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Utah’s Zoe Johnson celebrates with head coach Carly Dockendorf during the NCAA gymnastics regionals at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Saturday, April 5, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
Arguably the most impressive streak in all of Utah sports — professional, collegiate or prep — remains intact.
For the 49th time in 50 years, Utah gymnastics is headed to the national championships. The Red Rocks remain the only program in the NCAA to qualify for every nationals every year they’ve been held.
No. 4 Utah defeated No. 5 UCLA, No. 12 Minnesota and Denver Saturday night in the Huntsman Center to keep its streak alive, with the Red Rocks and Bruins both advancing to the national championships.
Utah finished with a 197.825, two tenths of a point ahead of UCLA (197.625), with both programs fighting off a concerted upset bid by Denver (197.350).
The continued history making wasn’t lost on the Red Rocks. Far from it in fact.
“It’s a really big deal,” head coach Carly Dockendorf said. “I think some teams get to come to regionals and they don’t have anything to lose. This is it, you just go for it. And it’s a very freeing space to compete in. For us, there is something to lose. We don’t want to lose that tradition of excellence, we don’t want to be the team that doesn’t make it (to nationals) and ends the streak.
“So there is always something riding extra for this program. It is definitely a privilege, but it definitely adds a little extra pressure. Talk to any of the alumni and ask what their least favorite meet of the year is — it would be this one right her. It feels so good (to continue the streak), but we definitely recognize that we’re here because of the people that have come before us and the tradition of excellence that they brought."
All it took this year to keep the streak intact was one of the most significant point swings in a single rotation you’ll ever see. And one of the more wild meets in general.
Entering the competition, the Red Rocks were the favorite to win and advance. But in a twist, Utah was in third place by a decent margin (the Red Rocks trailed Denver by more than two tenths of a point and trailed UCLA by a tenth of a point) after the first two rotations.
Mistake-marred uneven bars and balance beam rotations by Utah were to blame, as were a pair of incredible rotations by Denver on beam and floor exercise. At that time, midway through the competition, the streak appeared to be in serious danger. Utah had little to no momentum while Denver had seemingly all the momentum. And UCLA was doing enough to stay ahead of the Red Rocks.
A record-tying floor rotation, which matched the best the Red Rocks have ever done in the postseason in program history, changed everything, though.
Behind a run of 9.9-plus scores from Avery Neff, Jaylene Gilstrap, Makenna Smith and Grace McCallum, Utah recorded a 49.625 on floor. That, combined with a rough vault rotation by Denver (the Pioneers scored a 48.900), led to a point swing of more than seven tenths. By the end of the rotation, Utah led all comers by five tenths of a point.
Over a 20-30 minute span, the Red Rocks’ fortunes swung dramatically, from trending toward ignominious history to the continued legendary kind instead. And after a solid vault rotation, capped off by an event-winning effort by freshman Zoe Johnson, Utah was through with the streak intact.
“Regionals is always an exciting event and unpredictable,” Dockendorf said. “The best teams are able to adapt and adjust and move forward. This group came in tonight with the goal and vision of what we’re going to do and at no point did we ever lose that vision and that goal. We just fought all the way to the end.”
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Utah’s Amelie Morgan celebrates with Red Rocks assistant coach Jimmy Pratt after performing her bars routine during the NCAA gymnastics regionals at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Saturday, April 5, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Utah’s Amelie Morgan performs her bars routine during the NCAA gymnastics regionals at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Saturday, April 5, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Utah’s Amelie Morgan performs her bars routine during the NCAA gymnastics regionals at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Saturday, April 5, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Utah’s Amelie Morgan performs her bars routine during the NCAA gymnastics regionals at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Saturday, April 5, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Utah fans cheer after Zoe Johnson finishes her performance on vault during the NCAA gymnastics regionals at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Saturday, April 5, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Red Rocks assistant coach Jimmy Pratt hugs Grace McCallum after her bars routine during the NCAA gymnastics regionals at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Saturday, April 5, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Utah’s Amelie Morgan performs her beam routine during the NCAA gymnastics regionals at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Saturday, April 5, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Utah’s Amelie Morgan performs her beam routine during the NCAA gymnastics regionals at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Saturday, April 5, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Judges discuss scoring discrepancies after Utah’s Camie Winger’s beam performance during the NCAA gymnastics regionals at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Saturday, April 5, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Utah Red Rocks head coach Carly Dockendorf talks with Camie Winger before performing her beam routine during the NCAA gymnastics regionals at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Saturday, April 5, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Utah’s Makenna Smith performs her beam routine during the NCAA gymnastics regionals at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Saturday, April 5, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Utah’s Makenna Smith celebrates with Red Rocks head coach Carly Dockendorf after her beam routine during the NCAA gymnastics regionals at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Saturday, April 5, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Utah’s Avery Neff performs her beam routine during the NCAA gymnastics regionals at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Saturday, April 5, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Utah’s Jaylene Gilstrap performs her beam routine during the NCAA gymnastics regionals at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Saturday, April 5, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Utah’s Grace McCallum performs her beam routine during the NCAA gymnastics regionals at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Saturday, April 5, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Utah’s Jaylene Gilstrap performs her beam routine during the NCAA gymnastics regionals at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Saturday, April 5, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Utah’s Makenna Smith waves to fans after finishing her floor routine during the NCAA gymnastics regionals at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Saturday, April 5, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Utah’s Zoe Johnson celebrates with head coach Carly Dockendorf during the NCAA gymnastics regionals at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Saturday, April 5, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
Defining moment
There were no shortage of memorable moments in the meet.
McCallum earned yet another perfect 10 on bars, the sixth of her career on that event. That routine all but saved Utah’s bars rotation, which included a fall by Neff and mistake-filled routines from the majority of the remaining Red Rocks.
AMAZING GRACE
Back to back 10s on bars#RedRocks | @grace_mccallum2pic.twitter.com/pI5c1SpTRm
— Utah Gymnastics (@UtahGymnastics) April 5, 2025
At the end of the first rotation, McCallum’s perfection on bars seemed the most important routine for Utah. It was shortly replaced, however, by another McCallum routine — this one on beam.
Another rough rotation that included a routine that did not start from a 10.0-value which led to a score in the 9.6 range, left Utah reeling but McCallum dropped a 9.95 on beam to keep Utah within striking distance of both Denver and UCLA.
It wasn’t until floor, though, that the meet changed. When Utah stopped just staying alive and took over the competition.
It wasn’t immediate, however. Both Ashley Glynn and Ella Zirbes competed solid floor routines, but neither was their best and both gymnasts received 9.85s for their efforts. Good scores, but not what Utah needed.
It was then that the meet changed.
First it was Neff, who competed her remade floor routine about as well as she had in any competition since returning from injury. She scored a 9.925. Then came Gilstrap. The fifth year senior delivered her highest score routine of the season — a 9.95 — that brought the fans in the Huntsman Center to their feet.
Smith followed with a 9.925, not her norm but still good enough, and then McCallum closed things out with a 9.975.
In almost an instant Utah went from the being the hunters, an unusual and uncomfortable position for the Red Rocks, to being the hunted, much more of the usual.
McCallum and Smith both believed that Utah used the nerves, the threat of the streak ending, to their advantage.
“I think we really were able to channel our nerves and turn them into energy,” Smith said. “I think that that showed and we pushed through very well.
“I feel like the mindset was different,” McCallum added. “Instead of going into doubt and worry and fighting tooth and nail (to stay alive), we got excited and we let our competitive spirits out.”
The meet wasn’t over after floor, Utah still had to compete vault, but in reality it was over. The Red Rocks turnaround on floor changed everything for them.
“That event has definitely kind of been an energy bus for us,” Dockendorf said. “At the start of the meet (the regional semifinal) on Thursday and then today. We absolutely needed that. We needed that energy mid-meet for us to carry momentum through the last rotation.”
Needs work
Utah didn’t compete close to its best Saturday. On any of the events.
For the second straight meet, more really, stuck landings were hard to find. On bars, on beam on vault and even on floor.
Utah left tenths of a point on the floor on every event, points that weren’t ultimately needed but points available to be had.
On bars, mistakes included but were not limited to:
- Steps on landings.
- Short handstands.
- Leg separation.
- Bent elbows.
- Release moves too close to the bar.
The list could go on.
On beam there were significant balance checks, missed elements and steps on dismounts again and again. On floor, leaps were short and the landings of tumbling passes were often not under control. And on vault, only Johnson stuck her effort, though Glynn came close. There were major steps forward and backward, in addition to more controlled steps.
Nerves were a clear and obvious issue early in the meet. Regionals is a pressure-cooker for all team but especially Utah given the on-going streak. But once the nerves were overcome Utah still wasn’t as sharp as it can be, as it has proven capable of being. The Red Rocks benefitted from a home crowd that provided much needed encouragement and energy. Dockendorf admitted as much.
“They (the fans) showed up tonight and they brought the extra energy that we needed,” she said.
Utah was also helped out by both UCLA and Denver struggling with the details too. UCLA head coach Janelle McDonald noted that her team didn’t compete close to its potential either.
“It wasn’t a perfect day for us,” she said, before later adding, “We know what we need to do to really lock in and have a cleaner performance at nationals and to be able to hit our events like we want to there. So great experience for us today, we’re going to learn from it. We’re going to grow from it.”
Utah did what it needed to do to survive and advance. That much is true. But the Red Rocks have considerable room for improvement and will need to do so in a hurry as the competition gets even more stiff.
Utah will compete against No. 1 LSU and No, 8 Michigan State in the national semifinals, along with another matchup with UCLA.
That’s encouraging
There were good moments, good routines by Utah as well. Glynn had one of her best nights as a Red Rock and both her bar routine and her vault were close to the best she’s ever done.
Neff recovered from her fall on bars in the first rotation in a major way, scoring a 9.9 or better on two events and a 9.85 on vault.
McCallum was an absolute star for most of the meet, her work on bars and beam standing out especially.
It was Johnson, though, who deserves the most recognition.
A 5-star recruit in the 2024 class, Johnson’s freshman season had not gone as planned. She injured her back before the year, an injury that set her back in her training fairly significantly. She noted that that affected her confidence and for much of the season she wasn’t in lineups on any event.
Now, though, she has stuck her Yurchenko 1.5, a 10.0-valued vault, in back-to-back meets. In meets that were the biggest of the season up to that point. Utah didn’t actually need her vault to win Saturday but she nonetheless competed a vault as good as anyone on any of the four teams.
“She truly believes in herself now,” Smith said. “It’s been really awesome to see in the gym, to see her belief in herself turn around. Uou can tell she knows she can go out there and make that vault and do it amazing.
“She’s worked so hard for that vault,” McCallum added. “She’s put 100% effort into every practice, every goal that she does. And you can tell she’s very intentional with everything. So it’s just so fun to see her go out there and shine.”
Johnson’s arrival on vault changes the potential for Utah, on that event but overall.
Just in time for Utah to head back to nationals.
“We left things out on the table tonight, but we never gave up,” Dockendorf said. “Never for a second did we think that it was over or we weren’t going to do it. I think our vault just keeps getting better, and our floor is there and our bars are there. We definitely need to figure out beam a little bit and as the beam coach, I’ll take that one. But I think we’re going to be ready when the moment counts.”
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