Red Rocks win Best of Utah meet as Makenna Smith claims all-around title

Gymnastics fans in Utah really are spoiled with the Best of Utah meet, and Monday night’s iteration didn’t disappoint with great routines across each event by all four in-state collegiate teams.

In the end, Utah won again, this time with its best score (197.3) of the 2026 season. Utah State finished second with a 195.825, followed by BYU (195.725) and Southern Utah (195.675).

For the Red Rocks, it was the bounce back effort they needed after struggling and taking fourth in the Sprouts Collegiate Quad meet on Saturday. That loss featured several uncharacteristic mistakes by Utah, outside of vault, including three falls on beam, missing landings and some breaks in skills.

“We really took a reflection off how we did the other day, and really leaned into what Utah gymnastics is,” said Utah’s Makenna Smith. “We remembered all the things that we’ve worked for all season and all preseason, and just let that shine tonight.”

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Although the turnaround was a quick one from Saturday’s meet to Monday’s, it likely benefited Utah to not have too much time to dwell on the loss and rather to just get back out there and let it rip.

Utah still has room to grow with its consistency – it really didn’t have a stellar leadoff across the four routines including falls on floor and vault. The difference, though, in the win versus the loss was the response the Red Rocks had to hiccups across the meet.

Abbi Ryssman was outstanding on beam, winning the event with a 9.9 after falling Saturday. The freshman admitted she got a little shaky with her confidence in Saturday’s meet and had to remind herself about her approach.

“I think going into this meet, I just really trusted what I was doing in the gym,” said Ryssman.

She also was lights out on bars with a 9.925, as were her teammates Ana Padurariu and Bailey Stroud, who hit the same mark. But it was Ella Zirbes (9.95) who pushed Utah to its best event effort of the season with a 49.625.

“Bars was definitely the highlight, but also for vault to go out and do another good set was really important for us,” said Utah coach Carly Dockendorf.

Utah’s vaulters shined again with a 49.375 followed by floor at 49.225 and then beam with a 49.075. Zirbes won floor (9.925) along with bars while Smith earned the vault (9.95) and all-around titles (39.475).

The pieces are definitely there for Utah. Now it’s time for the coaches to find where they fit. They made quite a few lineup adjustments Monday that boosted event scores. They’ll have nearly two more weeks to keep tinkering with the best way to maximize Utah’s depth before the Red Rocks next meet.

Utah State

Utah State had a great meet as well, hitting for the second-highest opening-meet score in program history in 195.825. The Aggies were about as consistent as you could ask for across the four events to earn second for only the second time in the seven-year history of the Best of Utah meet.

Junior Sydney Jelen recorded a career-high 9.85 on bars, while Olivia Orengo tied for third in the all-around with a 39.15.

BYU

The Cougars had some ups and downs in Monday’s meet. They started off strong on floor with Brynlee Andersen-Broekman and Scarlett Sonnenberg recording 9.85s. Vault was solid again for the Cougars, but then bars was a bit off after being the best event in Friday’s win over Oregon State.

Most impressive for the Cougs was their finish on beam, after facing a fall in the leadoff position for a second-straight meet.

“Don’t want to start any event off with a mistake because then you are five up, five count,” said BYU coach Guard Young. “It does shake the lineup because girls get tighter because of that. But wow, I mean I guess we’re getting pretty good at that, and hopefully we can start reversing that a little bit and not put coach through that so much.”

Young is another coach with depth across lineups that the Cougars are still trying to figure out with their group early in the season.

SUU

The Flippin’ Birds were best on vault with a 49.05 and had good showings by their all-arounders Mia Hampton (39.15) and Niya Randolph (39.125). Hampton tied for third in the all-around.

Berlin Hall had a great floor effort that resulted in a 9.875 while Alex Routsis produced the same score on bars.

Meet notes

“I just can’t praise the Maverik Center and the four schools in Utah enough,” said BYU’s Young. “They’re great schools, and to have this culminating event, this does not happen in other places. We are so lucky and we want to keep this event going.

The event is getting more difficult to schedule with teams in various conferences, but the programs are committed to keeping it going as it is a team and fan favorite.

Prior to the meet, the group honored Kevin Bruder, the Maverick Center CEO who passed away in May. Bruder was a key supporter and driver of gymnastics at the arena.

Event winners

All-Around — Makenna Smith (Utah); 39.475

Vault — Makenna Smith (Utah); 9.95

Bars — Ella Zirbes (Utah); 9.95

Beam — Abbi Ryssman (Utah); 9.9

Floor — Ella Zirbes (Utah); 9.925