No. 14 Utah Gymnastics Shows Grit in Win Over Arizona State

Friday, January 30

Salt Lake City, UT

7:00 PM

University of Utah

196.450

194.925

Arizona State

Photo by: University of Utah Athletics

No. 14 Utah Gymnastics Shows Grit in Win Over Arizona State

1/30/2026 10:26 PM | Gymnastics

Final Results

Red Rocks honored alumni legacy with second Big 12 victory of the season

SALT LAKE CITY— No. 14 Utah Gymnastics showed grit and determination in win over Arizona State, 196.450 – 194.925, honoring the legacy of past Red Rocks for alumni night.

"This is one of my favorite meets to have the alumni back, because I really do understand that we are all here because the legacy that they have built the opportunities that we have-- the fans we have in the stands," said head coach Carly Dockendorf. "That is because of them. They really did create that. For them to continue to come back, I think it just illustrates how much of an impact the university and this program had on them. You continue to come back because you feel valued. You feel like you're part of the community. And that was something the Marsden's built for years and years, and those women continue to show up because of that."

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The Red Rocks had mixed results on vault to start the meet, ending the rotations with a 48.925 starting point to give them a narrow lead over Arizona State (48.675).

Ella Zirbes (9.90) and Avery Neff (9.85) provided the high scores for vault in the first round.

Bars faired similarly for Utah, posting a 48.825 on the event for a 97.750 - 97.550 lead over the Sun Devils after rotation two.

Makenna Smith (9.825), Ana Padurariu (9.85), and Neff (9.80) were the leaders of the pack on bars to keep the Red Rocks ahead halfway through the meet.

"This week was tough in training, coming off Sunday's meet, you know? But the truth is, nobody cares more about getting better than the team and our staff and the training was hard," said Dockendorf. "We did some intrasquads. Some went well; some didn't go well. We can't expect to go from where we're at to just scoring exactly what we know we're capable of. I think that's like, great to think about, but I think we're going to be disappointed if that's what we're looking for. So, I really did feel like we made some steps forward, and some of the intrasquads we did really set us up to be more successful tonight."

For a second week in a row, Utah came alive on beam posting a 49.400 to keep them steady in the lead, 147.150 – 146.150 over ASU.

Neff led the way tying her career-best 9.95 on the event with Abbi Ryssman and Camie Winger following behind with a pair of 9.90s. Elizabeth Gantner got things started with a 9.80 and Padurariu contributed a 9.85 in the middle of the lineup.

The Red Rocks finished strong on floor, earning their highest team score so far of 2026 (49.300) to ice the win over Arizona State, 196.450 – 194.925.

Zirbes and Neff earned season-highs on floor of 9.925 and 9.90 respectively, while Smith contributed a 9.85. Zoe Johnson chipped in a 9.825 and freshman Sage Curtis contributed a 9.80 in her collegiate debut.

Neff finished the night as the all-around winner with a score of 39.500.

"Before tonight, I had talked to our team, and I had told them that it's so easy to go out and be great and confident when things are going well, but it's really hard to stand back up and take a step forward when it's not," said Dockendorf. "I told them, you get to be the author of the headlines. It will be in the stories that will be told from tonight, and I want that to be a story of resilience, toughness, grit and determination. I really did feel like that's what they did tonight. It wasn't about the score. Is there room for improvement? Absolutely. But it really does take a lot to stand back up when things aren't going well and still, you know, hold yourself tall and keep your shoulders back, be confident and go in, you know, social media, all of those things. None of that stuff helps right now, and I felt like these women did a really good job of making a step in the right direction in a challenging period that we're in right now. It would be really easy to sit down and feel sorry for ourselves. But I just think this shows the character of this team and the women that are on this team, and I personally just think that they're very courageous and very brave."

UTAH EVENT-BY-EVENT RESULTS

Vault – 48.925

Clara Raposo – 9.775
Ella Zirbes – 9.90
Ashley Glynn – 9.75
Makenna Smith – 9.325
Zoe Johnson – 9.65
Avery Neff – 9.85

Bars– 48.825 (97.750)

Makenna Smith – 9.825
Abbi Ryssman – 9.10
Ana Padurariu – 9.85
Ella Zirbes – 9.725
Clara Raposo – 9.625
Avery Neff – 9.80

Beam – 49.400 (147.150)

Elizabeth Gantner – 9.80
Abbi Ryssman– 9.90
Ella Zirbes – 8.725
Ana Padurariu – 9.85
Avery Neff – 9.95
Camie Winger – 9.90

Floor – 49.300 (196.450)

Ashley Glynn – 9.775
Avery Neff– 9.90
Zoe Johnson – 9.825
Ella Zirbes – 9.925
Makenna Smith – 9.85
Sage Curtis – 9.80

UP NEXT
The Red Rocks head south for warmer weather as they take on Arizona in Tucson on Friday, Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. MT.

Fans can catch the meet on ESPN+.

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 (TikTok: @utahgymnastics |Instagram: @utahgymnastics).

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