Avery Neff returns, Grace McCallum dazzles as Red Rocks roll to victory over Arizona

SALT LAKE CITY — The nearly capacity crowd in attendance at the Huntsman Center held their collective breath as freshman Avery Neff competed on uneven bars Friday night.

Just three weeks prior, Neff had to be carried off the floor after suffering a severe injury to both ankles after a tumbling pass on floor. A return this season was questionable, at best, with the early prognostics.

So when Neff was announced as one of the six competing gymnasts on bars Friday, there was a collective excitement and hesitation that was palpable from the Huntsman Crowd when she performed.

But when Neff's feet struck the mat with a small hop on the dismount after a modified routine, the crowd erupted in cheers in a celebration of her quick recovery and return.

Even a large portion of the Huntsman Center crowd gave her a standing ovation ... and then booed one of the judges for returning a lower-than-expected score. The freshman, though, finished with a 9.825 in her return to action.

"Oh, it was awesome," Neff said. "I mean, definitely, beforehand, I kind of thought that my season was over, but I progressed fast, and it was just the best feeling to just get out there and do what I love.

"I think I definitely progressed really quickly — faster than I even thought," she added. "I mean, last week I was still barely even walking, especially with the walker. So I think I'm kind of just taking it one day at a time. I don't know what I'll come back next on, but I don't know, taking it one day in the gym every day, and doing everything I can."

Neff's return was just one small moment to a night in which the university deemed a "Birthday Bash" as the Red Rocks celebrated 50 years. The Red Rocks earned their second-highest score of the season, a 197.675, to beat Arizona (196.125) in an electric atmosphere that had several key moments.

It was enough of team effort that head coach Carly Dockendorf said "there were so many highlights" that she "can't even list them all."

"Just extremely proud of the team tonight," Dockendorf said. "It was so much fun to have the arena just full of fans and our alumni, and 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 really thought that we did make some really important changes. People stepped up in areas that we needed to step up."

There was Grace McCallum scoring no lower than a 9.90 on all four events to win the all-around; there was Makenna Smith, who was no less impressive, earning her fourth straight stick on vault to narrowly miss out on a perfect score with a 9.975; there was also Elizabeth Gantner earning a career-high 9.90 on beam as the team's anchor.

Ella Zirbes scored a career-high 9.950 on bars and then had her best floor performance to date after dealing with performance anxiety on the event earlier this season. And then there was Neff's return to gymnastics just weeks after injury.

And that's not even touching on the approximately 80-plus former Red Rocks gymnasts in attendance to support the team and celebrate the rich legacy of the only program in the country to make it to nationals every year the NCAA has sanctioned the sport.

"I think it was just something so special to be a part of, and we're just kind of putting our small piece of that into the legacy," McCallum said. "It's really an honor to be able to compete on the floor — the same floor that all these girls before us competed on — so that stayed with us throughout the meet."

"It really does feel like a family and a legacy," added Amelie Morgan. "And, like Grace says, just an honor to be able to kind of represent Utah and all the people before us."

The Red Rocks opened up the night with a solid team score on vault (49.275) to take an early lead, and never looked back as the team continued to build as the meet progressed.

The team followed up its opening event with a 49.325 score on uneven bars, before a 49.475 effort on beam and a season-high score of 49.575 on floor. The Red Rocks counted four gymnasts on floor with a 9.90 or higher and were forced to drop a low of 9.875.

Team scores

No. 4 Utah

• Vault: 49.275
• Bars: 98.600 (49.325)
• Beam: 148.100 (49.475)
• Floor: 197.675 (49.575)

No. 19 Arizona

• Bars: 49.150
• Vault: 98.125 (48.975)
• Floor: 147.200 (49.075)
• Beam: 196.125 (48.925)

Red Rocks scores

1st Rotation: Vault (49.275)

• Ella Zirbes: 9.800
• Grace McCallum: 9.900
• Camie Winger: 9.825
• Makenna Smith: 9.975
• Ashley Glynn: 9.725
• Amelie Morgan: 9.775

2nd Rotation: Bars (49.325)

• Makenna Smith: 9.775
• Ana Padurariu: 9.775
• Avery Neff: 9.825
• Amelie Morgan: 9.900
• Ella Zirbes: 9.950
• Grace McCallum: 9.900

3rd Rotation: Beam: (49.475)

• Ana Padurariu: 9.800
• Camie Winger: 9.850
• Makenna Smith: 9.925
• Amelie Morgan: 9.875
• Grace McCallum: 9.925
• Elizabeth Gantner: 9.900

4th Rotation: Floor (49.575)

• Ashley Glynn: 9.900
• Ella Zirbes: 9.875
• Camie Winger: 9.875
• Makenna Smith: 9.950
• Jaylene Gilstrap: 9.925
• Grace McCallum: 9.925

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