No. 13 Utah Gymnastics Stays Steady Against Southern Utah

Friday, February 20

Salt Lake City, UT

7:00 PM

University of Utah

197.425

195.825

Southern Utah

Photo by: University of Utah Athletics

No. 13 Utah Gymnastics Stays Steady Against Southern Utah

2/20/2026 10:17 PM | Gymnastics

Final Results

Red Rocks earned second-highest score of the season against the Thunderbirds

SALT LAKE CITY— No. 13 Utah Gymnastics stayed steady for the win against Southern Utah, 197.425 – 195.825, earning their second-highest score of the season.

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The Red Rocks kept the momentum from last weekend going to start on vault, taking a fast lead over Southern Utah, 49.550 - 48.375 in the first rotation.

"One of our goals for this week was to come out and do a better job on vaults and show some control in our landings, and not just do the vaults," said head coach Carly Dockendorf. "And we really did. We came out swinging on that first event."

Camie Winger led things off going 9.875. Ella Zirbes and Zoe Johnson followed with back-to-back 9.85s before Makenna Smith added one more 9.875. Ashley Glynn upped the excitement with a 9.95 and Avery Neff put the exclamation mark on a great first rotation with her third career perfect 10—her second on vault this season.

Utah kept their foot on the gas posting a 49.625 on bars to go up 99.175 - 97.400 over the Thunderbirds through two rotations.

Smith got the Utes started with a 9.875 to set up Clara Raposo for a career-high 9.925. Abbi Ryssman went 9.875 while Zirbes added a 9.925. Ana Padurariu and Neff put a bow on bars for Utah with back-to-back 9.95s.

"We carried that momentum to bars, and I think we just got a little ahead of ourselves," said Dockendorf. "We saw the score, and then the excitement set in. Instead of just trusting our gymnastics, we started to press a little bit too hard, and, you know, tried to get big scores instead of just doing the routines we know how to do."

The Red Rocks ended up having a bit of a setback on beam, going 48.675, but kept their strong lead over SUU, 147.850 – 146.725.
Elizabeth Gantner was rock solid as the lead off with a 9.875, setting the stage perfectly for Ryssman to set a career-high on the apparatus of 9.95. Padurariu added a 9.80 and Neff contributed a 9.825.

Utah's hitch on beam was only a setup for a major comeback on floor as the Red Rocks posted a season best effort on the event of 49.575 to ice their victory over the Flippin' Birds, 197.425 – 195.825.

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Johnson had a season-high effort of 9.875 while Neff and Zirbes posted 9.925 back-to-back. Smith had the highest score of the bunch, matching her season-high of 9.95, allowing Sage Curtis to take the stage and match her career-high of 9.90 in the anchor position.

"I love that we came back on floor," said Dockendorf. "There are some huge improvements in that floor rotation. I thought Zoe did such a nice job tonight. And again, Sage just coming in clutch in that last routine, that's been exciting to watch. And I can't say enough about the freshmen, both, you know, Abby and Sage, they just keep showing up like, like their veterans."

For the fourth week in a row, Neff took the all-around, matching her career-high score of 39.700 she set a week prior against BYU.

UTAH EVENT-BY-EVENT RESULTS

Vault– 49.550
1. Camie Winger– 9.875
2. Ella Zirbes– 9.850
3. Zoe Johnson-- 9.850
4. Makenna Smith– 9.875
5. Ashley Glynn- 9.950
6. Avery Neff – 10.00

Bars– 49.625 (99.175)
1.Makenna Smith– 9.875
2. Clara Raposo– 9.925
3. Abbi Ryssman– 9.875
4. Ella Zirbes-- 9.925
5. Ana Padurariu- 9.950
6. Avery Neff- 9.950

Beam – 48.675 (147.850)
1. Elizabeth Gantner– 9.875
2. Makenna Smith—9.225
3. Abbi Ryssman – 9.950
4. Ana Padurariu– 9.800
5. Avery Neff– 9.825
6. Camie Winger—9.100

Floor – 49.575 (197.425)
1. Ashley Glynn– 9.750
2. Zoe Johnson– 9.875
3. Avery Neff – 9.925
4. Ella Zirbes– 9.925
5. Makenna Smith– 9.950
6. Sage Curtis – 9.900

UP NEXT
The Red Rocks get a long week before heading to Colorado next weekend to take on No. 16 Denver on Sunday, March 1 at 3 p.m. MT.

Fans can catch the action 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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