Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
- The Red Rocks aim to surpass recent third-place finishes at nationals this season.
- Coach Carly Dockendorf emphasizes high expectations and motivation ahead of a crucial quad meet.
- The team seeks to demonstrate their potential against top contenders Cal, LSU, and Oklahoma.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Red Rocks are tired of a third-place finish at nationals.
The 10-time gymnastics champions — and only gymnastics program to appear in every nationals — have struck out the last few seasons despite viable chances to claim another national title. The team has finished by raising a third-place trophy the last four seasons.
"I think that four years in a row of a third-place banner doesn't really sit right with our team, and I think there's a lot of motivation and determination to do something different this year," Red Rocks head coach Carly Dockendorf said following a season preview in December. "I think that that's felt collectively throughout the entire team, but also the whole staff."
On Tuesday — ahead of the all-important Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad meet on Saturday (2 p.m. MST, ABC), in which Utah will compete against fellow national title contenders Cal, LSU and Oklahoma — Dockendorf said the expectations for the team this season are at an all-time high.
"I think there are expectations we've kind of put on ourselves, just because of the training that we put in this fall, the level of consistency of the work that this team put in in practice," Dockendorf said. "What we showcased at all of our intrasquads. We added extra intrasquads, we added more people in the gym this year, how we looked at Red Rocks preview.
"I think all of those things have kind of given them proof of what they're capable of doing, and that's just kind of elevated our expectations of what we can do this year."
The Red Rocks have depth, an experienced roster that features several talented gymnasts that have performed well at previous nationals, and a bevy of talented freshmen — including the No. 1 recruit in the country in Avery Neff — to add to this year's lineup.
And though Saturday's quad meet is just one meet to a long season, it's a great early test for the Red Rocks to see how they stack up against the best in the country. The Red Rocks are approaching it as an early measuring stick to their chances this season.
"I think winning this event could just kind of solidify what we really believe inside, what our team's capable of," Dockendorf said. "Again, it's early season, so you've got to prove that at the end of the year, when it really counts. But I think it would give them just assurance of the work that they've put in, and the belief that they have of what they're capable of, and it could really project us into the huge climb for the rest of year."
At last year's Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad meet, a setting on home turf at the Maverik Center, the Red Rocks came out flat and failed to deliver in a meet in which the team finished with a 196.975 score and a fourth-place finish.
Then-reigning national champs Oklahoma set the standard with a 197.900 first-place finish, followed by LSU (197.150) and UCLA (197.100).
The hope this season is that Utah got its "bad" meet out of the way last Friday against Utah State and can now have a bounce-back performance on the national stage.
"We're really looking forward to it," Dockendorf said. "I mean, this is what we train for, is to compete against the best teams in the country. Friday night, we learned a lot, and so we'll be able to hopefully carry over some of those lessons into this weekend and not make the same mistakes.
"I think our focus, I think there was a lot of nerves going into Friday, which showcased right from vault in our first couple of vaults," she added. "So just really going in with a little more belief and confidence and trust in our training that we've put in all fall. I think that'll give us a different mindset. And that's the biggest thing I'm looking for this weekend."
Dockendorf said the lineups that Utah used on Friday — outside of Ella Zirbes competing on floor instead of Sarah Krump — will remain on Saturday. The intent was to get the Red Rocks' best — and most consistent — gymnasts at this point in the season on each event.
Following Saturday's meet — a meet that holds significant value but is just one of many — Dockendorf will do more experimentation with the lineups, especially in January, to get other gymnasts competing to solidify the team's depth for the season.
Before a national audience on Saturday, the Red Rocks hope to show out and prove themselves again as ones worthy to be the one lifting a national championship trophy at the end of the season.
Though just a small, early step, Saturday could solidify an upward trajectory for a team ready to finally take the next step.
