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Utah's Grace McCallum competes on the floor excercise during the NCAA women's gymnastics championships in Fort Worth, Texas, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) | Tony Gutierrez
FORT WORTH, Texas — It wasn’t surprising to see tears streaming down the face of Grace McCallum as she waved to fans following the 2025 NCAA women’s gymnastics championship, nor was it any sort of shock to see Amelie Morgan or Jaylene Gilstrap emotional as they walked off the floor of Dickies Arena Saturday evening.
The competitive gymnastics careers of each of those gymnasts ended Saturday, and not in the way any of them wanted.
Utah gymnastics finished in last place in the national championship meet, losing to national champion Oklahoma, rival UCLA and upstart Missouri.
Adding insult to that injury, each of McCallum, Morgan and Gilstrap competed at least one routine that they would like to have back, a performance that was below their norm and what they are capable of.
Gilstrap on vault, McCallum on beam and floor and Morgan on beam. That doesn’t mean the three didn’t impress in their final outing as Red Rocks, though.
Gilstrap on floor exercise and Morgan and McCallum on the uneven bars were what Utah fans had grown well accustomed to seeing over the last four years (five years in the case of Gilstrap).
McCallum even impressed in error, with photographers after the meet praising her for her ability to compete flawlessly after falling off the beam, almost as though nothing had happened.
The trio of gymnasts, and sixth-year senior Jaedyn Rucker — whose competitive career ended before the season due to a season-ending injury — will leave quite the legacy at Utah.
All four were a part of the most competitive run for Utah since the mid-2000s. Gilstrap and Rucker were around for four third-place finishes at nationals, plus Saturday’s fourth-place finish.
McCallum and Morgan contributed to one fewer third-place finish.
Each of those gymnasts had routines or performances that will be remembered for a while, none more than McCallum with her many perfect 10s and incredible showings in the all-around, most recently in the national semifinals.
Quantifying the impact of Gilstrap, McCallum, Morgan and Rucker is an impossible task and as they depart, one of the more notable eras of Utah gymnastics goes with them.
They will be fondly remembered, though, by their teammates especially. In the immediate aftermath of the end of Gilstrap, McCallum, Morgan and Rucker’s careers, Makenna Smith and Avery Neff were effusive with their praise.
“I feel like they’ve just been so amazing,” Smith said, while fans cried out for selfies. “Like they were my big sisters coming in (to Utah). I’ve been with them since my freshman year and it’s been awesome to have them here.
“They’ve left a lasting impact on us, on how we can lead and how we can bring the team forward.”
Neff agreed and added: “They just really are true leaders. They showed an example day in and out in practice. I think they really just showed their true character and are wholehearted.”
To Neff’s point, as the teams were awarded trophies for their performances Saturday, it was Gilstrap, McCallum and Morgan who stood front and center for Utah and accepted the prize for fourth place.
And as Oklahoma, UCLA and Missouri were recognized for their top three finishes, McCallum could be seen applauding each and every team, though her face was red and her eyes a bit swollen from tears shed.
The legacy of Utah’s seniors might be hard to nail down, difficult to encapsulate in a short and sweet way, but it will live on.
“I think that we have learned a lot from them this year,” Neff said, “and we’re going to carry that on into future years.”
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Utah's Jaylene Gilstrap competes on the floor exercise during the NCAA women's gymnastics championships in Fort Worth, Texas, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) | Tony Gutierrez
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