Utah Red Rocks
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The Utah Utes women's gymnastics team, also known as the Red Rocks, represents the University of Utah and competes at the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as members of the Big 12 Conference. Home meets are held in the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. As of the end of the 2024 season, the Red Rocks have won 10 national championships, including nine NCAA Gymnastics championships, and been runner-up nine times. The Red Rocks are the only team to have qualified for every NCAA Championships and have never finished lower than 10th.[1] The team was coached from its inception by Greg Marsden until his retirement after the 2015 season. Carly Dockendorf is the current head coach, after the release of Tom Farden in 2023.
History
The Utah Utes gymnastics team first competed in 1976. The team first appeared on television in 1978 and has appeared every year since then.[1] The NCAA first sponsored women's gymnastics national championships in 1982. Utah is the only team to qualify for every national championship that has been held.[1]
Pac-12 Conference
The University of Utah became a member of the newly expanded Pac-12 Conference in 2011, and the Red Rocks became one of eight teams in the conference to compete in women's gymnastics. Utah has taken the Pac-12 Championships seven times since joining the conference, winning in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The Red Rocks have won or shared a portion of the Regular Season Pac-12 Championship since its inauguration - the 2020 season is the first time each of the eight Pac-12 teams competed against every other team in the conference.[2] The Red Rocks won outright in 2020 and 2021, and shared the title in a four-way tie in both 2022 and 2023.[3]
Utah gymnasts have won the individual all-around title at the Pac-12 Championship five times:
| Year | Gymnast | Score[4] |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Corrie Lothrop | 39.625 |
| 2014 | Tory Wilson | 39.450 |
| 2015 | Georgia Dabritz | 39.775 |
| 2016 | Breanna Hughes | 39.550 |
| 2021 | Maile O'Keefe | 39.700 |
Big 12 Conference
In 2024, the University of Utah was one of ten members of the Pac-12 who announced they would be moving to a different conference. Utah, alongside the University of Arizona and Arizona State University, moved to the Big 12 Conference.[5] They officially started competition in the Big 12 Conference in the 2024–2025 season.
Nickname
The nickname "Red Rocks" has its origins in the Utah Gymnastics 1992 media guide cover photo.[6][7] At the time, all Utah women's sports teams used the moniker "Lady Utes". The name is a combination of "how rock solid they are, but also the red rock of southern Utah.” [7] The 1992 team won the NCAA championship, with the name sticking.[8]
Traditions
Rock The House
Before the final home rotation to floor, the Red Rocks stand together in a circle in the center of the floor, put their arms around each other, and chant in unison "Who rocks the house? We say the Utes rock the house! And when the Utes rock the house we rock it all the way down!" This is done three times. During the chant, the Red Rocks will sway back and forth, then jump and strike their feet on the floor at the end of each verse. The words are not displayed in the arena but fans are welcome to learn the words and join in on the chant.
"Red Rocks" Call and Response
Beginning in the 2024 season, Red Rock gymnasts will approach the student section before the first rotation and shout "Red!" in unison. The student section responds with "Rocks!" This is done three times.
Stick'd Board
During the 2025 Utah Gymnastics season, Trevor Coyle, Mitch Brown, and Kai Cruz––student leaders of the Mighty Utah Student Section, the University of Utah's official student section organization––came up with a new idea for a Utah Red Rocks student tradition. The idea was to celebrate every time a Red Rock stuck a landing by writing their name on a sticky note and slapping it onto a board in front of the student section. They took an old sandwich board and wrote "STICK'D" on the blank side in large black letters, then collected pink sticky notes and a black marker to write down the names. The idea was first implemented at the concluding home meet of the 2025 season when #2 UCLA visited #4 Utah on March 15th, 2025. The Stick'd Board was met with praises from fans, Utah Red Rock Gymnasts, and the Utah Gymnastics Event Coordinator, who said that the board would become a permanent fixture in front of the student section for gymnastics meets.
Following the 2025 season the original Stick'd Board was replaced with a professionally made version. The original is displayed in the boardroom of the Mighty Utah Student Section in the Alumni House at the University of Utah.
Roster
| Name | Height | Year | Hometown | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norah Christian | FR | Bremerton, WA | ||
| Sage Curtis | FR | Riverton, UT | ||
| Elizabeth Gantner | 4-11 | JR | Indianapolis, IN | JPAC |
| Ashley Glynn | 5-2 | SR | Hockessin, DE | First State Gymnastics |
| Zoe Johnson | 5-1 | SO | Durham, NC | Sonshine Gymnastics |
| Olivia Kennedy | 5-3 | JR | Maryville, TN | Georgia Elite |
| Sarah Krump | 4-10 | SR | Las Vegas, NV | Brown's Gymnastics |
| Avery Neff | 5-4 | SO | South Jordan, UT | Olympus Gymnastics |
| Ana Padurariu | 5-3 | SR | Whitby, ON | Gemini Gymnastics |
| Clara Raposo | 5-1 | SO | Toronto, ON | East York Gymnastics |
| Abbi Ryssman | FR | Rochester, MN | ||
| Makenna Smith | 5-3 | SR | Albuquerque, NM | Gold Cup Gymnastics |
| Poppy-Grace Stickler | 5-3 | SO | Cardiff, Wales | Cymru Caerdydd |
| Bailey Stroud | FR | New Palestine, IN | ||
| Camie Winger | 5-3 | JR | Orem, UT | Bold Gymnastics |
| Ella Zirbes | 5-3 | JR | Stillwater, MN | Flips Gymnastics |
National records
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- Utah has won a record 10 national championships[9] (tied with Georgia). Nine of them were NCAA Women's Gymnastics championships and one was an AIAW Women's Gymnastics championship in 1981 before the NCAA adopted women's gymnastics.
- Utah ties with Georgia for the record of the most consecutive NCAA national championships with 5 (1982–1986).[9]
- Utah qualified for every AIAW championship between the team's creation 1976 and 1981. After gymnastics was adopted by the NCAA in 1982, Utah is the only team to have qualified for every NCAA national championship.[9]
- Utah has the most All-American gymnast awards of any school with 398.[1]
- Utah gymnastics set the longest regular season home win streak of any NCAA sport at 23 years (1979–2002) and 170 meets.[1]
- Utah has led the nation in gymnastics attendance 37 times and has won eleven all-women's sports attendance titles.[1]
- On March 6, 2015, Utah had an overflow crowd of 16,019 on hand for its win over Michigan, setting the NCAA gymnastics record for largest crowd in a single meet.[10]
- In the 2020 season, Utah averaged a record 15,273 fans per meet. Between 2010 and 2020, Utah averaged more than 14,500 fans a meet.[11]
Coaches
Head coaches
| Name | Years | Record |
| Greg Marsden | 1976 - 2015 | 1048-208-8 |
| Megan Marsden | 2000–2019 | 151-54-3 |
| Tom Farden | 2016–2023 | 101-33-1 |
| Carly Dockendorf | 2024–present |
Greg Marsden was hired in 1976 to begin the gymnastics program. Marsden coached Utah for 40 straight years. He is the only collegiate gymnastics coach to amass 1,000 wins and earn Coach of the Year honors seven times.[9] He has never had a team finish worse than tenth place overall.
In July 2009 Megan Marsden was named co-head coach of the Red Rocks.[12] Megan, in addition to being Greg's wife, is a former member of the squad and has been an assistant coach since 1985.[13]
After the 2015 season, Greg retired and his wife Megan and assistant coach Tom Farden were named co-head coaches.[14] On 22 April 2019, Megan Marsden announced her retirement, and it was confirmed that current co-head coach Tom Farden would continue as the sole head coach.[15] Farden left his position in November 2023 after numerous people came forward with allegations of abuse.[16]
Current coaching staff
| style="Template:NCAA color cell; text-align: centre" |Name | style="Template:NCAA color cell; text-align: center" |Position |
|---|---|
| Carly Dockendorf | Head coach |
| Jimmy Pratt | Assistant coach |
| Myia Hambrick | Assistant coach |
| Mike Hunger | Assistant coach |
| Maile O'Keefe | Student assistant coach |
Post-season history
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NCAA Champions
As of the end of the 2024 season, 16 different Utah gymnasts have won a total of 32 individual event championships.
| Event | Winner/Year |
|---|---|
| Team | 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995 |
| All Around | Sue Stednitz 1982 Megan Marsden 1983, 1984 Melissa Marlowe 1992 Theresa Kulikowski 1999 Maile O'Keefe 2023 |
| Vault | Elaine Alfano 1982, 1983, 1985 Megan Marsden 1984 Kristen Kenoyer 1992 MyKayla Skinner 2018 Jaedyn Rucker 2022 |
| Uneven Bars | Melissa Marlowe 1992 Sandy Woolsey 1992 Angie Leonard 1999 Kristina Baskett 2006 Georgia Dabritz 2015 Maile O'Keefe 2021 |
| Balance Beam | Sue Stednitz 1982 Melissa Marlowe 1991, 1992 Summer Reid 1996, 1997 Theresa Kulikowski 1999, 2001 Ashley Postell 2007 Maile O'Keefe 2023 |
| Floor Exercise | Lisa Mitzel 1985 Melissa Marlowe 1992 MyKayla Skinner 2017 Maile O'Keefe 2021 |
Team records
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Top team total[17][4]
Top event totals[17]
Top Individual All-Around[17]
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Utah gymnasts at the Olympics
Olympians
Alternates
| Year | Country | Name |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Template:FlagIOC | Corrie Lothrop |
| 2016 | Template:FlagIOC | MyKayla Skinner |
| 2020 | Template:FlagIOC | Kara Eaker |
References
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- ↑ 1992 Utah gymnastics media guide. University of Utah, Athletics Department 1992
- ↑ a b Miller, Ryan - Gymnastics notes: the origin of the nickname “Red Rocks”. The Daily Utah Chronicle, Feb 23, 2015, Notes: The article incorrectly states 1993.
- ↑ Hamilton, Linda - ROCKS' HELD TOGETHER LIKE GRANITE DURING TOUGH SEASON. Deseret News, May 1, 1992
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External links
- Utah Gymnastics on UtahUtes.com
- Utah Gymnastics on RoadToNationals
- University of Utah Gymnastics official site
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