No. 13 Red Rocks Stay Home to Host Southern Utah

Friday, February 20

Salt Lake City, UT

7:00 PM

University of Utah

Southern Utah

Photo by: Misty-Jade Carlson

No. 13 Red Rocks Stay Home to Host Southern Utah

2/17/2026 3:00 PM | Gymnastics

Week Seven Notes

Utah Gymnastics hopes to keep momentum going against the Thunderbirds

SALT LAKE CITY-- The No. 13 Red Rocks remain home for one more week to host Southern Utah on Friday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. MT for Character Day.

Fans that can't attend in person can view the meet on ESPN+ with Alisa Mowe and Nick Koop on the call.

FOR THE FANS

Kids are encouraged to dress up as their favorite characters. (No masks or weapons please.)
Character Meet and Greet at Legacy Hall (Northeast of the Huntsman Center) at 5:30 p.m. (Come meet Elphaba, Glinda, members of Huntrix and more!)
The Red Rocks are running a Family Four-Pack Deal. Fans can purchase four or more upper bowl tickets that come with a $5 concessions voucher.
Light up necklaces will be available to the first 500 kids through the door.
Fans are encouraged to participate in the Ford Teddy Bear Toss. Please bring new Teddy Bears to throw at the end of the meet. All stuffed animals will be donated to local cancer patients across the Salt Lake Valley.

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 earned a season-high score of 198.025 against BYU to earn their first 198 score of the season, and became just the fourth program in the country to cross the mark in 2026.
Utah was lights out on bars earning a season-high 49.750, setting the high-score on the event for the entire country, and was just shy of their 49.800 record set in 2022. Additionally, the Red Rocks matched their second-highest score of the season on beam (49.500) and set a season-high mark on floor (49.550).
The Red Rocks either matched or set 19 season or career-highs against BYU both individually and as a team.
Utah sits 4-0 in Big 12 competition after wins over Iowa State (1/25), ASU (1/30, Arizona (2/6), and BYU (2/13).
Sophomore Neff earned her third straight all-around crown, setting a career-high score of 39.700 against BYU. Neff went on to notch event wins on bars with her second career perfect 10, beam matching her career-high of 9.95, and setting a career-high on floor of 9.95. Neff earned her fourth Big 12 Gymnast of the Week Award for the effort (2/13).
Utah swept the event wins over the Cougars last weekend- Vault: Smith and Glynn tied (9.90), Bars: Neff (10.0), Beam: Neff and Winger tied (9.95), Floor: Neff, Smith, and Zirbes tied (9.95), All-Around: Neff (39.700).
Utah tied their fourth highest team vault score in program history at Sprouts of 49.600. Last time Utah hit that mark was in 2005, with their highest score set in 2004 of 49.775.
The Red Rocks announced a multi-year NIL partnership with local company Redmond (1/5/26) that will provide Utah Gymnastics with healthy meals, and electrolyte products, 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 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 2/21/25, and clinched the Big 12 Championship on 3/22/25. In 2014, Utah Gymnastics earned 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) plus regular-season All-American Camie Winger (1x).
Smith will seek to end her productive career with a bang currently sitting at 193 hit routines out of 196 in her career and 41 total event victories and counting.
Neff takes on a bigger role for the Utes in 2026 after showing the college gymnastics world what she's 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 122 perfect 10.0 scores all-time, with 85 of those performances coming at home in the Jon M. Huntsman Center.

LAST TIME OUT

The Red Rocks earned a season-high score of 198.026 against BYU to earn their first 198 score of the season, and became just the fourth program in the country cross the mark in 2026.
Utah was lights out on bars earning a season-high 49.750, setting the high-score on the event for the entire country, and was just shy of their 49.800 record set in 2022. Additionally the Red Rocks matched their second-highest score of the season on beam (49.500) and set a season-high mark on floor (49.550).
The Red Rocks either matched or set 19 season or career-highs against BYU both individually and as a team.
Utah sits 4-0 in Big 12 competition after wins over Iowa State (1/25), ASU (1/30, Arizona (2/6), and BYU (2/13).
Sophomore Neff earned her third straight all-around crown, setting a career-high score of 39.700 against BYU. Neff went on to notch event wins on bars with her second career perfect 10, beam matching her career-high of 9.95, and setting a career-high on floor of 9.95. Neff earned her fourth Big 12 Gymnast of the Week Award for the effort (2/13).
Utah swept the event wins over the Cougars last weekend- Vault: Smith and Glynn tied (9.90), Bars: Neff (10.0), Beam: Neff and Winger tied (9.95), Floor: Neff, Smith, and Zirbes tied (9.95), All-Around: Neff (39.700).

UP NEXT

The Red Rocks will have a bit of a break until they travel to Denver, Colo. to take on No. 16 Denver on Sunday, March 1 at 2 p.m. MT.

Fans will be able to watch the meet live 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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