No. 12 Utah Gymnastics to Take on Iowa State on the Road

Sunday, January 25

Ames, IA

3:00 P.M.

University of Utah

Iowa State

Photo by: Misty-Jade Carlson

No. 12 Utah Gymnastics to Take on Iowa State on the Road

1/20/2026 4:00 PM | Gymnastics

Week Four Notes

Red Rocks leave the state of Utah for the first time in 2026

SALT LAKE CITY – The No. 12 Red Rocks leave the state of Utah for the first time in 2026 to Ames, Iowa, where they will take on Big 12 foe, Iowa State, at Hilton Coliseum on Sunday, Jan. 25 at 3 p.m. MT.

Fans can watch the meet live on ESPN.

QUICK STICKS

Head coach Carly Dockendorf is in her third season at the helm of the Red Rocks and ninth season with Utah Gymnastics overall in 2026.
Dockendorf is joined by 12 returners from last season's team, including senior Makenna Smith and sophomore Avery Neff, while welcoming four freshmen to the mix in Norah Christian, Sage Curtis, Abbi Ryssman, and Bailey Stroud.
The Red Rocks set a season-high team score last Monday at the Best of Utah Meet (1/12) of 197.300.
Smith competed in and won the all-around at the BOU with a 39.475 that was highlighted by a 9.95 on vault, a 9.85 on beam, and a 9.90 on floor. It was Smith's first time competing in the all-around since 2025.
Ryssman put on an impressive performance at BOU earning the top score of the meet on beam (9.90) and tying for second on bars (9.925) with Ana Padurariu and fellow freshman Stroud. Her efforts earned her Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on 1/20/26.
Neff made waves in the college gymnastics' world posting the first perfect 10 of the season on vault during the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad (1/10). It was the first perfect score of the sophomore's fledgling collegiate career. Senior Ashley Glynn was not to be outdone, earning a career-high 9.975 on the event.
Neff earned Utah's first Big 12 Weekly award (Gymnast of the Week) on 1/14/26.
Utah tied their fourth highest team vault score in program history at Sprouts of 49.600. The last time Utah hit that mark was in 2005, with their highest score set in 2004 of 49.775. The Red Rocks also set a season-high mark on bars as a team of 49.625 at BOU with their highest score on the event being a 49.800 set in 2022.
The Red Rocks announced a big, multi-year NIL partnership with local company Redmond (1/5/26) that will provide Utah Gymnastics with fresh, healthy meals, and electrolyte products during the 2026 season, as well as provide funds for future international service trips to be announced at a later date.
Two Red Rocks legends remain on staff for Utah Gymnastics in 2026 with all-time perfect 10s in a career record holder (15) Maile O'Keefe taking on an Operations Specialist position and recently graduated Olympic silver medalist Grace McCallum moving into the Student Assistant Coach role.
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 181 hit routines out of 182 in her career and 37 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 121 perfect 10.0 scores all-time, with 84 of those performances coming at home in the Jon M. Huntsman Center.

LAST TIME OUT

Utah secured its highest score of the 2026 season at Best of Utah (1/12) of 197.300, winning the meet for the sixth straight time.
Smith competed in and won the all-around at the BOU earning a 39.475 that was highlighted by a 9.95 on vault (highest score on the event of the entire meet), a 9.85 on beam, and a 9.90 on floor. It was Smith's first time competing in the all-around since 2025.
Ryssman put on an impressive performance at BOU earning the top score of the meet on beam (9.90) and tying for second on bars (9.925) with Ana Padurariu and fellow freshman Stroud.
Neff made waves in the college gymnastics' world posting the first perfect 10 of the season on vault during the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad (1/10). It was the first perfect score of the sophomore's fledgling collegiate career. Senior Ashley Glynn was not to be outdone, earning a career-high on the apparatus of 9.975.
Neff earned Utah's first Big 12 Weekly award (Gymnast of the Week) on 1/14.
Utah tied their fourth highest team vault score in program history at Sprouts of 49.600. The last time Utah hit that mark
was in 2005, with their highest score set in 2004 of 49.775. The Red Rocks also set a season-high mark on bars as a team of 49.625 at BOU with their highest score on the event being a 49.800 set in 2022.

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).
As of the end of the 2025 season, Smith 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). She is set for a bigger role in 2026 competing in the all-around.
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 hit all 61 of her routines as a Ute in her first two seasons with the program 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 last season (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 has a tight turnaround hosting Arizona State on Friday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. MT at the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
Fans are encouraged to come and enjoy a Taylor Swift themed night- Life of a Red Rock to celebrate Alumni Night and 50 Years of the Honda Cup Award with winner Missy Marlowe.
Fans that can't attend the meet in-person can watch live on ESPN+ with Alyssa Mowe and Nick Koop on the call.

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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