SALT LAKE CITY — As Red Rocks freshman Sage Curtis walked onto the mat to compete her floor routine in the anchor spot Friday night, there was a palpable anxious energy that lingered throughout the Huntsman Center.
To that point, the Red Rocks were well on their way to the team's first complete meet of the season after a rocky start to the year and a big win over rival BYU locked up for the 110th time in school history.
The freshman's score wouldn't ultimately change the outcome of the meet or the Red Rocks' feelings on the night no matter how she did, but with the right score — a 9.875 — Utah would secure its first 198 of the season.
It was just the third counted collegiate event ever for Curtis — the first coming two weeks prior. She'd need to take her gymnastics to another level.
Unfazed by the moment, Curtis delivered her best routine to date — and everyone in attendance knew it was enough. The Huntsman Center crowd gave the hometown gymnast a standing ovation, and the celebration only got bigger when the judges returned a 9.90 score, giving the Red Rocks a 198.025 team score — and Curtis a new career high.
"I was extremely proud of Sage tonight, because I was like, 'Are you sure you're a freshman?'" Red Rocks head coach Carly Dockendorf said after the meet. "That was a veteran move to go out and just crush that routine knowing that a 198 for the team was on the line."
It was a big moment for a team who needed to exorcise the figurative demons from the first few weeks of competition, but was an even bigger moment for Curtis and her confidence as a gymnast. And to do it in the Huntsman Center, where she's been watching gymnastic meets since she was 3 years old, was a dream come true.
It was a full-circle moment for the Utah native who dreamed of competing on that floor and in moments like that all her life.
"I mean, it's everything and more that I could have dreamed of. I mean, it was my dream as long as I can remember," Curtis told KSL.com. "It's the whole reason why I started gymnastics. And just like being here, it's so surreal, like just actually being on the team and getting to join and be a part of the legacy and continue it, like it's everything I've ever wanted. It's so nice."
For Curtis, who was a bit of an unheralded recruit as a three-star gymnast in a Red Rocks signing class of two five-stars and a four-star, Utah was always the destination.
"They were always the No. 1 for me," she said.
A contributing spot in one of the four events — especially as an anchor — didn't come easy for the freshman. But Curtis has never shied away from competition.
For the first few weeks of the season, Curtis was held out of the lineups, sometimes in favor of other freshmen who were seen as more consistent options. Curtis, though, said hard work would eventually pay off and she'd get her chance.
"I guess for me, it's always just been put my head, like, how hard you work that will determine — I guess, hard work always beats talent," Curtis said. "That's always what I've been told by my parents and by my coaches. So for me, if things aren't going my way, there's nothing I can do about it. Just put my head down, just work harder, and eventually your moment will come, your opportunity will come. And all the hard work that you've put in at that point, like, it's going to work out."
That moment eventually came on Jan. 30 when Curtis was inserted into the floor lineup as the team's anchor in a home meet against Arizona State. In her first collegiate event, she scored a 9.80 and showed a glimpse into what could be a promising career with the Red Rocks.
She was instantly hooked.
"It was crazy," she recalled. "I mean, just seeing all the fans and just hearing the noise and looking out and seeing everyone there, it was amazing. Everything that I had ever pictured it to be."
That seemingly simple moment was the springboard to Friday's career high, and was a big moment in her young career, where she converted the coaches' belief in her into confidence she could compete with everyone else on floor.
"It's definitely built my confidence knowing that the coaches have enough confidence in me to put me in the lineup, especially like in the anchor spot on floor for my first time competing," Curtis said. "Just knowing that they trusted in me gave me a lot of confidence in my gymnastics and has really just kind of helped me perform."
In time, she hopes to parlay her early success into a consistent role with the team, with hopes to eventually find a spot on the vault and beam teams. But for the time behind, she's happy to live her dream with the Red Rocks and serve as a proven gymnast on floor.
