Its official name is women’s artistic gymnastics.
Otherwise known as WAG, when you think of the the sport of gymnastics, be it the Olympics with Simone Biles or whoever your American Olympian favorite is, or if you are a fan of gymnastics at the NCAA level, say the University of Utah’s team — the Red Rocks — that is the type of gymnastics you are thinking of.
The sport boiled down to its essence is a series of presentations, wherein athletes display their physical prowess as best they can — often in jaw-dropping ways — but also work hard to captivate both the audience and the judges with their artistry and performance.
The two, extreme strength/athleticism and bewitching performance quality, go hand-in-hand, with the best gymnasts merging them in an almost effortless manner.
Arguably no gymnast has performance down better right now at the University of Utah than Makenna Smith.
The junior from Albuquerque is an elite athlete, don’t be mistaken. She is the fourth-best vaulter in all of college gymnastics right now and vault is an event where athleticism is almost the singular focus.
But where Smith really makes her mark is the show she puts on week-after-week.
What Smith does is unique. She elicits an almost-need to participate from the audience. During her routines on beam and floor exercise — on floor especially — it can feel like Smith is ever-so-close to enticing the audience to leap out of their seats and join her.
Exuberant, jovial, audacious, Smith puts on a show unlike any other Red Rock right now and the show goes beyond just the competition floor itself. She wears sunglasses in a darkened arena, moon walks randomly for kicks and giggles and can be spotted dancing or vibing during practically every warm up period.
Energy embodied is how Smith comes off during Utah gymnastics meets and thousands feed off of it.
Is that the real Smith though? Or is she simply an incredible performer who knows when to turn on the charm?
“I honestly think that the majority of it is me,” Smith told the Deseret News. “I think I’m pretty much like that all the time. One thing my dad used to tell me is that there has never been a stranger I’ve never met, because I go out and talk to everybody. I’m always trying to make a new friend, always trying to make someone else feel heard and feel seen. I just like to be myself unapologetically, because I’d much rather go out there and live with no regrets and be whoever I am.”
Where did Makenna Smith come from?
Is Smith a product of her environment and upbringing or does she have such a strong personality that she was going to be who she is no matter what?
For her part, Smith credits her family for a lot of who she is. Not all — “its probably pretty split,” she said — but a good portion.
The loud vibrant personality that she puts on display? A lot of that comes from her dad, Craig Smith.
“My dad is a super proud dad,” Makenna said. “He has different Hawaiian shirts that have my face on them and say Big Mak on the back. He learned how to play the electric guitar and he brings it to the away meets. He’ll play our intro song, the song from Top Gun, during our little rallies before away meets.”
Her ability to stay light and free, even during pressure-packed situations — such as competing in front of 12,000 to 13,000 fans — Makenna credits to her mom, Stefanie Smith.
A history teacher, who has taught fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grade, Stefanie instilled in Smith an ability to find the good in every situation.
“My problem-solving skills and just kind of being able to look at things and spin a positive light — a lot of that is from her,” Makenna said. “She always, when I was having an issue with someone, who turn things back on him. She’d say, ‘Okay, but what did you do to make them react like that?’ And it always made me look back, and I used to hate it when I was younger. I was like, ‘Can’t you just be on my side? Like, what the heck?’ But I feel like now it really gives me a good perspective of understanding that maybe if someone is acting a certain way, it’s because of something else that they’re experiencing. So I feel like that’s really helpful.”
Marleigh’s impact on Makenna
Not to overshadow her parents or anything, but Makenna credits a lot of who she is to her younger sister, Marleigh Smith. Makenna is the elder daughter by 19 months, but Marleigh’s life has profoundly impacted who Makenna is.
Marleigh was diagnosed with epilepsy when she was in the third grade and what the Smith family went through — Marleigh especially — before and after that diagnosis remains with Makenna to this day.
“That was a whole thing, trying to figure that out,” Makenna said. “Because apparently if you have a seizure for the first time they don’t do too much. Maybe you were dehydrated? Maybe you were outside a lot? Stuff like that. But then she had another one so then there was the whole rabbit hole of trying to figure out what it is.
“Then we figured out it’s epilepsy, which is great, but then you had to figure out what meds actually work.”
On and on it went, and with each medication that the family tried, came different side effects. One side effect Marleigh experienced was extreme anger.
“That one was a really fun time,” Makenna said with a laugh. “That was wild. She had that side effect to the max. Now, looking back on it, it is really funny, but she went through all of that.”
It didn’t end there, however.
First Marleigh had appendicitis, then she contracted Clostridioides difficile, commonly known as C. diff. After that there was a blood clot in her calf and then C. diff again.
All of that on top of epilepsy and all before she turned 20.
“She (Marleigh) is just truly the strongest person to me,” Makenna said. “She went through all of that and yeah, it was hard. It was hard on all of us, my parents, me, everyone, but especially her. Her whole life got flipped upside down.
“But she was so strong through it and came out of everything with a smile. She still this crazy sense of optimism and perseverance. I truly think that she can handle anything, because going through all of that at like, before she’s even 20, she’s actually crazy. She’s a crazy inspiration to me. she’s made me so strong, and showed me to have compassion. You don’t know what people are going through all the time. She’s just like, amazing and I love her.”
The influence of a good coach
Smith is also quick to credit her club coach at Gold Cup, Ed Burch, for who she is. Especially as a gymnast.
A long time men’s gymnastics coach — Burch coached five male Olympians, including 1992 Olympic champion Trent Dimas — Burch did a number on Smith, in the best way possible.
“I was 13 when I switched gyms,” Smith said. “So I was a little bit older and I was only there (at Gold Cup) for like five years, but they truly were, like, the greatest five years of my life.”
Burch, Smith said, instilled in her the goal of becoming a college gymnast and getting a college scholarship. He did a lot more than that though.
“He really did take me under his wing and taught me everything I wanted to know about gymnastics,” Smith said. “And not just learning skills and stuff, but the nuances of the sport, coaching techniques. I’d sit with him all the time, he’d have (private coaching sessions) and I would just sit with him and learn from what he was coaching.”
One notable thing Burch taught Smith was how to let go of frustration. He had a tendency to bust out “random, funny sayings,” at times when Smith was otherwise nearly unconsolable.
“He would always say, ‘Why are you being so like, like — it’s not worth being so frustrated about this,’” Smith said.
His history with excellent gymnasts only served to inspire Smith to train harder, to want to have a place alongside the other greats Burch has coached.
It worked too. Her picture now hangs in Burch’s gym, after she qualified to Elite gymnastics and scored a perfect 10 at the Junior Olympic level.
It is difficult for Smith to boil Burch’s influence down to any one thing, but she tries.
“He built my confidence in my gymnastics,” she said. “And he really cared about who you are as a person too. He wanted me to be able to walk away and say that I am a good person because of gymnastics.”
What is behind Makenna Smith’s star turn this season?
From the moment she arrived at Utah, Smith was a standout. The person she’d developed into over the course of her life was clearly up for the challenge of college gymnastics.
As a freshman she competed in the all-around on a team that included multiple Olympics medalists and NCAA champions.
“She’s been an extremely confident person since her freshman year,” fifth-year senior Jaylene Gilstrap said.
This season, though, her junior year, Smith took things to another level.
She is a top 10 all-around gymnast. As mentioned previously, she is one of the four best vaulters in the entire NCAA. She is hundredths of a point away from averaging a 9.90 or better on every event and she has become one of the faces of Utah gymnastics.
What’s been different for her?
“I just feel like she’s been much more intentional at practice every single day,” Utah head coach Carly Dockendorf said. ”I think she comes in (to practice) with a greater determination and desire to be the best that she can be. She takes a lot of pride in her work and I think she also really enjoys the process a lot.
“She always seems like she loves being here in training, and I think that always helps bring out the best in everyone. But I think the intention that she brings to training every day has just escalated over the years. She has become more determined to meet her goals and our team goals.”
Senior Grace McCallum agrees.
“I feel like she’s always had that competitive edge,” McCallum said. “She’s always been very good at what she does, but I feel like this year she kind of feels comfortable with the team in a way she didn’t before. She has taken on more of that leadership role, being an upperclassman, and so she just kind of bringing that into her gymnastics as well.”
Smith believes her time spent at Utah has made her a more confident gymnast, as difficult as that might be to believe.
“Being here continues to build my confidence,” she said. “Last year, I feel like I was really coming into my own with my confidence and a lot of people talked about it. But I feel like now I really do feel super settled in it.”
So much so that she has been more brazen with her gymnastics. More willing to take risks to get a higher score. More willing to go all in on her performance.
“So what if I do open up a little early on my bail so I can stick it, instead of just being trying to get to my feet?” Smith said. “I’ve become more confident in myself that I can show that when I compete. We work on it in the gym, but then you get to a competition and it’s different. You don’t want to mess up, you don’t want to fall. You can revert back to what feels safe. I feel like I’m getting better now at not trying to play it safe. Now, I’d much rather go out there and mess up because I’m going too hard or I’m trying something new.”
The more aggressive version of Smith, the more confident version, has paid off for both her and Utah this season. And she has, in the process, become a must-watch among the Red Rocks.
It can sometimes feel that Smith is a little too good to be true. Too electric, too dynamic, too consistent. But that’s just her. And she is still getting better too.
