Completed Event: Gymnastics versus NCAA Championships on April 16, 2026 ,
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The University of Utah Athletics
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Smith, Neff Earn Final Big 12 Weekly Awards
3/18/2025 1:00 PM | Gymnastics
The Red Rocks add two more weekly conference awards to their final 2025 tally
IRVING, Texas— The Red Rocks added two final Big 12 weekly honors to their 2025 tally after the league announced Makenna Smith as Gymnast of the Week and Avery Neff Newcomer of the Week on Tuesday afternoon.
This marks the third recognition for Smith, and the fourth for Neff, bringing Utah's final total of Big 12 weekly awards to 11, with Grace McCallum having earned three Gymnast of the Week awards previously, along with Ana Padurariu's single Newcomer of the Week nod earlier this year.
Smith impressed, winning the all-around last Saturday with the second-highest score of her career on all four events (39.700) against No. 4 UCLA in front of 15,558 fans.
 Smith's stellar performance helped the Red Rocks to season high scores of 49.425 on vault where she scored a 9.925, and 49.600 on beam where she added a 9.85. If that weren't enough, Smith chipped in a 9.95 in the lead-off position on bars for the event win, and notched a career-best score of 9.975 on floor (also an event win) that pushed Utah to its season-high score of 198.100 and a win over the Bruins.
Smith is currently tied No. 4 in the country on vault, tied for No. 11 on floor, and ranks No. 9 in the all-around.
Not to be outdone, Neff also commanded a lot of attention against UCLA, posting her career-high score of 39.675 in the all-around, and tying with senior teammate Grace McCallum for second place in just her second time competing all four events since her injury on January 17.
Neff wasted little time, hitting a career-best 9.95 on vault that was key in Utah hitting their season-high team score on the event. Utah's freshman wasn't finished there, earning another career-best score on bars (9.925), and tying her career-high on beam (9.925) that helped Utah to another season-best team score before wrapping her night up on floor with a 9.875.
The fourth-ranked Utah Gymnastics team will head to the Maverik Center on Saturday, March 22 at 5 p.m. MT to compete for the Big 12 Championship before turning their attention to hosting the NCAA Regionals at the Jon M. Huntsman Center April 2-5.
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Tickets for both events are currently on sale and can be found with the links below:
Big 12 Championship
NCAA Regionals
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This marks the third recognition for Smith, and the fourth for Neff, bringing Utah's final total of Big 12 weekly awards to 11, with Grace McCallum having earned three Gymnast of the Week awards previously, along with Ana Padurariu's single Newcomer of the Week nod earlier this year.
Smith impressed, winning the all-around last Saturday with the second-highest score of her career on all four events (39.700) against No. 4 UCLA in front of 15,558 fans.
 Smith's stellar performance helped the Red Rocks to season high scores of 49.425 on vault where she scored a 9.925, and 49.600 on beam where she added a 9.85. If that weren't enough, Smith chipped in a 9.95 in the lead-off position on bars for the event win, and notched a career-best score of 9.975 on floor (also an event win) that pushed Utah to its season-high score of 198.100 and a win over the Bruins.
Smith is currently tied No. 4 in the country on vault, tied for No. 11 on floor, and ranks No. 9 in the all-around.
Not to be outdone, Neff also commanded a lot of attention against UCLA, posting her career-high score of 39.675 in the all-around, and tying with senior teammate Grace McCallum for second place in just her second time competing all four events since her injury on January 17.
Neff wasted little time, hitting a career-best 9.95 on vault that was key in Utah hitting their season-high team score on the event. Utah's freshman wasn't finished there, earning another career-best score on bars (9.925), and tying her career-high on beam (9.925) that helped Utah to another season-best team score before wrapping her night up on floor with a 9.875.
The fourth-ranked Utah Gymnastics team will head to the Maverik Center on Saturday, March 22 at 5 p.m. MT to compete for the Big 12 Championship before turning their attention to hosting the NCAA Regionals at the Jon M. Huntsman Center April 2-5.
Â
Tickets for both events are currently on sale and can be found with the links below:
Big 12 Championship
NCAA Regionals
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Players Mentioned
Wednesday, April 15
Saturday, April 04
Sunday, March 15
Sunday, March 08