Key Highlights
- | Tess Crowley, Deseret NewsMelissa YackSat, February 7, 2026 at 5:39 AM UTC·3 min readThere were a lot of checked boxes on Friday night as the 15th-ranked Utah gymnastics team defeated Arizona 197.125-195.975. The Red Rocks had the solid start they wanted, and arguably deserved an even better bars score from the judges than 49.25.
- AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThey also were able to carry over their momentum from bars and keep rolling with an even better result on vault (49.40). Maybe most importantly, they showed they can score in the 197.000 range even with some mistakes across events.“One of our goals was to score over a 197.000, and obviously we did that on the road, which is a really big step for us,” said Utah coach Carly Dockendorf. The final score was the Red Rocks’ second-best of the season and their best since Jan.
- 12. On bars, it was the latter part of the lineup that led the way, as Ella Zirbes, Ana Padurariu and Avery Neff reeled off three 9.90s in a row to tie for the event title. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThat closing effort helped Utah avoid counting both of its earlier scores under 9.725. Zirbes was even better in her next effort to win vault with a 9.925, while Zoe Johnson had a 9.9.
- The Red Rocks didn’t produce a score lower than 9.85 on vault, including their throw away.“Vault was so fun to watch tonight,” Dockendorf said.
- “The crowd was into it, the team was into it and just amazing execution and much better control on our landings.“Zoe’s vault was just massive, and (she) stuck that cold.”The box Utah didn’t get to check off was a solid four-event meet because floor couldn’t match its outcome from a week ago. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Red Rocks finished with a 48.925 after some missteps on landings, including an out of bounds deduction from Johnson and some lower scores, one of which (Makenna Smith’s 9.75) is being queried to learn why it was scored so low.