No. 12 Red Rocks Head to Denver for Final Big 12 Road Meet

Sunday, March 1

Denver, CO

2:00 P.M.

University of Utah

Denver

Photo by: Misty-Jade Carlson

No. 12 Red Rocks Head to Denver for Final Big 12 Road Meet

2/24/2026 3:00 PM | Gymnastics

Week Eight Notes

Utah Gymnastics locked-in on clinching conference regular-season title

SALT LAKE CITY-- The No. 12 Red Rocks make the puddle-jump to Colorado to take on the No. 21 Denver Pioneers in their final Big 12 road meet of the 2026 season on Sunday, March 1 at 2 p.m. MT.

Fans can catch all the action on ESPN+.

QUICK STICKS

Head coach Carly Dockendorf is in her third season at the helm of the Red Rocks and ninth season with Utah Gymnastics overall in 2026.
Dockendorf is joined by 12 returners from last season's team, including senior Makenna Smith and sophomore Avery Neff, while welcoming four freshmen to the mix in Norah Christian, Sage Curtis, Abbi Ryssman, and Bailey Stroud.
Utah sits 4-0 in Big 12 competition after wins over Iowa State (1/25), ASU (1/30, Arizona (2/6), and BYU (2/13) with an opportunity to clinch the Big 12 Regular Season Title for a second straight year against Denver this weekend.
Sophomore Neff earned her fourth straight all-around crown against Southern Utah (2/20), tying her career-high score of 39.700 set against BYU in back-to-back weeks. Neff went on to notch event wins on vault with her third career perfect 10 (second on vault), and tying on bars with Ana Padurariu (9.95) while posting solid scores of 9.925 on floor and 9.825 on beam. Neff earned her fourth straight Big 12 Gymnast of the Week honor (2/24), bringing her total count up to five for 2026.
Freshman Abbi Ryssman earned her second-career event win on beam against SUU with a career-high 9.95 to steady the ship after a fall. Her effort notched her a third Big 12 Newcomer of the Week recognition (2/24).
Senior Makenna Smith took the floor title against the Flippin' Birds, matching her season-high on the event of 9.95.
Other Red Rocks of note against Southern Utah: Ashley Glynn went 9.95 on vault, Clara Raposo set a career-high on bars of 9.925, and Sage Curtis tied her career-high on floor in back-to-back weeks of 9.90. Junior Ella Zirbes proved a steady force once again on three events going 9.85 on vault, 9.925 on bars, and 9.925 on floor.
Utah posted their second-highest score of the season against the Thunderbirds of 197.425 on 2/20 after earning their second-highest score of the season on vault (49.550), tying their second-highest mark of the season on bars (49.625), and setting a season-high on floor (49.575).
The Red Rocks earned a season-high score of 198.025 against BYU to earn their first 198 score of the season, and became the fourth program in the country to cross the mark in 2026.
Utah set their second-highest program bars score with a season-high 49.750 against BYU (2/13) while simultaneously setting the high-score on the event for the entire country. The effort was just shy of their 49.800 record set in 2022 and jumped their previous second-highest score (49.700 set in 1993).
Utah tied its fourth highest team vault score in program history at Sprouts of 49.600. Last time Utah hit that mark was in 2005, with their highest score set in 2004 of 49.775.
The Red Rocks announced a multi-year NIL partnership with local company Redmond (1/5/26) that will provide Utah Gymnastics with healthy meals, and electrolyte products, as well as provide funds for future international service trips to be announced at a later date.
Two Red Rocks legends remain on staff for Utah Gymnastics in 2026 with all-time perfect 10s record holder (15) Maile O'Keefe taking on an Operations Specialist position and recently graduated Olympic silver medalist Grace McCallum moving into the Student Assistant Coach role.
Utah Gymnastics clinched Utah Athletics' first two Big 12 Titles since joining the league before the 2024 fall sports season began. The Red Rocks won the Big 12's Regular Season Championship outright on 2/21/25, and clinched the Big 12 Championship on 3/22/25. In 2014, Utah Gymnastics earned Utah Athletics' first Pac-12 Title, four years after the Utes made the jump to the league from the Mountain West Conference.

CHALK TALK

Dockendorf is in her third season leading the Red Rocks program and her ninth overall with Utah Gymnastics.
In 2024 Dockendorf became the first head coach in NCAA history to lead a team to the Final Four in her first year as head coach, earning the highest finish (3rd-place) by any first-year head coach.
Utah returns 18-of-24 routines from last year's team, which finished in fourth place at the NCAA Championships.
Utah's roster contains three All-Americans: Makenna Smith (10x), Avery Neff (4x), and Ella Zirbes (3x) plus regular-season All-American Camie Winger (1x).
Smith will seek to end her productive career with a bang currently sitting at 196 hit routines out of 200 in her career and 42 total event victories and counting.
Neff takes on a bigger role for the Utes in 2026 after showing the college gymnastics world what she's made of as a freshman and No. 1 recruit last season. Despite missing time with injury, Neff racked up the accolades earning four All-American nods, Regional All-Around and Vault Champion, 2025 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, 2025 All-Big 12 Freshman Team selection, 2025 Big 12 Beam Champion, and eight total career wins.
Utah has amassed 123 perfect 10.0 scores all-time, with 86 of those performances coming at home in the Jon M. Huntsman Center.

LAST TIME OUT

Sophomore Neff earned her fourth straight all-around crown against Southern Utah (2/20), tying her career-high score of 39.700 set against BYU in back-to-back weeks. Neff went on to notch event wins on vault with her third career perfect 10 (second on vault), and tying on bars with Ana Padurariu (9.95) while posting solid scores of 9.925 on floor and 9.825 on beam. Neff earned her fourth straight Big 12 Gymnast of the Week honor (2/24), bringing her total count up to five for 2026.
Freshman Abbi Ryssman earned her second-career event win on beam against SUU with a career-high 9.95 to steady the ship after a fall. Her effort notched her a third Big 12 Newcomer of the Week recognition (2/24).
Senior Makenna Smith took the floor title against the Flippin' Birds, matching her season-high on the event of 9.95.
Other Red Rocks of note against Southern Utah: Ashley Glynn went 9.95 on vault, Clara Raposo set a career-high on bars of 9.925, and Sage Curtis tied her career-high on floor in back-to-back weeks of 9.90. Junior Ella Zirbes proved a steady force once again on three events going 9.85 on vault, 9.925 on bars, and 9.925 on floor.
Utah posted their second-highest score of the season against the Thunderbirds of 197.425 on 2/20 after earning their second-highest score of the season on vault (49.550), tying their second-highest mark of the season on bars (49.625), and setting a season-high on floor (49.575).

UP NEXT

The Red Rocks will put a bow on Big 12 regular-season competion hosting West Virginia and No. 24 BYU for Senior Night at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on Saturday, March 7 at 3 p.m.

Fans are encouraged to arrive early and be loud for Utah's four departing seniors- Makenna Smith, Ana Padurariu, Ashley Glynn, and Sarah Krump.

Fans that can't attend the meet in person can catch the action on ESPN+ with Alisa Mowe and Nick Koop on the call.

FOLLOW THE RED ROCKS
For an inside look at the Utah Gymnastics program, including tournament, roster and news updates, fans can follow the Red Rocks on social media (TikTok: @utahgymnastics |Instagram: @utahgymnastics).

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