Utah’s gymnastics team is focused on finding its first four-event meet of 2026 with its next opportunity coming Friday at Arizona.
The matchup for Big 12 bragging rights between the 15th-ranked Red Rocks and GymCats begins at 7 p.m. MT.
Utah’s last road meet, at Iowa State two weeks ago, was another mixed bag in what has been an unpredictable season thus far. The Red Rocks had two very good events and two events that were an uphill battle that resulted in a win but also Utah’s lowest score of the year (195.725).
The good news for the Red Rocks is that they built some momentum last week to beat Arizona State at home with a 196.450.
Utah has been focusing on re-creating the pressure and atmosphere that comes with both road and home meets during its practices.
“We’re going to do another intrasquad (meet) today, which I think the girls, it’s a lot of work for them, but they can really see the benefit from it,” head coach Carly Dockendorf said earlier this week.
“And, just a little bit of our mindset, I would say has shifted to this weekend of, ‘There’s no time for excuses anymore, you just have to do it.’”
Utah had some changes to its lineups last week as final rotation spots seem to be closer to being solidified. Avery Neff and Ana Padurariu led the way over Arizona State, with Neff earning Big 12 Gymnast of the Week honors for her all-around and beam wins.
Leading the way
Padurariu has been one of Utah’s best scorers and most solid gymnasts this season. The senior is a mainstay in the beam and bars lineups, as she’s contributing to the team both with her performances and her leadership.
Padurariu started her career at UCLA but transferred to Utah. She’s married to Tommy Silva, a professional soccer player who spent time with Real Salt Lake, and she credits him for being a grounding source.
“I think what helps us the most is that our identity isn’t in our sport,” Padurariu said. “We know at the end of the day, if someone’s upset about their sport that it’s not who we are and that life is bigger than our sport.
“It’s amazing to have a partner that is on the same wavelength as me.”
The senior also credits her church, The Well, for helping her evolve as a person and as a leader.
“I feel like part of my leadership is a bit natural,” she said. “I’ve always been more vocal. My club coach instilled a confidence in me from a young age, but now, a lot of the concepts and values that I have towards leadership come from the church that I go to, and I’ve learned a lot from the mentors they have brought in.”
For Pardurariu, her joy and success are contagious, but so is her ability to connect with her teammates however they need her to. She recognizes everyone deals with things differently.
“Ana sees the good in everything and in everyone, and I think sometimes that is a much-needed feeling,” said Elizabeth Gantner, who leads off beam.
“She just has so much love for what she does, and so much love for all of us, that it really helps us all feel welcomed and trusted, and helps motivate us.”
The journey for the Canadian has been a windy one. She saw a lot of success at Canadian and World Championships, including a silver medal at Worlds on beam, but injuries derailed her Olympic dream and have plagued some of her college career.
“Last year I was very injured and very much hurting so I couldn’t get the numbers and I couldn’t get my confidence,” Padurariu said.
“This season, I had a full summer and preseason of training that I haven’t had my entire college career, and I worked with Carly a lot on learning from mistakes and moving on super fast. Honestly though, I attribute a lot of my success to faith, because without my faith I would still be doubting myself, and not able to just do gymnastics freely.”
This season, Padurariu has tied her career high of 9.95 on beam, and has gone for 9.925 on bars.
“I think with Ana, she’s so confident in who she is as a person, and she really is here to serve,” Dockendorf said. “She wants to be the best she can be and help everybody on this team.
“She’s just so mature, and she has the ability to do that and the care.”
Around the state
BYU ranks No. 23 in the country and is coming off a season-high tying score of 196.300 in its win over Arizona last week.
The Cougars are led by senior Kylie Eaquinto and junior Brynlee Andersen-Broekman, who both have won Big 12 weekly awards this season.
“We’ve gotten our lineups pretty figured out, and are finally in a groove right now with our schedule after a quick start to the season where we had three meets in eight days,” said BYU coach Guard Young.
“We have two great road chances coming up with going to SUU and then to the University of Utah the following week.”
The Cougars matchup against SUU is Friday at 6:30 pm MST.
Meanwhile, Utah State travels to Air Force in Colorado for a Friday matchup against Air Force and Alaska Anchorage before returning home to host SUU, Sacramento State and Alaska Anchorage on Monday.