday evening clash with BYU, Southern Utah and Utah State is Red Rocks' second in four days
SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah Gymnastics, ranked fourth in the nation in Week Three, competes for the second time this week with a Monday evening trip to the Maverik Center in West Valley for the Les Olson IT Best of Utah meet. The Red Rocks will take on BYU, Southern Utah and Utah State at 6 p.m. MT, just three days after hosting Iowa State.
The meet will be televised live on both ESPN+ and BYUtv, with Spencer Linton on play-by-play and McKell Merkley providing the analysis.
QUICK STICKS Â
Utah will travel south on I-15 for a Big 12 matchup with BYU at the Marriott Center at 7 p.m. MT. The meet will be on ESPN+.
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The meet will be televised live on both ESPN+ and BYUtv, with Spencer Linton on play-by-play and McKell Merkley providing the analysis.
QUICK STICKS Â
- Utah defeated Iowa State on Friday night, Jan. 17, in its Big 12 opener at the Jon M. Huntsman Center, 197.300-194.850. The Red Rocks' 197.300 was a season high. Grace McCallum won the all-around with a season-high 39.475, highlighted by her second 9.975 in as many weeks on bars to win the event. She scored season highs on three events, and shared the win on floor (9.90) with teammates Jaylene Gilstrap and Makenna Smith. Freshman Avery Neff took first on vault with a 9.90 and on beam with a career-high 9.925.Â
- Utah faced a stern early-season test on Jan. 11 at the Sprouts Farmer's Market Collegiate Quad vs. No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 LSU and No. 6 Cal. The Red Rocks finished fourth among that top-6 ranked quartet with a 196.800, but earned one event win. Grace McCallum shared the top score of 9.975 on the bars, and Utah saw a breakout performance from Avery Neff, with a 9.925 on vault to tie for second, and two 9.90s on floor and beam.
- A week earlier, Utah swept the top spots in its home opener for the second year in a row, taking down Utah State, 196.775-194.450. Winners included Ashley Glynn (vault), Amelie Morgan and Grace McCallum (bars), Camie Winger (beam) and Makenna Smith (floor and all-around)
- Through two weeks, Utah ranked inside the top 12 as a team in each event:Â
-    VT - 11th   UB - 4th   BB - 3rd   FX - 12th  AA - 4th
- Utah had four gymnasts ranked in the top 25 in an event after the first two weeks of competition: Grace McCallum ranked third on bars and 25th in the all-around; Avery Neff ranked eighth on all-around, and Neff and Camie Winger were tied for 16th on the beam, while Makenna Smith ranked 19th in the all-around.
- In the team rankings, the Red Rocks held steady at No. 4 after two weeks of competition.
- Utah came into the season ranked fifth in the WCGA Preseason Poll. It marked the eighth season in a row that the Red Rocks were ranked in the top five in the preseason poll.
- The Red Rocks had five gymnasts named to the 2025 Big 12 Preseason Team announced Dec. 20, including Grace McCallum (all-around), Ella Zirbes (vault) and Jaylene Gilstrap (floor) earning unanimous selections. Makenna Smith (all-around) and Amelie Morgan (bars) round out the preseason selections for the Utes.
- The Red Rocks return 16 routines from last year's NCAA Championships third-place team, including three NCAA All-America honorees.Â
- The Utes tallied 42 event wins a year ago, earned by Grace McCallum (19), Makenna Smith (7), Jaedyn Rucker (4), Amelie Morgan (3), Jaylene Gilstrap (3), Ashley Glynn (2), Camie Winger (2) and Ella Zirbes (2).
- Head coach Carly Dockendorf is in her second season leading the Red Rocks program and her eighth overall with Utah Gymnastics.
- In 2024 Dockendorf became the first head coach in NCAA history to lead a team to the Final Four in the coach's first year in the position, earning the highest finish (third-place) by any first-year head coach.
- Utah returns 16-of-24 routines from last year's team, which finished in third place at the NCAA Championships.
- Utah's roster contains five All-Americans: Grace McCallum (8x), Makenna Smith (4x), Ella Zirbes (2x) and Jaylene Gilstrap.
- Makenna Smith seeks to build off her breakout sophomore season, which saw her hit 61 routines. The Albuquerque native earned NCAA All-America honors in the all-around and vault, and second team on bars. Â
- Utah closed its 13-year membership in the Pac-12 Conference in 2024 by winning its fourth consecutive Pac-12 Championship meet.Â
- Utah added two new faces to the coaching staff this offseason, starting with the addition of assistant coach Mike Hunger, who brings more than 50 years of experience to lead the vault squad and assist on floor.Â
- Utah Gymnastics legend Maile O'Keefe returns to the Red Rocks as a student assistant coach, coming off one of the most decorated college gymnastics careers, which included four NCAA individual titles (bars, floor – 2021; all-around, beam – 2023). O'Keefe collected 19 All-America awards (7 regular season, 12 NCAA) while competing for the Red Rocks.
- Utah has amassed 110 perfect 10.0 scores all-time, with 80 of those performances coming at home in the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
- Utah scored a season-high 197.300 on Friday, Jan., 17, at the Jon M. Huntsman Center to prevail in its Big 12 Conference opener against Iowa State (194.850).
- The Red Rocks were consistent throughout the event and topped the 197 mark for the first time this season.Â
- Senior Grace McCallum won the all-around with a season-high 39.475, highlighted by her second 9.975 in as many weeks on bars to win the event.
- She scored season highs on three events, and shared the win on floor (9.90) with teammates Jaylene Gilstrap and Makenna Smith.Â
- Freshman Avery Neff took first on vault with a 9.90 and on beam with a career-high 9.925..
- Ashley Glynn competed in three events, setting a career high on bars (9.90) and tying her career high on floor (9.85) for the second week in a row. She opened with a 9.875 on vault.
Utah will travel south on I-15 for a Big 12 matchup with BYU at the Marriott Center at 7 p.m. MT. The meet will be on ESPN+.
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