The night was a mixture of triumph and tragedy for the Utah Red Rocks gymnastics team, as their victory over Iowa State was overshadowed by the devastating injury to freshman Avery Neff. While the team delivered a season-high score of 197.300 and showcased remarkable growth, the loss of Neff, the No. 1 recruit, left an emotional void.

The atmosphere in the Huntsman Center shifted dramatically when Neff’s final tumbling pass on floor ended in disaster. A routine that had already demonstrated her exceptional talent turned into heartbreak when her ankle gave out, and she fell face-first onto the mat. Her left leg bent awkwardly, and she immediately clutched her ankle in pain. Medical personnel and coaches rushed to her aid, and the usually electric crowd fell silent. Teammates cried openly on the sidelines, their emotions mirroring the collective concern of the Red Rocks family.

Neff had been a standout performer throughout the night, earning high scores on vault (9.900), bars (9.850), and beam (9.925). Her contributions exemplified why she had been ranked so highly coming into the season, and her injury was a significant blow to the team’s momentum. Head coach Carly Dockendorf expressed the team’s mixed emotions, emphasizing the difficulty of balancing a strong performance with the sadness of losing a key member.

“What an amazing three quarters of our meet there, and was just feeling so good about everything we had done,” Dockendorf said. “This is the tough part about sports anywhere on any team, and it’s just — it’s hard to watch. It definitely kind of changed the emotional feeling of the meet at the end, but this is why we’re a team.”

Utah Athletics to take over NIL management from collective ahead of house settlement

Despite the emotional impact, the team showed incredible resilience, finishing the meet with poise. Veteran Jaylene Gilstrap, tasked with following Neff on floor, delivered a beautiful routine that earned a 9.90, helping the team maintain focus. Grace McCallum followed suit, closing out the floor rotation with another 9.90. Dockendorf praised her gymnasts for their ability to stay composed, acknowledging their determination to finish strong.

The meet itself was a testament to the Red Rocks’ improvement. They opened with a season-best 49.300 on vault, led by Neff’s 9.900 and Camie Winger’s 9.875. McCallum’s return to competition with a Yurchenko 1.5 vault marked a significant milestone, even though her landing was slightly off. On bars, McCallum dazzled with a 9.975, earning that score for the second consecutive meet. The beam rotation was equally impressive, with Neff contributing a near-perfect 9.925 and Winger adding a 9.900.

Where Utah ranks among Big 12 schools on Top 75 College Athletics Valuations list

While Utah dominated Iowa State, whose best apparatus score was a 49.000 on floor, the victory felt hollow. The Cyclones struggled throughout the meet, particularly on bars, where they were forced to count multiple low scores. Utah’s win showcased their depth and talent, but the team’s joy was tempered by Neff’s uncertain status.

As the night ended, the team gathered around their injured teammate, embodying the unity and support that define the Red Rocks program. Neff’s injury served as a stark reminder of the unpredictability of sports and the strength required to overcome adversity. For the Red Rocks, the final score may have been a victory on paper, but the real story was the resilience of a team rallying around one of their own in a moment of profound loss. At the end of the night, Neff took time to post on her Instagram story. Her caption was simple with “God’s Plan >>>”. Neff’s only words to keep Utah fans guessing about the status of the star freshman.

How much can the narrative surrounding a team change in less than one week?

Just last Saturday, Iowa basketball was riding high after a 25-point win over Indiana. This marked back-to-back home victories and inspired some optimism about what the Hawkeyes are capable of this season.

Two games later, those feelings have shifted dramatically.

Saying Iowa’s West Coast trip was a disappointment is an understatement. The Hawkeyes suffered a pair of double-digit losses, the latest of which was a 94-70 blowout to UCLA on Friday. Iowa never led for a single second throughout those two games.

Understandably, there is mounting frustration from the fan base.

But as ugly as these two games were, Iowa’s season does not end here. The Hawkeyes still have 13 regular season games remaining, plus at least one more in the Big Ten Tournament, assuming Iowa makes the 15-team field.

More: Iowa basketball: Leistikow’s thoughts on one of Fran McCaffery’s worst losses with Hawkeyes

For better or worse, the season’s fate is still in the balance. With so many games remaining, there is plenty of time for the Hawkeyes to get back on track. But there is also plenty of time for it to get much worse.

“I think we have a really good group with guys with character,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said Friday. “We’ve got some veteran guys. We will try to move on from what has not been a good trip and learn from some of the mistakes we made. Will remain positive. I want them to remain positive with each other.”

More: Iowa basketball vs UCLA: Recap of Hawkeyes’ loss to the Bruins

Iowa (12-6, 3-4) got jumped on early in Friday’s contest and never recovered.

Remarkably, UCLA made its first nine shots from the field. To make matters worse, Payton Sandfort got banged up in the first half and sat out the majority of the game. The Bruins led by 33 points at halftime, making the rest of the game a mere formality.

In what has been a theme this season — and even more broadly, in McCaffery’s Hawkeye tenure — the Iowa defense folded. UCLA shot 62% from the field and 35% from deep. During the West Coast trip, Iowa allowed its opponents to shoot a combined 63% from the field.

“They were really aggressive and shot it well not only inside but from the perimeter,” McCaffery said of UCLA. “I thought we worked really hard in practice the last couple of days. I thought we would be better. Got to give them credit for it. We got better as the game went on. But we’ve got to be better at the start.”

Iowa is now 0-4 in true road games, with losses to Michigan, Wisconsin, USC and UCLA. Only one of those four came by single digits. The Hawkeyes have allowed an average of 98.5 points during that span.

Allowing 116 points in a road loss to Wisconsin should’ve been enough of a wake-up call. And to its credit, Iowa responded with consecutive wins following that loss. But then, a similar failure happened again. And again.

The Hawkeyes’ season is now on the verge of spiraling.

At the same time, a season is not supposed to be defined by adversity. But rather how one responds to it. If every team that dealt with challenges quit, no one would be left standing.

Take UCLA for example. The Bruins entered Friday having lost five of their last six games, including four straight. The sky was falling until Friday when suddenly it wasn’t anymore.

Rutgers was in a similar situation. The Scarlet Knights started 1-4 in Big Ten play but have now won their last two, including a road victory over Nebraska. Things are looking up for them.

There is nothing that says Iowa can’t do the same. The Hawkeyes will have plenty of opportunities.

At Carver-Hawkeye Arena alone, Iowa is still set to face Michigan State, Purdue, Oregon and Wisconsin, among others, all of which should present resume-building opportunities. The Hawkeyes have lost just one game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena this season, against No. 2 Iowa State.

McCaffery’s team will have plenty of chances away from home too, though it will need to overcome its road woes to remain competitive.

“I didn’t see a lack of effort,” McCaffery said Friday. “I saw a lack of execution to some of the things that we prepared for and that’s disappointing because that leads to falling behind. Of all the teams that I’ve coached, it’s one that I’m really proud of, any team that I’ve ever had, even before I came here, our guys stay locked into the game plan and they compete. And they compete in terms of how they think.”

More: Iowa basketball: Payton Sandfort injures shoulder in UCLA game

Clearly, Iowa needs to get better to make the NCAA Tournament. The Hawkeyes’ performances in California were inexcusably poor.

But there is still so much season left to play. Which means the best could still be yet to come. And so could the worst.

 Follow Tyler Tachman on X @Tyler_T15, contact via email at ttachman@gannett.com

IOWA CITY – He didn’t think a couple of weeks ago that his Iowa City West boys’ basketball team was worthy of a top-10 spot in Class 4A.

After a 66-55 win Friday night over a good Cedar Rapids Prairie team, head coach Steve Bergman said this:

“We’re getting there.”

West (8-3) was pretty dominant in this game against a similar team from Prairie (8-3). Jack McCaffery scored a game-high 28 points for the Trojans, the Butler University signee getting 18 of those in the second half.

Guard Ethan Headings added 16 points, 14 in the first half, as West built a 33-25 halftime lead.

“I think we played really well,” said Headings, who made seven of his nine shots from the field, including a pair of 3-pointers. “We picked up on defense and offense. But there were just some stretches at the end of the second quarter and the end of the fourth quarter that we could have done a lot better.”

Prairie (8-3) fell behind early but rebounded late in the first quarter to grab a 17-16 lead. The meat of the game went West’s way, as it led 56-36 after three quarters.

“There were a lot of good things. A lot of good things,” Bergman said. “The first quarter for us early was awesome, then … That’s what we are. We’re pretty focused, then we’re really not. But, man that start of the game, could have really been something.”

Two of three losses for West have been by one point to Dubuque schools on the road, including Tuesday night’s 52-51 defeat at Class 4A No. 10 Dubuque Senior. The Trojans had the last shot, a good one, but it didn’t go in.

So close to being 10-1.

“We’ve lost two games in Dubuque on Tuesday night by one point,” Bergman said. “Both games we feel like we should have won, but we didn’t … Against Senior, we just couldn’t make free throws. We were like the Iowa women’s team, struggling to make free throws, so they got the lead back. We had the lead most of the game.

“We’re getting closer. We’ve got to handle the ball better. Had a little stretch again tonight where we had four or five turnovers in five or six possessions. We’ve got to keep plugging along.”

Prairie got 20 points from sophomore guard Tae Alexander, but just couldnt get it done. It needs to be a quick flush for the Hawks, who play Saturday night at undefeated Class 3A No. 3 Decorah.

“Ultimately I thought our execution to our game plan was poor,” said Prairie Coach Todd Kuntz. “And ultimately that comes back on me. I thought we had a really good plan, but a lot of times we were out of position. That’s going to happen with high schoolers.”

———-

AT IOWA CITY WEST

CEDAR RAPIDS PRAIRIE (55): David Fason 2-7 1-4 5, Devin Ikeda 2-4 0-1 4, Jace McDermott 2-6 2-2 6, Tae Alexander 7-11 2-3 20, Austin Joens 1-8 0-0 3, Hudson Kimm 0-1 0-0 0, Will Wehr 3-6 6-6 12, Cayden Larson 1-7 2-2 4, Collin McClintock 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-53 13-18 55.

IOWA CITY WEST (66): Mason Goehring 3-9 3-4 9, Jack McCaffery 10-17 5-6 28, Henry Elser 2-3 2-2 7, Julian Manson 1-4 0-0 2, Ethan Headings 7-9 0-0 16, Jack Jensen-Fitzgerald 0-1 0-0 0, Jack Wallace 1-1 0-0 2, KingSton Swayzer 0-0 0-0 0, Greg Ford 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 25-45 10-12 66.

Halftime – West 33, Prairie 25. 3-point goals – Prairie 6-23 (Fason 0-1, Ikeda 0-1, McDermott 0-4, Alexander 4-6, Joens 1-6, Wehr 1-2, Larson 0-3), West 6-11 (McCaffery 3-6, Elser 1-1, Headings 2-3, Jensen-Fitzpatrick 0-1). Rebounds – Prairie 26 (Larson 6), West 30 (McCaffery 8, Goering 7). Total fouls – Prairie 11, West 16. Fouled out – None. Turnovers – Prairie 14, West 13.

Comments: (319)-398-8258, jeff.johnson@thegazette.com