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Utah’s Camie Winger performs her beam routine during a meet against Denver at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. The Red Rocks claimed victory over Denver with a final score of 198.075-197.525, which secured them the Big 12 Conference’s first gymnastics regular-season title. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
On opening night on Jan. 3 inside the Huntsman Center, Camie Winger put on a show on balance beam.
The sophomore from Orem was best she’d ever been on the event, and the 9.95 she scored was the highest scoring routine of the night by any gymnast on Utah or Utah State.
It was only the beginning for Winger.
In five of Utah’s next six meets, she scored at worst a 9.85 on beam, three other times scoring a 9.90.
Through the first six weeks of the season, Winger was one of the best 20 gymnasts in the country on beam and third on Utah, behind only Avery Neff and Grace McCallum.
And then, everything fell apart. It started against Arizona State. The cool, calm and collected Winger who had shown up repeatedly to start the year disappeared and the result was a season-low 9.40 after she missed multiple elements needed in her routine.
The next meet, Winger didn’t fare much better, again missing a key element and scoring a 9.675.
Against Washington two weeks later Winger improved, albeit slightly, earning a 9.70.
For three meets, Winger looked to be a shell of herself. Far from the gymnast Utah had grown accustomed to.
Saturday night against UCLA, though, Winger was back. Back to being among the elite.
She scored a 9.95 against the Bruins, the errors that had plagued her all but disappearing.
Her resurgence completely changed the look of Utah’s beam lineup, when previously there had been reason to believe Winger might not be in the lineup come the postseason.
What happened? What changed for Winger?
In a post on Instagram, Winger credited belief. Belief in herself that she was able to find again.
“Belief changes everything,” she wrote. “After the last couple of weeks of competing some doubt and negativity creeped in and I wanted to share how truly powerful I have and am learning the mind is. It can be easy to let doubts and fears creep in when things aren’t going well, likewise it is easy to think positively when things are going well and keep that momentum going.
“The challenge is when things aren’t going well, but you still choose to be strong and hold yourself tall. Sounds a lot easier than it is! But when you choose to believe in yourself everything changes. It may come little by little, but the important thing is that you take that step and try to think just a little more upbeat, be a bit more aware of the story you are telling yourself, and choose to believe in what you can do! The mind is powerful and can be the difference between good to great and great to excellent!
“I made the choice this weekend to trust myself again and not put too much pressure on myself, believing that I can do exactly what I do every day in the gym and what I have been working for all season! And it showed! I was much more relaxed and confident in my ability and let myself go into autopilot when the judge saluted me! ... Don’t forget to trust yourself, be aware of the things you are telling yourself, and know that by believing little by little you will see things start to unfold! I want to thank Carly Dockendorf for always believing in me even when I didn’t and reminding me what I am capable of every single day! So grateful to know that she wants the best for me and will work to understand me and bring the best out of me.”
After the meet against UCLA, Dockendorf talked about Winger’s struggles and about her own role in reminding Winger of what she was capable of.
As it turns out, Utah’s head coach approached Winger following Utah’s meet against Washington, trying to get to the bottom of what was happening.
“I printed off the Road to Nationals chart, to show her where she started (the season), which was like a 9.95,” Dockendorf said. “She kind of plateaued around a 9.875 or 9.90, and then kind of took a dive for the past few weeks. I asked her, ‘What’s going on? This is where we started and here’s where we at.‘ I just kind of gave her a bit of a visual.”
Winger acknowledged how she had competed earlier in the year and told Dockendorf that she sometimes loses belief in herself.
“We just kind of talked through a little bit of that and I reminded her of how exceptional she is,” Dockendorf said. “She can score a 9.95 every time. She has the difficulty, she has the execution. Sometimes they just need to be reminded. Sometimes they forget they’re human. Sometimes, you take a couple bad routines and then you’re like, ‘Oh, I can’t do it anymore.‘ So I just gave a little reminder that she can still do it.”
The return to form for Winger is notable for Utah. With her competing at her best, the Red Rocks have arguably the best beam lineup in the country. With her struggling, the Red Rocks had reverted to being a top 5 and top 10 beam team. Still great, but not elite.
“So that was a really big moment for her to come back out and do that,” Dockendorf said.
Especially for Winger herself, who now has a chance to earn Big 12 honors this weekend at the conference championships and maybe even some All-America recognition.
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Utah's Camie Winger hugs University of Utah coach Carly Dockendorf after competing on the beam against Utah State, BYU and Southern Utah University at the Maverik Center in West Valley City on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. After suffering through a tough stretch this season, a pep talk from Dockendorf helped Winger regain her prior form. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
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