As the 2021 season for the Red Rocks rolls on, new faces are looking to make their own impact on a loaded Utah gymnastics team that is seeking to claim a back-to-back Pac-12 championship. 

The Returners

This year’s team is led by captains Sydney Soloski, Alexia Burch and Emilie LeBlanc. The three are the lone seniors on the team this year, but due to an NCAA blanket waiver that was put in place due to COVID-19, they could return to Utah for a second senior season if they so desire. 

The Floor Queen

Even though last year’s season was cut short, Soloski was still able to dominate on the floor. She was second-team All-American as well as first-team All-Pac-12 on the event and scored a 9.95 on the event three times last year. 

While Soloski is mainly known for her iconic floor routines, last year she also competed on the vault multiple times during the season. Her season-high on the event was a 9.875, which came against Arizona. 

She hit 16-17 of her routines last season. 

The Beam Queen

Last season, freshman Abby Paulson burst onto the scene and ended up being a starter on the beam in all nine meets. Paulson held down the anchor spot in the rotation and scored a perfect 10 when the team needed it to seal the victory against UCLA on the road. 

Paulson also started on the bars in four meets last season and posted a career-high score of 9.90 on the floor. She hit every routine she competed in her freshman season. 

She was named second-team All-American and first-team All-Pac-12 on the beam at the end of last season. 

The Bar Queen(s)

Cristal Isa continued to build off a very solid freshman year last season, scoring 9.925 on the bars multiple times. She was second-team All-American and first-team All-Pac-12 on the bars as well as the beam. On the beam, Isa scored a 9.90 or above in six out of nine meets. Her career-high of 9.95 came against UCLA. 

In her first season as a Red Rock, transfer LeBlanc was another staple of the bars rotation for the team. She scored 9.90 on the event multiple times during the season and hit all 18 routines she had last year. She started on bars in every meet during the season. She also was a starter on the beam. 

The Vault Queen

While last year’s vault lineup was dominated by Kim Tessen, the title is up for grabs this season. The most obvious choice to claim this honor would be Burch, who scored a 9.95 on the event last season. She also scored a 9.875 or above on the event in six out of nine meets in 2020. Burch was also named first-team All-Pac-12 on vault last year. 

Comeback Kids

Last year, Cammy Hall made her first appearance as a member of the team after missing the whole 2019 season with an injury. In her first somewhat full season for the Red Rocks, she showed potential in the limited role she was given. She vaulted in every meet for the team and scored both a 9.925 and 9.950 on the event. She hit eight out of her nine vaults last year. 

Jaedyn Rucker is also back for the Red Rocks this season after missing all of last year with a knee injury she sustained prior to joining the team. Rucker has the possibility of seeing time on the vault this season. 

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The Newbies

There are three new faces to this year’s Red Rock team — Jaylene Gilstrap, Alani Sabado and Lucy Stanhope. 

Gilstrap comes to Utah from McKinney, TX where she competed for Metroplex Gymnastics. She qualified for the U.S. Championship in 2016 and 2018 and the U.S. Classic and American Classic in 2015-16 and 2018-19. During the 2019 American Classic, she finished 3rd on floor, 5th on beam and 7th on vault. She took first place at the 2018 National Elite Qualifier on the floor and in 2017 finished in second on the same event at the Championnat of France. 

Sabado, from Temecula, California, is a three-time Junior Olympic qualifier from 2017 to 2019. Her resume is stacked with accolades, including finishing in first place at the 2020 Carol Galletta, which led her to be ranked in the top five on the bars in the country. She also placed first at the 2017 Region 7 Championships on the bars and in the all-around category. 

Stanhope becomes the second international member of the 2021 Red Rocks team. She is a member of the Great Britain National Team, and in 2018, she was a part of the silver medal-winning British team at the Commonwealth games. In the same year, she was an alternate for Team Great Britain at the World Championships. 

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