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- Red Rocks miss nationals after 49 consecutive appearances, finishing third in Corvallis.
- UCLA and Minnesota advance to nationals with scores of 197.725 and 197.625.
- Red Rocks faced inconsistencies, scoring 197.500, narrowly missing qualification for nationals.
CORVALLIS, Ore. — All streaks have to come to an end at some point.
And after 49 straight nationals appearances — the longest running in the NCAA — the Red Rocks had their streak come to an end Sunday night.
In what was dubbed the toughest regional of the postseason, the 12th-ranked Red Rocks fell short of the mark and finished with a 197.500 score and a third-place finish in Corvallis.
Fourth-ranked UCLA took the top spot with a 197.725, capped off by a Jordan Chiles 10.0 score on floor in the final routine of the night. Joining the Bruins at nationals is 13th-ranked Minnesota, who had one of its best meets of the season to finish in second with a 197.625 score.
No. 5 Alabama finished in last with a 197.175.
After falling behind early, the Red Rocks leaped from last place to first following a strong floor routine in the third rotation to give the team a fighting chance going into the final event of the night.
But the narrow lead over UCLA and Minnesota — a 0.050 difference — wasn't enough to stave off the two advancing teams, who closed out the night with meet-high scores for their respective teams. UCLA closed out the night with a 49.625 on floor and Minnesota a 49.525 on beam.
For the Red Rocks, there were just enough missteps to keep the team just outside a spot at nationals.
The team started out vault with Camie Winger sitting down in the leadoff spot, living little room for error for the remaining five gymnasts. But Ella Zirbes got the team back on track with a stick and a 9.90 score before Zoe Johnson took a step back on her landing to score a 9.80.
Again, the Red Rocks got some help with a 9.950 on a perfect stick from Makenna Smith, but Ashley Glynn followed it up with a big step for a 9.80 score. In the anchor, Avery Neff narrowly missed out on a stick and took a small hop, but finished with a 9.90 score to give the team a chance as they sat and watched every other team finish the meet.
It was a rotation much like the first two of the night, where the Red Rocks were forced to live with inconsistencies and missteps.
Coming off scoring a regional high in the semifinals two days earlier, the Red Rocks started in the same order and hoped to replicate (and improve upon) much of that success. But Utah was forced to count an Abbi Ryssman 9.775 score after Zirbes scored a 9.750 on a fight for a handstand and a step with her chest down on the dismount.
Ana Padurariu and Neff helped anchor the bars routine with a 9.90 and 9.950 score, respectively, to keep the team in striking distance early to a Minnesota team that came out firing with a 49.450 on floor.
But things didn't get much better for the Red Rocks on beam after Zirbes jumped off the balance beam following her acro series in the second spot. The team avoided disaster and hit on all other five gymnasts, but scored a team low on the event with a 49.300 to drop the Red Rocks into last place going into the midway point of the meet.
Everything changed in the third rotation, where the Red Rocks looked to turn the tide. Some missteps from the other three teams mixed with Utah scoring a team-high 49.525 flipped the meet on its head and vaulted the Red Rocks into first.
Johnson scored a 9.850 in the second spot, and the scores only rose from there, with Neff earning a 9.90 in the third spot. From there, it was back-to-back-to-back 9.925 scores from Zirbes, Smith and freshman Sage Curtis.
Though not applicable, the Red Rocks had a higher score than both Arkansas (197.450) and Stanford (197.225) in their regional final. Both teams qualified for nationals in their respective regional final.
The Red Rocks scored enough to get to Fort Worth, Texas, but just found themselves in the toughest regional following some early-season woes.
Team scores
No. 12 Utah
- Bars: 49.325
- Beam: 98.625 (49.300)
- Floor: 148.150 (49.525)
- Vault: 197.550 (49.350)
No. 4 UCLA
- Vault: 49.350
- Bars: 98.750 (49.400)
- Beam: 148.100 (49.350)
- Floor: 197.725 (49.625)
No. 5 Alabama
- Beam: 49.300
- Floor: 98.675 (49.350)
- Vault: 147.800 (49.125)
- Bars: 197.175 (9.850)
No. 13 Minnesota
- Floor: 49.450
- Vault: 98.825 (49.375)
- Bars: 148.100 (49.275)
- Beam: 197.625 (49.525)
Red Rocks scores
1st Rotation: Bars (49.325)
- Makenna Smith: 9.825
- Ashley Glynn: 9.875
- Abbi Ryssman: 9.775
- Ella Zirbes: 9.750
- Ana Padurariu: 9.900
- Avery Neff: 9.950
2nd Rotation: Beam (49.300)
- Elizabeth Gantner: 9.850
- Ella Zirbes: 9.300
- Abbi Ryssman: 9.850
- Ana Padurariu: 9.900
- Avery Neff: 9.900
- Camie Winger: 9.800
3rd Rotation: Floor (49.525)
- Sarah Krump: 9.775
- Zoe Johnson: 9.850
- Avery Neff: 9.900
- Ella Zirbes: 9.925
- Makenna Smith: 9.925
- Sage Curtis: 9.925
4th Rotation: Vault (49.350)
- Camie Winger: 9.225
- Ella Zirbes: 9.900
- Zoe Johnson: 9.800
- Makenna Smith: 9.950
- Ashley Glynn: 9.800
- Avery Neff: 9.900
