Utah coach Carly Dockendorf has been steadfast in her belief that despite a rough first month in the Red Rocks’ 2026 campaign, the pieces were always there. It just took a bit to figure out how they fit in place — and overcome the nerves that accompanied the confusion.
That meant February and March included moving some pieces around with lineups and rotation orders. It also meant, despite settling in and hitting one of the nation’s best scores, the Red Rocks really couldn’t climb out of the hole they dug themselves with the new NQS formula.
Ultimately, it meant No. 12 Utah was placed in arguably the toughest regional, and that it will need to embrace the role of underdog. Utah kicks off its regional Friday in Corvallis, Oregon, at 2 p.m. MDT, with the top two teams from each semifinal advancing to the regional final Sunday.
Semifinal 1
- No. 5 Alabama
- No. 12 Utah
- No. 23 Denver
- No. 25 Oregon State
Semifinal 2
- No. 4 UCLA
- No. 13 Minnesota
- No. 19 Iowa
- Play-in winner out of San Jose State and Washington
“I think regionals every year is a pressure cooker, that’s what makes it so exciting, and I actually really like our draw,” said Dockendorf. “We are familiar with Corvallis. I know, personally, I’ve been there a lot in both my own career as an athlete and as a coach, and I love the environment there.
“Their fans are big gymnastics fans, they have their band, which is so fun, love their venue.”
The Red Rocks typically thrive in high-energy settings with fans behind or against them. No one embraces the energy of the crowd more than Makenna Smith, while freshman Sage Curtis is also a fan. Both Smith and Curtis are key pieces for Utah to advance, playing very different but equally important roles.
The senior Smith is the leader of the team, the one who brings the fun and a reminder of Utah gymnastics’ legacy. She’s had a few bumps of her own this season but has career highs of 9.95 on all four events and has been outstanding of late.
She’s been a team player all season, rotating in and out of the all-around, depending on the beam lineup.
“I think that everybody’s really embraced whatever role that they’ve been put into, especially the people on the sidelines,” explained Smith. “I have some of the biggest cheerleaders.”
While Smith competes across events, freshman Curtis fought her way into the floor lineup and found a home in the anchor position.
“At the beginning of the season, not being in any lineups, that was pretty tough,” explained Curtis. “One of my aunts actually asked me, how does that feel? I told her, ‘If anything, it just fuels my fire, it just makes me just want to go work harder.’
“Being able to finally get the opportunity has meant everything for me, just knowing that the coaches trust me enough especially to anchor for the amazing floor team that we have.”
Dockendorf has credited Curtis for competing beyond her years and with a steadiness that has boosted the team. The local product has been rock solid when things are on the line, such as Utah’s opportunity to cross the 198.000 platform against BYU earlier this year, as it was Curtis’ score that helped them over the hump.
“Personally, I feel like pressure pushes me really to kind of just be my best,” Curtis said. “The coach believes it doesn’t really matter if you’re in the all-around or in one event because somehow you are contributing and part of what she hopes is another great push to the championships.”
“Every single person plays an important role,” Dockendorf noted. “We’ve talked a lot about being a star in whatever role you are playing, whether that’s in the lineup, not in the lineup, staff, it doesn’t matter.”
Meet notes
Of its three semifinal foes, Utah has only faced Denver this season. The Red Rocks defeated the Pioneers twice but fell behind them after two rotations at the Big 12 championship before going on to win a second-straight title. Denver finished second.
Alabama was fourth at the SEC championship. The Crimson Tide have been one of the NCAA’s most consistent teams, scoring in the 197.000 range every meet. Utah’s season high (198.025) ranks just above Alabama’s (197.950).
The Red Rocks begin the meet on their second-best event, bars, and end on their best, vault.
BYU, SUU, Utah State
The 24th-ranked Cougars are having one of their best seasons. They will compete in the first session of the Tempe regional at 2 p.m. MDT against in-state rival Southern Utah as well No. 6 Georgia and No. 11 Michigan State on Thursday.
“First of all, just to make it into the NCAA Tournament, we do not take that for granted,” said BYU coach Guard Young. “There are very good teams this year that didn’t make it, so it’s getting harder and harder each year to make the tournament, and then to see newcomers like Air Force is pretty fun, too.
“Going back to Arizona, a Big 12 school, we went there earlier this season for a Big 12 meet and it’s an easier travel for us. I love the matchups we are going to be in with Georgia, Michigan State and SUU.”
Southern Utah enters the regional off a fourth-straight conference championship, while Utah State is coming in off a second-straight Mountain West Conference championship to give the state of Utah three conference gymnastics champions.
The Aggies are in the Baton Rouge Regional, which starts on Thursday at noon MDT. Their semifinal includes No. 7 Stanford, No. 10 Michigan and No. 22 North Carolina.