Utah’s gymnastics team opened its season last Friday with a win over Minnesota and Iowa at home. The meet had bright spots and areas for improvement the No. 3 Red Rocks will need to overcome as they compete against three of the best teams in the country in Oklahoma, LSU and UCLA this Saturday.
The Sprouts Quad meet will feature two sessions at the Maverik Center, with Utah’s grouping starting at 2 p.m. and Cal, Kentucky, Michigan and Michigan State competing at 6 p.m.
Meet notes
Oklahoma has been a force to be reckoned with since KJ Kindler took over the program in 2006. The Sooners have won seven championships, including the 2025 title, and also won in 2022 and 2023, with LSU sandwiched in between with the 2024 title.
This is the first meet of the season for both the Sooners and Tigers, while Utah and top-ranked UCLA each have one under their belts.
All four teams should sit atop or near the top of the rankings this season and expect to see each other again in the postseason, with all four seeking another national title.
“It’s always super exciting to get to compete against the best,” said Utah coach Carly Dockendorf. “For us, it really is a big measuring stick to see where we’re at and where we need to improve — where we’re going to need to go from here to continue to grow throughout the season.”
While the competition will be of the highest quality, it will also provide teams with early exposure to the podium platform, which is used in the postseason.
The Sprouts meet is the first leg of a stretch of schedule for Utah that mimics the postseason. After resting Sunday, the Red Rocks will be back at it Monday for another quad meet at the Maverik Center, but this time the opponents will be instate foes BYU, SUU and Utah State in the Best of Utah meet, which will start at 7 p.m.
“For us to do a practice of competing, recovering and then competing again is huge,” Dockendorf said. “On top of that, this is the NCAA national equipment that is here this weekend, so we’ll get the chance to compete on that for two comps, and that’s huge for us.”
Although Utah fans love their Red Rocks, the talent across sessions in Saturday’s meet is arguably the best featured at an event until the postseason.
Highlighting the lineups is Olympic medalist Jordan Chiles (UCLA), who is the reigning NCAA bars champion, and LSU’s Kailin Chio, who is the reigning vault champion.
Comeback hits
While talent is a must, so is resiliency. Utah has three gymnasts who experienced a lot of highs and lows last season but came back fiercely to help Utah win its opening meet last week.
Junior Ella Zirbes openly discussed her mental health struggles with the sport last season, and took a step back from some lineups to address the anxiety and seek support.
Sophomore Poppy-Grace Stickler came to compete at Utah all the way from Wales but didn’t get to last year due to a lingering foot injury.
Zoe Johnson, meanwhile had a slow start to her debut season in 2024 after facing a minor injury, but she turned on the jets at regionals, hitting two huge vault scores including a career-best 9.95 to help Utah advance before the cruel roller coaster of gymnastics came as she landed on her back in the championship meet.
Last Friday, Zirbes debuted on beam and in the all-around. She ended up winning or tying for the win on both events and added in a title on floor for good measure.
Stickler performed a floor routine that had fans out of their seats dancing with her and the rest of the Red Rocks, and Johnson roared back and landed a beautiful vault to win the event after earning a 9.925.
All three were so good that when sophomore standout Avery Neff was asked at practice this week what her favorite moment in Friday’s win was, she proceeded to reel off all three of her teammates’ efforts because she couldn’t just pick one.
A lot of fans would have answered the same as Neff, with the Huntsman Center faithful applauding Zirbes, Stickler and Johnson for their efforts because they know what all three have been through.
Now, the focus for all three is to continue moving forward.
“I really tried not to think about it too much,” said Johnson about ending last season with a fall. “But obviously, it was in the back of my mind a bit.
“I was just trying to trust my training knowing that my coaches and my teammates believed in me. They wouldn’t have put me back in the lineup if I wasn’t ready. I was so happy to hit that first vault.”
All three will be key to Utah’s success this weekend.