Red Rocks score season-high 198.075, clinch regular-season Big 12 title in win over Denver

SALT LAKE CITY — Grace McCallum scored a 9.975 on three consecutive events, and the Huntsman Center crowd booed.

The boos weren't directed at McCallum, but at the judges who continued to keep the veteran gymnast from reaching perfection three times Friday night in the final Big 12 meet of the season for the Red Rocks.

"I think that Grace has earned that," Utah head coach Carly Dockendorf said. "I mean, I think she's earned that expectation of being a 9.950, 9.975, and a 10 on multiple events. And our fans are passionate fans, and we love them for it."

Perfection would have been great for McCallum — she finished the night with a near career-high 39.800 on all-around — but the Red Rocks didn't need her to be perfect as the team pulled away from Denver with a season-high 198.075 score to clinch the outright regular season Big 12 title.

"It feels really good to get the 198," McCallum said. "I feel like we put in a lot of hard work and to see it finally start coming together, I feel like it's been a long time coming. We've had the pieces we need and we just fall short, so to finally have it happen, I mean, it's just, it's unreal; it's a good feeling."

Denver, to its credit and the contingent of fans that traveled to cheer them on, gave the Red Rocks their tightest conference meet of the season — even down to the wire — before finishing with a 197.525.

Going into the final performance of the night by McCallum in the anchor spot on floor, the Red Rocks held a 197.625 score counting a 9.525 by Zoe Johnson, which was enough for a win. But McCallum and the Red Rocks knew they were capable of more.

McCallum did what she's done best for so long at Utah and performed what many in the Huntsman Center crowd believed to be another perfect routine, with multiple sticks after each of her difficult tumbling passes.

But like the two events before it, one judge raised a 10.0 and the other raised a 9.950. This time, though, the fans didn't know if they should boo again or celebrate as the first 198 score of the season flashed on the screen.

So it turned out to be a hint of boos mixed in with a majority of the fans celebrating a long-time coming accomplishment to the season for the conflicted fans. For McCallum, it was simply the payout to a refocus on trusting herself and her gymnastics.

"I feel like what's really been working for me is just trusting my training and going out there with confidence," McCallum said. "It's still something I'm working on, and I feel like throughout the season it's gotten better, but it's still something I'm tuning in on and just really focusing on and going out there and being confident in myself."

For the Red Rocks as a whole, though, it was an opportunity to bounce back from a rough finish to a road meet against Arizona State last week and to showcase what the team is capable of on a nightly basis.

"I think that them coming back and putting together a full meet really showed their resilience and their determination and their ability to learn from some of the lessons that we learned last week, and to move on and move forward and take those lessons that we need to continue to finish out the season the way that we envisioned," Dockendorf said.

"For them to put it all together in a meet is just, I think, honestly, the start of what this team is capable of," she added. "It takes four events; you can't be great on three events and expect a 198."

The Red Rocks opened up the night with a bang when sophomore Ella Zirbes scored a 9.925 on vault after her stick. No gymnast after her scored higher than a 9.875, but it was rounded out to be the second-best score (49.350) of the season on vault for the Red Rocks.

Denver was just a little bit better, though, on bars and scored a 49.525 to take an early lead.

Utah answered back on bars with its second-highest score (49.550) of the season on the event, starting out with a 9.90 by Makenna Smith and a 9.950 by Ashley Glynn — a career-high — before closing out the event with McCallum's first 9.975 of the night.

From there, the Red Rocks held a narrow lead, but never looked back.

Following a disastrous 48.200 team score last week, the Red Rocks bounced back with a season-high 49.575, largely due to a reshuffling of the beam lineup, which included moving Amelie Morgan back into the leadoff and re-introducing freshman Avery Neff back to the lineup, Dockendorf said.

"Obviously, we shuffled up the lineup quite a bit tonight, and Amelie was very excited to be leadoff again," Dockendorf said. "And I think it really does, it helps set the tone for that event. The athletes that follow her believe in her and are confident in her."

Morgan started off with a 9.925, Smith added a 9.90, McCallum earned her second 9.975 and Neff got a 9.90 in her first time back on the event in over a month. In fact, she just started working out on beam again four days prior to the meet.

"That just speaks to the quality of athletes she is and her character, to be able to have that kind of mindset to go up there, probably did 12 routines total before today, and to just score a 9.90 her first routine back — with new skills; I mean, that combination she did, that was not what she was doing before," Dockendorf said. "And so that was new, as well, and just excited to have her back in the lineup."

From there, the Red Rocks finished strong on floor, with Zirbes earning a 9.90 in the second spot, and the final three gymnasts scoring a 9.925 or higher and a season-high 49.600 on floor. Jaylene Gilstrap earned a 9.950, and she was followed up by Smith's 9.925 and McCallum's final 9.975 of the night.

And with that, the Red Rocks left the night as regular season champions, with loftier goals still on the mind.

"I think it's really cool to win the first Big 12 championship title in our first year as part of the Big 12," McCallum said. "Just after the last three years of me being here, we've had to share the Pac-12 title, so to finally have it on our own feels really good."

Team scores

No. 4 Utah

• Vault: 49.350
• Bars: 98.900 (49.550)
• Beam: 148.475 (49.575)
• Floor: 198.075 (49.600)

Denver

• Bars: 49.525
• Vault: 98.875 (49.350)
• Floor: 148.125 (49.250)
• Beam: 197.525 (49.400)

Red Rocks scores

1st Rotation: Vault (49.350)

• Ella Zirbes: 9.925
• Grace McCallum: 9.875
• Jaylene Gilstrap: 9.825
• Camie Winger: 9.875
• Makenna Smith: 9.850
• Ashley Glynn: 9.825

2nd Rotation: Bars (49.550)

• Makenna Smith: 9.900
• Ashley Glynn: 9.950
• Avery Neff: 9.850
• Amelie Morgan: 9.875
• Ella Zirbes: 9.775
• Grace McCallum: 9.975

3rd Rotation: Beam (49.575)

• Amelie Morgan: 9.925
• Camie Winger: 9.675
• Makenna Smith: 9.900
• Grace McCallum: 9.975
• Avery Neff: 9.900
• Elizabeth Gantner: 9.875

4th Rotation: Floor (49.600)

• Ashley Glynn: 9.850
• Ella Zirbes: 9.900
• Zoe Johnson: 9.525
• Jaylene Gilstrap: 9.950
• Makenna Smith: 9.925
• Grace McCallum: 9.975

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