Arguably the most impressive streak in all of Utah sports — professional, collegiate or prep — remains intact.
For the 49th time in 50 years, Utah gymnastics is headed to the national championships. The Red Rocks remain the only program in the NCAA to qualify for every nationals every year they’ve been held.
No. 4 Utah defeated No. 5 UCLA, No. 12 Minnesota and Denver Saturday night in the Huntsman Center to keep its streak alive, with the Red Rocks and Bruins both advancing to the national championships.
Utah finished with a 197.825, two tenths of a point ahead of UCLA (197.625), with both programs fighting off a concerted upset bid by Denver (197.350).
The continued history making wasn’t lost on the Red Rocks. Far from it in fact.
“It’s a really big deal,” head coach Carly Dockendorf said. “I think some teams get to come to regionals and they don’t have anything to lose. This is it, you just go for it. And it’s a very freeing space to compete in. For us, there is something to lose. We don’t want to lose that tradition of excellence, we don’t want to be the team that doesn’t make it (to nationals) and ends the streak.
“So there is always something riding extra for this program. It is definitely a privilege, but it definitely adds a little extra pressure. Talk to any of the alumni and ask what their least favorite meet of the year is — it would be this one right her. It feels so good (to continue the streak), but we definitely recognize that we’re here because of the people that have come before us and the tradition of excellence that they brought."
All it took this year to keep the streak intact was one of the most significant point swings in a single rotation you’ll ever see. And one of the more wild meets in general.
Entering the competition, the Red Rocks were the favorite to win and advance. But in a twist, Utah was in third place by a decent margin (the Red Rocks trailed Denver by more than two tenths of a point and trailed UCLA by a tenth of a point) after the first two rotations.
Mistake-marred uneven bars and balance beam rotations by Utah were to blame, as were a pair of incredible rotations by Denver on beam and floor exercise. At that time, midway through the competition, the streak appeared to be in serious danger. Utah had little to no momentum while Denver had seemingly all the momentum. And UCLA was doing enough to stay ahead of the Red Rocks.
A record-tying floor rotation, which matched the best the Red Rocks have ever done in the postseason in program history, changed everything, though.
Behind a run of 9.9-plus scores from Avery Neff, Jaylene Gilstrap, Makenna Smith and Grace McCallum, Utah recorded a 49.625 on floor. That, combined with a rough vault rotation by Denver (the Pioneers scored a 48.900), led to a point ...
