Utah Gymnastics 2026 Final Analysis

Photo by: University of Utah Athletics

4/28/2026 10:08 AM | Gymnastics

Utah Gymnastics 2026 Season Final Analysis

Red Rocks continued to add to history books in season that was

SALT LAKE CITY-- The Red Rocks finished the 2026 college gymnastics season in 10th place (197.500) after being eliminated in the Corvallis Regional Final on April 5. This was the first season in the program's 51-year history missing the National Championship after a record 49-consecutive appearances.

Utah Gymnastics has never finished a season ranked lower than 10th in the country.

Despite missing the National Championship as a team, Utah was still represented by three individual athletes: Avery Neff who took 7th in the all-around and 4th on floor, Ella Zirbes (floor), and Ana Padurariu (beam).

Neff earned NCAA All-American first team in the all-around and floor, and second team on beam, while Zirbes earned second team honors on floor.

THE FINAL 2026 SEASON RANKINGS

Utah Gymnastics ranked as such in the final 2026 season rankings:

VT: 3rd | UB: 9th | BB: 9th | FX: 15th | AA: 10th

Avery Neff finished 2026 ranked No. 3 in the all-around, tied 8th on vault, tied 12th on bars, and tied 11th on beam.
Makenna Smith ended her career tied 11th on vault and floor.
Ella Zirbes tied 14th on vault, tied 15th on bars, and tied 11th on floor.
Ashley Glynn tied 25th on vault, Ana Padurariu tied 15th on bars, and Camie Winger tied 20th on beam.

AWARD SEASON

Two Red Rocks (Avery Neff and Ella Zirbes) earned four NCAA All-America honors after competing at the National Championship Semifinals as individuals (4/16).
Neff won the WCGA North Central Region Gymnast of the Year (4/8).
Neff was the Corvallis Regional beam co-champion and all-around champion (4/5).
Four Red Rocks (Avery Neff, Makenna Smith, Ella Zirbes, and Ana Padurariu) earned WCGA Regular Season All-America honors (3/30).
For the second straight season, Utah clinched both the Big 12 regular season and championship titles (3/21).
Avery Neff was named the Big 12 Gymnast of the Year while Ana Padurariu was named the Specialist of the Year (3/21).
Utah claimed all Big 12 individual titles in 2026- Avery Neff (all-around, bars, floor), Makenna Smith (vault), Camie Winger (beam).
The Red Rocks had eight athletes (Avery Neff, Makenna Smith, Ella Zirbes, Ashley Glynn, Camie Winger, Zoe Johnson, Ana Padurariu, and Abbi Ryssman) earn spots on the All-Big 12 vault, bars, beam, floor, all-around, and freshman teams (3/18).

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 missed qualifying for their 50th straight appearance in the NCAA Championship by .125 of a point at the Corvallis Regional Final on 4/5, putting an end to a historic streak regardless of sport or level at 49 years.
The Red Rocks clinched a spot in the Corvallis Regional Final posting a 197.500 and were joined by No. 5 Alabama (197.225), and No. 4 UCLA and No. 13 Minnesota from Session II.
Neff sits tied fourth in program history with MyKayla Skinner and Grace McCallum for all-around wins in a season (7).
The Red Rocks earned their second-straight Big 12 title on 3/21 and their highest road score of the season (197.675) which is also their second-highest score of 2026. Utah has won a conference championship six years in a row starting with four Pac-12 Conference Championships (2021-24) plus their two Big 12 titles (2025-26).
Utah Gymnastics posted their highest team floor score of the season at the Big 12 Conference Championship of 49.725 which ranks third all-time in program history. The Red Rocks achieved that score once before in 2014. (Their highest floor score is a 49.800 set in 2001.)
For the second year in a row, Utah went undefeated in Big 12 competition (6-0) after wins over Iowa State (1/25), ASU (1/30), Arizona (2/6), BYU (2/13), Denver (3/1) and West Virginia (3/7)- earning the Big 12 Regular Season Title outright against the Pioneers.
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 McCallum moving into the Student Assistant Coach role.
Utah Gymnastics clinched Utah Athletics' first four Big 12 Titles (2 regular season, 2 championships) since joining the league ahead of the 2024 fall sports season. 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.

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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