The No. 12 Utah Red Rocks gymnastics team will travel to Colorado for their final Big 12 road meet of the 2026 season, facing the No. 21 Denver Pioneers on Sunday, March 1 at 2 p.m. MT. The meet will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Head coach Carly Dockendorf is in her third year leading the Red Rocks and ninth overall with Utah Gymnastics. She is joined by a roster that includes 12 returning athletes from last season, such as senior Makenna Smith and sophomore Avery Neff, along with four freshmen: Norah Christian, Sage Curtis, Abbi Ryssman, and Bailey Stroud.
Utah currently holds a perfect 4-0 record in Big 12 competition after defeating Iowa State, Arizona State University (ASU), Arizona, and BYU. With this weekend’s matchup against Denver, Utah has an opportunity to secure the Big 12 Regular Season Title for a second consecutive year.
Sophomore Avery Neff recently earned her fourth straight all-around title against Southern Utah on February 20, tying her career-high score of 39.700 set previously against BYU. Neff also achieved event wins on vault—scoring her third career perfect 10 (second on vault)—and tied for first place on bars with Ana Padurariu (9.95). She posted scores of 9.925 on floor and 9.825 on beam during that meet. For these performances, Neff received her fourth consecutive Big 12 Gymnast of the Week honor as of February 24, bringing her total for the year to five.
Freshman Abbi Ryssman secured her second career event win on beam against Southern Utah with a personal best score of 9.95 after a teammate’s fall in the rotation; this accomplishment earned her a third Big 12 Newcomer of the Week recognition as of February 24.
Senior Makenna Smith claimed the floor title in that same meet with a season-high score of 9.95.
Other notable performances included Ashley Glynn scoring a 9.95 on vault; Clara Raposo achieving a career-best bar routine at 9.925; Sage Curtis matching her own top floor score two weeks in a row at 9.90; and junior Ella Zirbes delivering solid results across three events: vault (9.85), bars (9.925), and floor (9.925).
Against Southern Utah, Utah recorded its second-highest team score this season at 197.425—including their second-best marks this year both on vault (49.550) and bars (49.625), plus setting a new season high on floor exercise at (49.575).
Earlier in the season versus BYU, Utah posted its first team total above the milestone mark of “198,” joining only three other programs nationwide to reach that level so far in the year.
Utah set its second-highest program bars score ever—49.750—against BYU while also recording the highest bars total by any NCAA team this season so far; this result was just short of their all-time best from back in 2022.
On January 5th this year, Utah Gymnastics announced it had entered into a multi-year NIL partnership with local company Redmond to provide healthy meals and electrolyte products for athletes as well as funds for future international service trips.
The coaching staff includes former Red Rocks standouts Maile O’Keefe—the all-time program leader with fifteen perfect tens—as Operations Specialist and recent Olympic silver medalist Grace McCallum serving as Student Assistant Coach.
Dockendorf made history by becoming “the first head coach in NCAA history to lead a team to the Final Four in her first year as head coach,” according to official statements from last season when she guided Utah to third place nationally—the highest finish ever by any rookie head coach.
Utah returns most routines from last year’s squad which finished fourth at NCAA Championships and features three All-Americans: Makenna Smith (ten times honored), Avery Neff (four times), Ella Zirbes (three times) plus Camie Winger who was recognized during regular-season competition.
Smith approaches Senior Night having completed nearly two hundred competitive routines during her collegiate career along with forty-two event victories thus far.
Neff has assumed greater responsibility following an award-winning freshman campaign where she earned four All-American distinctions along with several conference honors including Regional All-Around Champion and Vault Champion titles plus being named Big 12 Newcomer of the Year for 2025.
Utah has amassed over one hundred twenty perfect ten scores throughout its program history—with more than eighty occurring at home meets inside Jon M Huntsman Center—and clinched both regular-season and championship titles during its time since joining the Big 12 Conference prior to fall sports competitions beginning in 2024.
Looking ahead, Utah will host West Virginia and No 24 BYU for Senior Night at Jon M Huntsman Center Saturday March 7 starting at 3 p.m., honoring departing seniors Makenna Smith, Ana Padurariu, Ashley Glynn, and Sarah Krump.
Fans can follow updates about tournament schedules or athlete news via social media accounts @utahgymnastics or through university’s official mobile app UTAH360.
