No. 5 Utah Gymnastics Opens 2026 Season at the Huntsman Center

Friday, January 2

Salt Lake City, UT

7:00 PM

University of Utah

Minnesota

Photo by: Misty-Jade Carlson

No. 5 Utah Gymnastics Opens 2026 Season at the Huntsman Center

12/29/2025 2:45 PM | Gymnastics

Red Rocks to host No. 15 Minnesota and No. 22 Iowa in tri-meet

SALT LAKE CITY – The Red Rocks return to the Huntsman Center on Friday, Jan. 2 to ramp up the 2026 college gymnastics season, hosting No. 15 Minnesota and No. 22 Iowa at 7 p.m. MT.

Fans that can't make the meet can watch live on ESPN+ with Alisa Mowe and Nick Koop on the call.

FOR THE FANS

Come celebrate the New Year in style with the Red Rocks!
Beanies will be given out to the first 300 fans in attendance.

QUICK STICKS

Head coach Carly Dockendorf heads into her third season at the helm of the Red Rocks and ninth season overall in 2026
Dockendorf will be joined by 12 returners from last season's team including senior Makenna Smith and sophomore Avery Neff, and welcomes four freshmen to the mix in Norah Christian, Sage Curtis, Abbi Ryssman, and Bailey Stroud.
Two Red Rocks legends remain on staff for Utah Gymnastics in 2026 with Maile O'Keefe taking on an Operations Specialist position and recently graduated Grace McCallum moving into the Student Assistant Coach role.
The Red Rocks completed their 49th-straight NCAA National Championship appearance (finished in 4th place) in 2025 making them the only program to have qualified for every National Championship and every Final Four.
Utah has won 35 regional titles (32 NCAA) and finished second the other 14 years.
Utah hit the 198-mark twice in 2025- 198.075 against Denver on 2/21 and 198.100 against UCLA on 3/15.
Utah Gymnastics clinched Utah Athletics' first two Big 12 Titles since joining the league before the 2024 fall sports season began. The Red Rocks won the Big 12's Regular Season Championship outright on 2/21, and clinched the Big 12 Championship on 3/22. In 2014, Utah Gymnastics was responsible for Utah Athletics' first Pac-12 Title, four years after the Utes made the jump to the league from the Mountain West Conference.

CHALK TALK

Dockendorf is in her third season leading the Red Rocks program and her ninth overall with Utah Gymnastics.
In 2024 Dockendorf became the first head coach in NCAA history to lead a team to the Final Four in her first year as head coach, earning the highest finish (3rd-place) by any first-year head coach.
Utah returns 18-of-24 routines from last year's team, which finished in fourth place at the NCAA Championships.
Utah's roster contains three All-Americans: Makenna Smith (10x), Avery Neff (4x), and Ella Zirbes (3x).
Smith will seek to end her productive career with a bang currently sitting at 171 hit routines out of 172 in her career and 34 total event victories and counting.
Neff will take on a bigger role for the Utes in 2026 after showing the college gymnastics world what she was made of as a freshman and No. 1 recruit last season. Despite missing time with injury, Neff racked up the accolades earning four All-American nods, Regional All-Around and Vault Champion, 2025 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, 2025 All-Big 12 Freshman Team selection, 2025 Big 12 Beam Champion, and eight total career wins.
Utah has amassed 120 perfect 10.0 scores all-time, with 84 of those performances coming at home in the Jon M. Huntsman Center.

LAST TIME OUT

The Red Rocks finished the 2025 season at No. 4 in the country after competing for a National Title in the Final Four on 4/19.
Neff earned Utah's lone first place finish in the Final Four on vault (9.9750).
In her first season competing, Neff earned the highest finish in the Final Four from a Red Rock (No. 3) in the all-around (39.5625) behind No. 1 Chiles (39.7750) and Oklahoma's Faith Torrez at No. 2 (39.6875).

BIG MAK ATTACK

Smith finished 2025 as a 10-time All-American, earning NCAA second-team honors in the all-around, bars, and floor during the NCAA Semifinal.
Smith has hit an astonishing 171-172 career routines and is up to 34 career wins with one more season left in her eligibility.
Smith finished No. 6 in the all-around (39.500), tied ninth on vault (9.8500), tied fifth on bars (9.8875), tied 11th on beam (9.8750), and tied 14th on floor (9.8875) during the NCAA Final Four.
Smith tied for first on floor in the Regional Semifinals (4/3) to help push the Red Rocks to the Finals with a 9.95.
Was named Big 12 Gymnast of the Week on Jan. 22, March 11, and 18.
Smith is tied 4th on vault, tied for 14th on floor and 10th in the all-around.
Smith won two event titles in the Big 12 Championship (Bars & Floor).
Smith recently earned WCGA Regular Season All-America honors (Second Team All-Around, First Team Vault, and Second Team Floor).
Smith won the all-around with her second-highest score on all four events of 39.700 against No. 4 UCLA on March 15. Smith also had the high scores on bars (9.95) and floor (9.975) which is a new career high for the junior.
Smith placed first in the all-around (39.600) against Washington on March 8.
Smith placed first in the all-around (39.500) against No. 24 Arizona State.
At the 2025 Best of Utah quad meet (1/20), Smith won the all-around with a career-high 39.725, which tied for the 8th-best all-around score in Utah program history.
Her score was fueled by event wins on vault (9.95), beam (9.95) and floor (9.925). Smith's 9.95 on beam was a career high, and 9.95 on vault tied her career high.

NUMBER ONE NEFF

Neff joined Utah Gymnastics as the nations' No. 1 recruit in the class of 2024.
In just her first year competing with the Red Rocks, Neff earned four All-America nods (WCGA second team beam, NCAA first team all-around, and second team bars and beam.)
Neff finished third in the all-around during the NCAA Final Four (39.5625), first on vault (9.9750), tied 17th on bars (9.8250), tied 15th on beam (9.8500), and tied seventh on floor (9.9125).
Neff earned her first all-around win in the NCAA Regional Semifinal (4/3) and took the title of All-Around Champion with a 39.650. She also won the Vault Title with a 9.95 and tied for first on beam with a 9.90 with teammate Amelie Morgan.
Neff was a key cog in Utah Gymnastics' Big 12 Title win walking away the Beam Champion, placed second in the All-Around behind McCallum, and was named the Big 12 'Newcomer of the Year'.
Neff earned WCGA Regular Season All-America honors for her 2025 efforts on beam being named to the Second Team with teammate Camie Winger.
Freshman Avery Neff wowed against No. 4 UCLA in only her second time competing the all-around since her injury against Iowa State on Jan. 17. Neff posted career-highs of 9.95 on vault, 9.925 on bars, tied her career high on beam of 9.925, and earned a career-high all-around score of 39.675 which tied with McCallum for second.
Neff placed third in the all-around (39.275) against Washington on March 8 in her first time competing all four events since her injury against Iowa State.
Neff made her return to beam against Denver on Feb. 21 posting a 9.90 on the apparatus and earning Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Feb. 25.
Neff made her return to competition after her injury against Iowa State, posting a 9.825 on bars against No. 19 Arizona (2/7).
She has earned back-to-back Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honors, on Jan. 14 and Jan. 22, and earned a third Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Feb. 25.
In Utah's first Big 12 meet, a win over Iowa State (1/17), Neff won two events, scoring 9.900 on vault and a career-high 9.925 on beam.
The star freshman met the moment on her first big collegiate stage on Jan. 11, posting three scores of 9.90 or higher against No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 LSU and No. 6 Cal at the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad, to finish tied for fifth in the all-around (39.600).
Her top score of 9.925 at Sprouts came on vault, tying for second, and she added a pair of 9.90s on beam and floor, to go with a 9.875 on bars.
Neff made an immediate impact in her Red Rocks debut, competing in the all-around in her first collegiate meet, scoring a 38.725, earning a third-place finish against Utah State (1/3).
She tallied three fourth-place finishes in the season opener against Utah State on vault, bars and beam.

RED ROCKS RETURNING DEPTH

Utah returns nine contributing members of the squad from last season, including four All-Americans: Makenna Smith (7 NCAA, 3 RS), Avery Neff (3 NCAA, 1 RS), Ella Zirbes (3 NCAA), and Camie Winger (1 RS).
Smith has hit 171 of 172 routines in her career and 34 career victories.
Neff earned her first all-around win (39.650) during the Regional Semifinal while also cementing herself as the vault champion. She was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, All-Big 12 Freshman Team, and 2025 Big 12 Beam Champion.
Zirbes continued her growth with the Utes as a steady performer on three events (vault, bars, floor) making the All-Big 12 vault and bars team while notching four wins in 2025 (1 vault, 2 bars, 1 floor).
Winger starts her junior campaign as a reigning member of the All-Big 12 Beam Team and notching two event wins in 2025 on beam and floor.
Ashley Glynn and Ana Padurariu join Smith as a senior providing steady results in three and two events respectively. Glynn has hit all 61 of her routines as a Ute and was named to the 2025 All-Big 12 Vault Team and was the 2025 Big 12 Vault Co-Champion. Padurariu matched her career-high on beam (9.95) in the Big 12 Championship, earning her Co-Champion on beam.

NEW KIDS ON THE ROCKS

Utah welcomed four new faces to the program this year, with the addition of Norah Christian, Sage Curtis, Abbi Ryssman, and Bailey Stroud.
Christian brings all-around ability from the state of Washington where she trained with Cascade Elite Gymnastics West.
Locally grown Curtis comes to the Utes as the 2024 Level 10 national champion and Region 1 champion on vault.
Ryssman joins Utah after earning the 2025 Level 10 national title on bars and the Region 4 title on bars and beam, while finishing as the all-around runner-up.
Stroud adds a strong resume to the mix having notched the 2024 Level 10 titles for all-around and beam, and cleaning up that the Region 5 champion on vault, beam, floor, and the all-around.

UP NEXT

Utah turns their attention to the third annual Sprouts Farmers Market Quad Meet at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah, on Saturday, Jan. 10 at 2 p.m. MT where they will face No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 LSU, and No. 4 UCLA.

The Red Rocks then have a quick return to the Maverik Center on Monday, Jan. 12 at 7 p.m. for the Best of Utah Meet, taking on in-state rivals BYU, USU, and SUU.

FOLLOW THE RED ROCKS
For an inside look at the Utah Gymnastics program, including tournament, roster and news updates, fans can follow the Red Rocks on social media (Twitter: @UtahGymnastics |Instagram: @utahgymnastics).

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