A look back at local, national and world events through Deseret News archives.
On April 11, 1981, the University of Utah women’s gymnastics team, under coach Greg Marsden, won its first national championship, on its home floor, with a huge crowd cheering the athletes on.
Sound familiar? It should, the Utes, now known far and wide as the Red Rocks, have been doing it for 50 years.
Under Marsden, Utah finished 10th in the 1976 team competition, then under the banner of the AIAW, or the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women. AIAW was a governing body for women’s college athletics in the United States, operating from 1971 to 1982.
By 1980, Utah was closing in on a national title, finishing second to Penn State.
A year later, on April 10-11, in the Special Events Center, now the venerable Huntsman Center, the Utah women took over the top spot.
Led by Megan McCunniff, Linda Kardos, Diane Ellingson, Shannon Coleman and Eileen Huck, Utah claimed the national trophy.
Then they won five more titles in a row.
The Red Rocks have won 10 national championships in all, and have appeared in a record 48 — and in a week, make that 49 — national championship meets. Utah leads the nation with 42 NCAA championship appearances, including 25 Super Six and Final Four with four consecutive third-place finishes from 2021 through 2024.
The Red Rocks boast 32 NCAA individual champions and over 400 All-Americans.
No. 4 Utah won the Big 12 Championships a couple of weeks ago, and qualified for the NCAA championship, set for April 17-19 in Fort Worth, Texas.
The secret sauce? It’s the fans
The school is very proud of the 15,000-plus fans who regularly attend meets throughout the season. In fact, Utah has been crowned the women’s gymnastics attendance champion 35 times since 1984, setting a new attendance average record in 2020 with 15,273 fans.
