It’s no secret that Utah didn’t have the start to the season that it would have wanted. Multiple uncharacteristic performances early on have left Utah ranked No. 12, which is the team’s lowest week 10 ranking since at least 1998. As a result, the Red Rocks have an unprecedented postseason terrain before them, as the team will likely be entering regionals as a third seed competitor – and will need to take down at least one team ranked in the top eight to punch its ticket to its 50th straight national championship. However, despite the team’s unusual start to the year, as well as the postseason terrain that awaits, Utah remains confident in its ability to perform following its final home meet, where the Utes notched their second highest score of the season.
Despite excellent performances throughout Utah’s senior day festivities, particularly from the graduating athletes, the Red Rocks’ beam lineup saw some slight falters. Elizabeth Gantner and Ella Zirbes earned scores of 9.725 and 9.750 respectively following significant balance checks, and the remainder of the lineup failed to break the 9.900 mark. While Utah’s beam scores on Saturday were perhaps not indicative of the team’s scoring potential, every gymnast stayed on the beam, and the Red Rocks avoided counting any detrimental errors. This type of response is precisely what Utah struggled with earlier in the season, and both head coach Carly Dockendorf and the seniors felt that the shift in response displayed by the beam lineup was something worth celebrating.
Utah’s increased ability to respond to mistakes is attributed to a focus on what senior Ana Padurariu described as “training like we want to compete, and then competing like we train.” This mindset has increased the team’s confidence in its capability and consistency, and has propelled Utah to bolster its ability to perform under pressure. Padurariu recalled advice from assistant coach Mike Hunger during bars warmups, where he said “to not focus on just hitting a routine, but focus on all the details on the bars, all the intentionality we focus on during training.” Padurariu stated that this shift from focusing solely on hitting a routine to instead maximizing each routine’s potential by thinking about the details has shifted the Red Rocks from timidness to confidence. Hunger’s advice was clearly effective for Padurariu, who set a new career high of 9.975 on bars, as well as for the team, who earned a 49.500 on the event on Saturday.
The missteps that Utah faced earlier in the season also provided the benefit of teaching the Red Rocks how to respond early on rather than in a more dire moment during the postseason. When asked about Utah’s shift in approach from the beginning of the season until now, Dockendorf replied that “We just continue to work in the gym and we continue to learn from any mistakes that we’ve made, and I do think some of the moments of adversity we’ve had to work through is giving this team confidence now to know that they can work through anything and still score well.” While the team’s performance on beam constrained its overall team score and hindered its ability to move up in the rankings, the Red Rocks did earn a 49.500 on the other three events, indicating the team’s potential to contend with its postseason competitors. Dockendorf highlighted that it is remarkable that the team is increasingly able to consistently earn “mid-197s with three events,” and that while there are still pieces to put together, Utah is confident that its efforts will be well-timed for postseason success.
The athletes themselves indicated a shift throughout the season in the team’s approach and demeanor, stating that the squad is better able to move on from mistakes. Senior Makenna Smith stated that “if there’s one event that’s a little shaky, it doesn’t rattle us, which I don’t think I could say at the beginning of the year.” Padurariu also said that the team’s energy and support of one another is able to help boost the team through tough moments. She praised Gantner for remaining “upbeat and encouraging” despite the mistakes in her own routine, which helped the rest of the beam squad stay confident and present to complete the rotation.
As the Red Rocks look to the remainder of the season – Utah has its rivalry meet with UCLA next weekend, with the Big 12 Championships and regionals soon to follow – the team remains confident in its ability to manage the pressures of the postseason. The Red Rocks’ ability to perform under pressure was reflected on senior day, which Dockendorf stated can often bring out a push “to try to be perfect.” Both Dockendorf and senior Sarah Krump indicated that this type of push can lead to mistakes, but although Padurariu and Smith knew it was their last time performing in the Huntsman, they made a decisive effort to not approach the meet any differently. Padurariu, when asked about her outstanding bars performance, stated that she approached her turn like “another bar routine that [she had] done in the gym many, many times,” and that her primary goal was to compete freely. Smith said that senior day felt strangely like a normal competition for her, but that the feeling of normalcy ultimately enabled the seniors and the rest of the team to “go out there and just do our routines how we normally do, and not try to be superheroes or do anything spectacular,” a mindset which produced an excellent performance for the Red Rocks. The seniors’ ability to look at senior night as they would any other meet bodes well for the Red Rocks’ capacity to manage the pressures of the postseason, particularly with so much on the line for the team.
Ultimately, Utah’s belief in its own capability to move forward will guide it through the postseason. Krump – who was lauded in Utah’s senior day celebrations for her resilience and perseverance through difficult moments – reiterated Padurariu’s earlier statements about centering the strength of the team’s training and how the team “came out lights out way back in October in the preseason” in practices and intrasquads. The motivation to display that potential is guiding Utah forward, and will ultimately enable the Red Rocks to manage postseason pressure and “emulate what [the team has] been emulating in practice.” Per Krump, despite the contrast between the pressures of the regular season and the postseason, “we just want to keep it as normal as possible, and just be as confident and intentional and as powerful as we’ve been in the gym since October, and put it on the floor.” Dockendorf stated that “it’s not necessarily [how you] start, it’s how you finish” – something that the Red Rocks will surely be keeping in mind as the end of the season approaches.
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Article by Sarah Smith
