Utah Gymnastics, ranked No. 12, will compete against No. 5 Alabama, No. 23 Denver, and No. 25 Oregon State in the first session of the Corvallis Regional Semifinals on Friday, April 3 at 2 p.m. Mountain Time.
The competition is significant as it offers teams a path to the NCAA Nationals in Dallas from April 16-19 for those who advance through both regional semifinals and finals.
San Jose State and Washington will participate in a play-in meet on Thursday, April 2 at 3 p.m., with the winner moving into the second semifinal session against No. 4 UCLA, No. 13 Minnesota, and No. 19 Iowa later that day at 5 p.m. The top two teams from each semifinal will qualify for Sunday’s regional final; only two squads from there will move forward to Nationals.
Head coach Carly Dockendorf leads Utah into her third season as head coach and ninth overall with the program in this campaign. She is joined by twelve returning athletes including senior Makenna Smith and sophomore Avery Neff, along with four freshmen: Norah Christian, Sage Curtis, Abbi Ryssman, and Bailey Stroud.
Several gymnasts have earned national recognition this season: Neff received first team All-America honors for all-around and vault; Smith was named second team for vault and floor; Ella Zirbes was recognized on bars, vault, and floor; Ana Padurariu was honored for bars as well.
The Red Rocks secured their second consecutive Big 12 title on March 21 with their highest road score of the season (197.675), continuing a six-year streak of conference championships that began with four Pac-12 titles before winning back-to-back Big 12 championships starting last year.
If Utah advances from Friday’s semifinal round they will compete again Sunday evening for one of two spots available to Nationals.
