Sometimes the first meet of the season goes well, and sometimes it has some hiccups.

The latter was true for both Utah and Utah State’s gymnastics teams as the in-state foes battled in the Huntsman Center Friday night, with the Red Rocks easily winning 196.775-194.450.

It wasn’t a typical showing for storied Utah, which begins the season ranked No. 5. But hiccups don’t have to be all bad, especially when you have a whole season left to squash them.

“So, the good thing is last year we came out a little bit better in our first meet and then our second meet, against some of the best teams in the country, looked like it did tonight,” said Utah coach Carly Dockendorf.

“I think that there’s a lot that we can learn from tonight, areas that we can improve mentally and with our confidence going into next weekend. I would much prefer to make those mistakes tonight than next week when we go to Oklahoma.”

Utah will need to work on translating practice to meet, as both Dockendorf and her gymnasts admitted they were surprised by some of the struggles.

“I think it’s good to get all those weird little things out…a lot of uncharacteristic mistakes, things you don’t see in the gym every day,” said Grace McCallum.

The meet had several storylines for the Red Rocks, but the start to the hopeful storybook year didn’t go quite as planned. Utah’s first four vaulters didn’t crack the 9.80 mark, leaving fans scratching their heads.

Included in those first four vaulters was McCallum, who will be one of the key figures this year as she finishes out a great collegiate career after entering as a freshman just off the Olympics in 2021.

McCallum was strong in her two middle events, recording 9.90s on bars and beam, but she said she hadn’t been feeling well and wasn’t able to finish the floor in her normal Grace fashion, ending with a 9.80.

Another storyline was the debut of Avery Neff, a local product who joins Utah as the No. 1 recruit in the country.

“I think Avery proved she’s a human,” said Dockendorf. “I know that she’s the No. 1 recruit in the country, but we’re still going to make mistakes.

“She’s still just a gymnast, and I was really proud of her because I know there’s been a lot of anticipation and a lot of pressure for her to be out there. I will guarantee that she probably won’t make the mistake again later this season, and she’s probably going to be really fired up next weekend.”

Neff had a solid night across her first three events but stumbled on floor, which is something Dockendorf says she never does in practice.

The freshman is expected to be the next Red Rock star, and the fans are ready for her as they booed the judges when they felt they shorted Neff’s outstanding beam effort.

Utah also put any doubts to rest about it continuing to be a beam team, recording a 49.475 for its highest event total. Camie Winger highlighted the event and meet with a career-best 9.95 from the second spot, while Makenna Smith and McCallum added 9.90s.

Utah’s lineup didn’t score lower than a 9.85 on beam.

In all honestly, top scores were hard to come by most of the night. Chalk it up to the judging evaluation that is ongoing this year, or to not setting the bar too high the first meet out, several scores left the 11,401 in attendance wanting more.

Scoring will especially come into play next week when Utah hits the road to face No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 LSU and No. 4 Cal. It’s an opportunity to be in the same arena with three top teams and to really see where Utah is this early in the season.

“I will say that some of the mistakes that were made on vault, it looked like they were going aggressive, taking big steps forward for the most part,” said Dockendorf. “That is something we would prefer to see at this point of the season is go big, go aggressive rather than hesitating and holding back.”

The final big storyline was Utah’s depth. The Red Rocks have talent up and down their lineups and alternates ready to go in at any minute.

Friday it was Sarah Krump, who recorded her first college score (9.825) on floor after being subbed last minute, giving Utah a boost in the event.

Event Winners

Smith won floor with a 9.875 in the leadoff spot and also won the all-around with a 39.50. Utah’s Ashley Glynn was the best vaulter on the night with a 9.925, while Amelie Morgan tied McCallum for the bars win at 9.90.

Winger grabbed beam with her 9.95.

Utah State

5
Comments

The Aggies are looking to build off Friday’s effort as well, as it didn’t go as planned for them either.

“I was definitely disappointed in our performance,” said Utah State coach Kristin White. “We prepared really, really well this preseason, and unfortunately we just didn’t show up on some of those events tonight.”

Utah State had freshmen competing across the lineups so there may have been some nerves, but White credited the crowd for being awesome.

Nyla Morabito finished second on the floor with a 9.85, while Kaylie Medrano was third on vault with a 9.8 to lead the Aggies.

Join the Conversation
Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.