Before this season started, the Utah gymnastics team had pretty lofty ambitions for the 2025 season.

Sure, compete for and win a national championship was part of that — it always is — but the Red Rocks really wanted to start the season on fire.

They wanted to show from the get-go that they are one of the country’s best teams rather than wait until the postseason to prove their mettle like they had done in previous years.

That didn’t happen, though.

Too much pressure — much of it self-imposed — rattled Utah to start the year. There were glimpses of the potential that the Red Rocks had — the reason they had high hopes in the first place — but inconsistency and performances below their peak capabilities were the norm through the first month of the season.

Against Florida and West Virginia last week, Utah started to make good on its potential, though. The Red Rocks lost to Florida but were right with the Gators to the very end.

Friday night in the Huntsman Center against Arizona — the second-best team in the Big 12 this season — Utah took things a step further.

The Red Rocks had arguably their best overall meet of the year in their 197.675 to 196.125 victory over the Wildcats. Utah got better and better on each event, culminating in a season-high score on floor (49.575).

Some particular highlights:

• Grace McCallum and Makenna Smith were elite in the all-around (each scored a 39.625 or better).
• Ella Zirbes was in the All-American form she had displayed as a freshman last season — on uneven bars especially.
• Seven different Red Rocks received at least one score of 9.90 or better.
• Oh, and star freshman Avery Neff made her return from injury, competing successfully on bars not even a month removed from suffering “severe” sprains of both her ankles.

It was one of those nights — on the same night the program recognized its alumni and 50 years of the Red Rocks.

“Extremely proud of the team tonight,” Utah head coach Carly Dockendorf said. “It was really fun to have the arena full of fans and our alumni. It was a really special night.

“I felt like our team really did elevate, across the board. Whether the scores reflected it or not, I thought we made some really important changes. People stepped up in areas that we needed to step up. Again (we hit) 24 of 24 (routines). It just keeps showing the consistency of this team and their confidence. We really went out there tonight and decided we were going to make it happen. We were going to put something on the floor that we hadn’t done yet and I really think they did that.”

Added McCallum: “I feel like as a team we are making really good progress — slow and steady progress, and that is going to get us to the finish line where we need to be. I think this is a really good place for us to be at and I think everybody on the team should be very proud of themselves for the little things they’ve been improving on.”

Defining moment

After the first rotation Friday, Arizona and Utah were actually fairly close, separated by a little over a tenth of a point (0.125).

Utah’s vault rotation had had its good moments — Smith and McCallum, especially — but overall Utah had underwhelmed to start the meet.

That continued, at first, to bars. The first three routines of the rotation topped out at 9.825, with a pair of scores landing in the 9.7-range.

That is when everything changed.

Starting with Amelie Morgan and then continuing with Zirbes and McCallum, Utah reeled off three consecutive routines that scored a 9.90 or better.

Morgan and McCallum’s performances were understandable. The pair of Tokyo Olympians have been stalwarts on bars throughout their Utah careers.

It was Zirbes, though, who was the best of the trio.

A second-team All-American on bars as a freshman last season, Zirbes has been battling performance anxiety this year, and her bars, while good plenty of times already this season, had never quite reached levels she had hit previously.

Until Friday.

Zirbes was as good as she had ever been on the event at Utah, recording a new career-high score of 9.950.

From start to finish, Zirbes was in her element.

“To see Ella hit that bar routine, that is what she does in practice every single day,” Dockendorf said.

After Zirbes’ bar routine, Utah recorded eight scores of 9.90 or better. Before it, there were only three, and once the bars rotation was over, the meet was no longer in doubt.

It was just a question of how much Utah was going to win by.

“It really took the entire team to do what we did tonight,” Dockendorf said. “Whether they were competing or their weren’t competing, everybody really brought their best.”

Zirbes, the MVP of the meet, especially

Needs work

Utah is one of the best teams in the country on balance beam again, and on Friday the lowest score — the one dropped — was a 9.800 from lead off Ana Padurariu.

The Red Rocks had struggled with floor to start the season, but against Arizona the team posted its best score of the year, buoyed by 9.90-plus performances from Smith, McCallum, Ashley Glynn and Jaylene Gilstrap.

The lowest counted score on that event? A 9.875.

Bars, as previously mentioned, had its low points — landings were a big issue — but plenty of high points, too, and ended up being pretty normal for Utah when things were finished.

Vault, though, was the big area of worry.

Utah posted a 49.275, and that was with a 9.975 from Smith and a 9.90 from McCallum. Multiple vaults fell in the 9.7 and 9.8 range, far below the hopes for a Utah team that has six 10.0-valued vaults in the lineup.

On Friday night it was landings that proved the biggest challenge, as only Smith stuck her effort. McCallum took a slight step and the rest of the gymnasts in the lineup took major steps or multiple steps.

Glynn has probably the best distance and amplitude on her vault of any current Red Rock but landings have been a struggle for her for a couple of weeks now.

Morgan, thrust into the lineup with Neff’s injury, has dealt with under or over rotation time and again. It was over rotation that plagued her against Arizona.

Zirbes and Winger had good overall efforts until it came to the landing, as both took major steps when they hit the mat.

Dockendorf has said that she doesn’t expect consistent sticks at this point in the season, and that she believes the quality of Utah’s vaults will show come the postseason, when it really matters.

But for now, Utah isn’t consistently performing on vault to the level that it needs to, and it didn’t against Arizona.

That’s encouraging

There were numerous individual performances of note for Utah for one reason or another, but Neff’s return to action was chief among them.

Only a couple weeks ago Neff doubted whether or not she’d compete again this season, but there she was Friday night competing on bars.

She was, understandably, thrilled after.

“It was awesome,” Neff said. “Definitely beforehand I thought that my season was over, but I progressed fast and it was the best feeling to get out there and do what I love.”

Neff’s journey with rehab is an interesting one. She made quick progress immediately after the injury, but then she “kind of got stuck for a couple of days.”

As she put it, at that point she lost hope.

“Nothing felt better,” Neff said. “… and Carly could see me in the gym and my mannerisms were kind of taking down the team, too, so that was a switch where I thought, “If I really want to get back, I have to change my mindset.’ The mind is such a powerful tool.”

Dockendorf noted that in talking with Neff, the freshman set a goal of wanting to come back in time for the Arizona meet.

“I could see she was struggling mentally a little bit,” Dockendorf said. “…and for someone who hasn’t really had to sit out due to injury, it is a really new space to be in.

“We just had a really great conversation and I asked ‘What is your goal?’ and she said ‘I want to compete on alumni night’ and I said, ‘Alright let’s do it.‘ It really was her desire and her motivation to be back out here.”

Whether or not Neff makes it back on any other events this season is still a question, but she is back.

It wasn’t just Neff who stood out Friday though.

Smith continues to star on vault for Utah, and everywhere really. Her emergence this season has been especially vital for the Red Rocks’ success.

“She comes in every day and gives 100% in practice,” Dockendorf said. “She loves coming out here and is just her authentic self and I think that is one of the greatest things about her.”

Elizabeth Gantner is one of the gymnasts who stepped up in Neff’s absence, her role coming on beam, and she has only gotten better and better since she’s been in the lineup, culminating in a career-best 9.90 Friday night.

“I think confidence is a part of it,” Dockendorf said. “I think she is believing in herself a lot more. She is putting in extra work on beam, on her dismount.

“That is kind of the one area that she still needs to improve her consistency on, her landing, but I think she is honestly enjoying being out there, too.”

After Friday night’s performance, it is probably safe to say that all the Red Rocks are feeling that way right now, and it has Utah looking more and more like the team that was anticipated before the season began.