On Saturday, the fourth-ranked Red Rocks won the Big 12 Championship with a score of 197.775 at the Maverick Center in West Valley City.
This marks Utah’s second Big 12 championship in as many months, as the team clinched the Big 12 regular season title back in February.
“Overall, really excited for the team tonight,” said head coach Carly Dockendorf. “Our first Big 12 Championships that we were a part of, and we came here to win, and I felt like we executed that really well. I think our vault — it just keeps getting better week after week. Our vaults were huge today, and the girls are doing a really good job of dialing in on their landings, and cleaning up some of those little deductions we’d been giving away.”
The Red Rocks also came away with two individual awards — Grace McCallum was awarded Big 12 Gymnast of the Year, and Avery Neff the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year.
McCallum, who scored a 39.550 in the all-around to take first place, spoke on the award.
“I’m truly honored, it’s such a cool thing,” she said. “I didn’t even know it was a thing honestly. I got called up and was like wow really? I feel very honored.”
Neff came in second in the all-around with 39.500, and couldn’t be more proud of herself and how this season has gone.
“I didn’t think I would be here and the fact that I persevered through pain, I persevered through the mental toughness of it, speaks volumes of itself,” Neff said. “I’m just proud of myself that I got to this point, the trophy is a cherry on top.”
Utah started off with a 49.325 on the vault. Ella Zirbes scored a 9.85 to start things off for the Red Rocks. McCallum tied her season best with a 9.90. Ashley Glynn scored a 9.90 and Makenna Smith with a 9.85. The Red Rocks led the after the first rotation with (49.325) followed by Arizona in second (49.175), ASU in third (49.000) and Denver in fourth (48.900).
The Red Rocks continued their momentum, scoring a 49.375 on bars for the second rotation. Smith started the scoring for Utah with a 9.925, followed by scores of 9.85 for Glynn and Neff. Amelie Morgan and Zirbes scored back to back 9.875 before anchor McCallum scored a 9.825. Utah continued to lead after two rotations with a (98.700) with Arizona in second (98.300), Denver third (98.025) and ASU in fourth (97.825).
“Bars has been such a strong event for us, and I thought we did a really nice job,” said Dockendorf. “We gave away some tenths on the landings for sure that I know we will want to clean up for regionals and nationals.”
The third rotation Utah tied their season high with a 49.600 on the beam. Morgan led off with a 9.875 which was followed by a Camie Winger 9.925. The Red Rocks were then faced with a familiar case of adversity on beam, when Smith had an uncharacteristic fall on beam and scored a 9.30.
Utah then showed the strength of their resilience and depth, scoring a 9.90 with McCallum followed by back to back scores of 9.925 with Neff and Ana Padurariu. Utah remained in the lead after three rotations with a score of (148.300) followed by Arizona at second (147.400), Denver in third (147.175), and ASU in fourth (146.850).
“I was just so proud of the resilience in our beam lineup. Earlier this year when we had a mistake, we didn’t come back nearly as strong as we did today,” Dockendorf said. “For Avery, Grace, and Ana to kind of just focus on what their job was, and not let Makenna’s routine affect their own performance — I just thought that really showed the strength of these three women sitting here right now.”
The Red Rocks scored a 49.450 in the fourth and final rotation to secure the Big 12 championship win. Glynn started off with a 9.85 followed by three straight scores of 9.85 by Zirbes, Neff and Jaylene Gilstrap. Smith bounced back with a 9.925 to take the top spot in Big 12 championship floor routine. Anchor McCallum scored a 9.90 to close out the championship for Utah.
“We just finished up doing what we’ve been doing all year, throwing a big party with big dance, and big tumbling,” Dockendorf said. “I’m just overall very proud of the team.”
Next up for the Red Rocks will be a week of rest before the NCAA Regionals will be held at the Jon M. Hunstman Center April 2-5.
