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While football had a losing season and men’s basketball failed to make the NCAA Tournament for the eighth consecutive year, there was still a lot to celebrate in Utah’s athletic department.
From five players selected in the 2024 NFL draft to another national championship appearance from Utah gymnastics, here are 10 Utah athletics highlights from 2024.
Football
It certainly wasn’t a banner year on the field for the Utes, who went 5-7, but in April, the program was represented well at the NFL draft. Five Utes were drafted, headlined by safety Cole Bishop, who was a second-round selection by the Buffalo Bills.
Defensive end Jonah Elliss went in the third round to the Denver Broncos, safety/running back Sione Vaki was selected in the fourth round by the Detroit Lions, offensive guard Sataoa Laumea was picked by the Seattle Seahawks in the sixth round and wide receiver Devaughn Vele went to the Broncos in the seventh round.
Also of note was news, after weeks of speculation, that Kyle Whittingham would return to Utah’s sidelines for a 21st season guiding the Utah football program.
Gymnastics
It was largely another successful year for Utah gymnastics, which continued its streak of NCAA national championship meet appearances, punching its ticket to its 48th-straight title meet.
While the Red Rocks are still searching for their first national championship since 1995, in 2024 they won their fourth consecutive Pac-12 gymnastics title and finished third at the NCAA championships.
That third-place finish came after a challenging time for the team after head coach Tom Farden and Utah parted ways following an investigation into Farden’s treatment of athletes.
Interim head coach Carly Dockendorf — now the permanent head coach — took over about a month-and-a-half before the regular season, guiding the team through a new era and preserving the program’s streak of making every national championship meet.
Skiing
Utah, winners of four-straight NCAA skiing championships, was right in the mix again in this year’s title race. Though the Utes were edged out by Colorado, 569.5 to 567.5, there were still some individual championships to take home to Salt Lake City.
Mikkel Solbakken won the men’s giant slalom and Sydney Palmer-Leger won the Women’s 7.5 km individual freestyle at the NCAA skiing championships.
Solbakken was later awarded with the National Men’s Alpine Skier of the Year award, earning first-team All-American recognition in giant slalom and slalom.
Softball
After closing the month of April strong with a 13-4 record, including a sweep of No. 9 Washington and wins over No. 22 Oregon and No. 8 Stanford in the Pac-12 tournament before losing 2-1 to UCLA in the championship game, Utah punched its ticket to the NCAA tournament.
It was the second consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament for the Utes, a year after their run to the Women’s College World Series — the first time Utah had made the trip since 1994.
While Utah didn’t go that far this year, losing in the regionals to South Carolina, the April streak made sure the Utes checked off at least one of their goals this season — making another NCAA tournament appearance.
Golf
Utah punched its ticket to its second NCAA championships in three years, finishing fourth at the Austin regional behind a solid final day from freshman Gabriel Palacios.
Palacios fired a 3-under 71 to bring his three-day score to 1-under, while freshman Sergio Jimenez and junior Braxton Watts also came up big, posting even-par 71s on the final day of the tournament.
The Utes were eliminated in the NCAA golf championships, but a second trip to the big show in three years has the program on the upswing.
Baseball
The Utes improved on a 22-32-1 2023 season by posting their first winning record since 2017. Utah’s final 2024 tally was 33-22 — tied with the 2002 team for the second-best mark in program history — and the Utes also finished with a positive record in Pac-12 play (16-14), the most Pac-12 wins since 19 in 2016.
Off the field, Utah broke ground on an on-campus baseball stadium, something that has been a long time coming. The Utes’ baseball program has never had a true home, instead playing at Smith’s Ballpark, but in 2026, that changes with the opening of Charlie Monfort Field at America First Ballpark.
The new ballpark, which will sit on Guardsman Way, will have seating for 1,200 fans with additional berm seating in the stadium’s outfield and state-of-the-art facilities for the team.
Women’s basketball
It’s been a whirlwind 2024 for the women’s basketball program. Following a Sweet 16 run in 2023, Utah navigated losing its best player —Alissa Pili — to the WNBA draft and an early season-ending injury to Gianna Kneepkens. The Utes still turned in a 23-11 record and made the NCAA tournament for a third-straight year, losing to Gonzaga in the second round.
Shortly before the season began, head coach Lynne Roberts accepted a WNBA head coaching job with the Los Angeles Sparks and Gavin Petersen took over as Utah’s coach. Despite the abrupt change so close to the season, Utah is off to a 10-2 record, including a big win over No. 3 Notre Dame.
Lacrosse
Just six years after becoming an NCAA Division I lacrosse program, Utah has established itself.
For the second consecutive year, the Utes earned a trip to the NCAA tournament by winning the ASUN conference championship game, dispatching Cleveland State before defeating Jacksonville to punch their ticket to the NCAAs.
Coach Andrew McMinn has done a fantastic job of building the program, and Utah is set to rack up many more NCAA tournament appearances. The Utes have a ways to go to compete with the upper echelon of the sport — Utah lost 19-7 to Duke in the opening round of the NCAA tournament — but two NCAA trips in a row is a significant feat for a young program.
Volleyball
Utah made its return to the NCAA tournament, appearing for the first time since 2021. The Utes went 25-6 overall and 14-4 in the Big 12 Conference and earned the opportunity to host the NCAA tournament at the Huntsman Center.
The Utes defeated College of Charleston in the first round, but lost a 3-2 thriller to Marquette in the second round.
Despite the second-round loss, it was still a successful season for the program, which bounced back from a 11-19 record in 2023.
Track and field
For the third straight season, the Utes had multiple athletes competing at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, and for the first time in program history, Utah was represented across four events.
Utah was led by Josefine Eriksen, who helped Norway’s relay team qualify for the Olympics for the first time since 1920. Five days after the historic achievement, Eriksen was back for the Pac-12 outdoor track championships, where she helped the Utes to 22 points — the third-highest number for the Utes in the Pac-12 era. Eriksen finished third overall in the 800-meter at the Pac-12 championships, breaking a school record with a time of 2:01.58.
Erin Vringer, Eriksen, Harley Daniel and the 4x400m relay team (Eriksen, Daniel, Emily Martin and Bailey Kealamakia) all competed at the NCAA championships. It was the first-ever appearance for a Utah 4x400m relay team at the NCAAs.