WEST VALLEY CITY — Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.
That's the feeling left for the Red Rocks after the last few seasons in the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad between the top gymnastics programs in the country. And Saturday's latest iteration wasn't any better for Utah.
The Red Rocks opened up the afternoon meet with three falls on beam, immediately taking the 10-time national champions out of contention early in a highly entertaining meet to open the season in the Maverik Center.
And yet, even with the early struggles, Avery Neff and the vault team delivered an all-time performance on vault, capped off with Neff's first-ever 10.0 score of her collegiate career.
It happened to be the first 10.0 score of the season throughout all the NCAA, too.
"It was amazing," senior gymnast Makenna Smith said of the perfect score. "Carly (Dockendorf), before the score even flashed, Carly was like 'That's a 10. That was a 10.' And so we were all just waiting. ... I don't think I've heard anyone scream that loud. I mean, our fans, us, like I was getting dizzy from how much I was screaming. It was amazing."
"Now to feel that I was perfect today is just, like, an amazing feeling," Neff added.
The prefect score capped off what was one of the best vault events as a team in over the last 10 seasons for the Red Rocks. Saturday's 49.600 on vault was just the third time in 10 seasons the Red Rocks have recorded a number above 49.600.
Neff put the final touches on the event, but Ella Zirbes and Ashley Glynn set the stage with back-to-back sticks to help give the Red Rocks some positivity after a mostly error-filled afternoon.
In the second spot, Zirbes, who was one of three gymnasts to fall off the beam in the first rotation, recorded a stick and scored a 9.925 before Glynn set a career high with a stick of her own to score a 9.975 (one judge returned a perfect score).
A couple gymnasts later, Neff sent the Maverik Center into pandemonium with the team's third stick of the event.
Perfect 10.0! 🔥@UtahGymnasticspic.twitter.com/XO1egWhWPY
— Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad (@CollegiateQuad) January 10, 2026
"It was humongous, that vault, and just kind of the build up towards her vault," Dockendorf said. "I knew she was going to be dialed into just, like, going for it. She's really been working on her landings in practice and taking some more reps.
"I was like, did you know you were going to get a 10 before you did it?" Dockendorf recalled of the moment. "And she was like, 'Yeah, I did.' She was like, 'I was angry from the first start of how the meet started.' And I was like, angry Avery does some pretty, pretty incredible things."
Though the Red Rocks finished with a 195.900 all-around score — the lowest score since Utah's NCAA championship semifinals score of 195.7625 on March 15, 2016 — the vault performance was an encouraging sign for a team that has traditionally struggled on that event.
The Red Rocks opened the meet already in a hole after Zirbes, and freshmen Bailey Stroud and Abbiy Ryssman, fell off the beam in succession. Zirbes fell on her acro series, Stroud fell on a swing down, and Ryssman fell on her acro series. The mistakes were enough to leave the Red Rocks in a 2-point deficit throughout the meet.
"I mean, all three of them are three brand new beam workers," Dockendorf said. "I took a little bit of accountability for maybe a little coaching mistake. I could have done things differently; I owned up to that. And sometimes even I learned things the hard way."
Dockendorf said each of the gymnasts felt good about their routines going into the event, and that there wasn't some larger issue other than just a rare mistakes on beam. But Dockendorf said she'll consider a change in the lineups before Monday's "Best of Utah" meet, though it's unlikely.
"I haven't really come to a conclusion yet, but those really are our best beam workers right now," Dockendorf said. "First meet out, they were incredible. So I think for them, there were some things that they learned, as well, today, but I haven't really made a final decision. They really are our most consistent beam workers, and like I said, they were amazing first meet out."
UCLA opened up the meet in the lead following a 49.425 bars event, but Oklahoma picked up steam in the final three events to pull away with an eventual win (197.500). The Sooners finished the meet tied with LSU (197.500), but the tiebreaker went to Oklahoma after accounting for the sixth gymnast scores being counted.
UCLA finished in third place with a 197.000, and Jordan Chiles claimed second in the all-around with a 39.575 score, just short of LSU's Kailin Chio (39.600). Neff finished in third with a 39.500 all-around score.
Team scores
Utah
- Beam: 47.775
- Floor: 49.050 (96.925)
- Vault: 49.600 (146.525)
- Bars: 49.375 (195.900)
Oklahoma
- Vault: 49.350
- Bars: 49.475 (98.825)
- Beam: 49.500 (148.325)
- Floor: 49.175 (197.500)
LSU
- Floor: 49.225
- Vault: 49.325 (98.600)
- Bars: 49.550 (148.150)
- Beam: 49.350 (197.500)
UCLA
- Bars: 49.425
- Beam: 49.125 (98.550)
- Floor: 49.150 (147.700)
- Vault: 49.275 (197.000)
A full list of individual scores for each team can be viewed here.
Red Rocks scores
1st Rotation: Beam (47.775)
- Elizabeth Gantner: 9.875
- Ella Zirbes: 9.025
- Bailey Stroud: 9.200
- Abbi Ryssman: 9.125
- Avery Neff: 9.775
- Ana Padurariu: 9.800
2nd Rotation: Floor (49.050)
- Camie Winger: 9.750
- Avery Neff: 9.875
- Ella Zirbes: 9.875
- Bailey Stroud: 9.150
- Poppy Stickler: 9.700
- Makenna Smith: 9.850
3rd Rotation: Vault (49.600)
- Clara Raposo: 9.800
- Ella Zirbes: 9.925
- Ashley Glynn: 9.975
- Makenna Smith: 9.825
- Zoe Johnson: 9.875
- Avery Neff: 10.0 (Stick)
4th Rotation: Bars (49.375)
- Makenna Smith: 9.850
- Abbi Ryssman: 9.825
- Ana Padurariu: 8.925
- Ella Zirbes: 9.995
- Bailey Stroud: 9.900
- Avery Neff: 9.850
