Utah Red Rocks

Utah Red Rocks
Founded	1976
University	University of Utah
Head coach	Carly Dockendorf (1st season)
Conference	Big 12
Location	Salt Lake City, Utah
Home arena	Jon M. Huntsman Center (Capacity: 15,000)
Nickname	Red Rocks, Utes
Colors	Red and white [1]
National championships
10 (1981*,1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995) (*AIAW National Championship)
Four on the Floor appearances
4 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
Super Six appearances
32 (1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2018)
NCAA Regional championships
34
NCAA Tournament appearances
42 (1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)
Conference championships
6 Pac-12 Conference: 2014, 2015, 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023,2024 Pac-12 Regular Season: 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023

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. ^[2] 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. ^[2] 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. ^[2]

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. ^[3] The Red Rocks won outright in 2020 and 2021, and shared the title in a four-way tie in both 2022 and 2023. ^[4]

Utah gymnasts have won the individual all-around title at the Pac-12 Championship five times:

Year	Gymnast	Score [5]
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. ^[6] They officially started competed 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. ^{[7] [8]} 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.” ^[8] The 1992 team won the NCAA championship, with the name sticking. ^[9]

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

2024–25 Roster

Name	Height	Year	Hometown	Club
Elizabeth Gantner	4-11	SO	Indianapolis, IN	JPAC
Jaylene Gilstrap	5-4	SR+	McKinney, TX	Metroplex
Ashley Glynn	5-2	JR	Hockessin, DE	First State Gymnastics
Zoe Johnson		FR	Durham, NC	Sonshine Gymnastics
Olivia Kennedy	5-3	SO	Maryville, TN	Georgia Elite
Sarah Krump	4-10	JR	Las Vegas, NV	Brown's Gymnastics
Grace McCallum	5-3	SR	Isanti, MN	Twin City Twisters
Amelie Morgan	5-6	SR	Bristol, England	The Academy
Avery Neff		FR	South Jordan, UT	Olympus Gymnastics
Ana Padurariu	5-3	JR	Whitby, ON	Gemini Gymnastics
Clara Raposo		FR	Toronto, ON	East York Gymnastics
Jaedyn Rucker	5-3	SR+	Mesa, AZ	Desert Devils Gymnastics
Makenna Smith	5-3	JR	Albuquerque, NM	Gold Cup Gymnastics
Poppy-Grace Stickler		FR	Cardiff, Wales	Cymru Caerdydd
Camie Winger	5-3	SO	Orem, UT	Bold Gymnastics
Ella Zirbes	5-3	SO	Stillwater, MN	Flips Gymnastics

National records

Georgia Dabritz at the Huntsman Center in 2013.

• Utah has won a record 10 national championships ^[10] (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). ^[10]
• 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. ^[10]
• Utah has the most All-American gymnast awards of any school with 398. ^[2]
• Utah gymnastics set the longest regular season home win streak of any NCAA sport at 23 years (1979–2002) and 170 meets. ^[2]
• Utah has led the nation in gymnastics attendance 37 times and has won eleven all-women's sports attendance titles. ^[2]
• 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. ^[11]
• 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. ^[12]

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. ^[10] 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. ^[13] Megan, in addition to being Greg's wife, is a former member of the squad and has been an assistant coach since 1985. ^[14]

After the 2015 season, Greg retired and his wife Megan and assistant coach Tom Farden were named co-head coaches. ^[15] 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. ^[16] Farden left his position in November 2023 after numerous people came forward with allegations of abuse. ^[17]

Current coaching staff

Name	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

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS Year Finish Score Coach 1976 Tenth Place 101.65 Greg Marsden 1977 Ninth Place 138.50 Greg Marsden 1978 Sixth Place 141.10 Greg Marsden 1979 Fourth Place 138.10 Greg Marsden 1980 Second Place 144.15 Greg Marsden 1981 Champions 145.65 Greg Marsden 1982 Champions 148.60 Greg Marsden 1983 Champions 184.65 Greg Marsden 1984 Champions 186.05 Greg Marsden 1985 Champions 188.35 Greg Marsden 1986 Champions 186.95 Greg Marsden 1987 Second Place 187.55 Greg Marsden 1988 Second Place 189.50 Greg Marsden 1989 Fifth Place 190.20 Greg Marsden 1990 Champions 194.900 Greg Marsden 1991 Second Place 194.375 Greg Marsden 1992 Champions 195.65 Greg Marsden 1993 Third Place 195.825 Greg Marsden 1994 Champions 196.400 Greg Marsden 1995 Champions 196.650 Greg Marsden 1996 T-Third Place 196.775 Greg Marsden 1997 Seventh Place 196.025 Greg Marsden 1998 Fourth Place 196.025 Greg Marsden 1999 Seventh Place 195.475 Greg Marsden 2000 Second Place 196.875 Greg Marsden 2001 T-Fifth Place 196.025 Greg Marsden 2002 Fourth Place 196.950 Greg Marsden 2003 Sixth Place 195.300 Greg Marsden 2004 Sixth Place 195.775 Greg Marsden 2005 Third Place 197.275 Greg Marsden 2006 Second Place 196.800 Greg Marsden 2007 Second Place 197.250 Greg Marsden 2008 Second Place 197.125 Greg Marsden 2009 Third Place 197.425 Greg Marsden 2010 Sixth Place 196.225 Greg Marsden / Megan Marsden 2011 Fifth Place 196.500 Greg Marsden / Megan Marsden 2012 Fifth Place 197.375 Greg Marsden / Megan Marsden 2013 Ninth Place 196.200 Greg Marsden / Megan Marsden 2014 Seventh Place 197.025 Greg Marsden / Megan Marsden 2015 Second Place 197.800 Greg Marsden / Megan Marsden 2016 Ninth Place 195.762 Megan Marsden / Tom Farden 2017 Fifth Place 196.5875 Megan Marsden / Tom Farden 2018 Fifth Place 196.900 Megan Marsden / Tom Farden 2019 Seventh Place 196.725 Megan Marsden / Tom Farden 2020 Post-season canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic 2021 Third Place 197.9875 Tom Farden 2022 Third Place 197.7500 Tom Farden 2023 Third Place 197.9375 Tom Farden 2024 Third Place 197.8000 Carly Dockendorf

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

Top team total [18] [5] Rank Score Meet Year 1 198.600 Brigham Young 2004 2 198.575 Minnesota 2022 3 198.550 California 2023 4 198.425 Brigham Young 2002 5 198.300 Stanford, Utah State 2024 6 198.250 Michigan 2015 7 198.225 National Semifinal 2023 8 198.200 Regional Final 2022 8 198.200 UCLA 2023 10 198.150 Georgia 2018 10 198.150 Pac-12 Championship 2015 Top event totals [18] Apparatus Score Meet Year Vault 49.775 Brigham Young 2004 Bars 49.800 Minnesota 2022 Beam 49.775 UCLA 2020 Beam 49.775 UCLA 2023 Floor 49.800 Brigham Young 2001 Top Individual All-Around [18] Rank Score Gymnast Year 1 39.950 Susan Metz 1995 2 39.900 Kristen Kenoyer 1993 3 39.875 Melissa Vituj 2004 4 39.825 Grace McCallum 2024 5 39.800 Ashley Postell 2008 5 39.800 Melissa Vituj 2004 5 39.800 Theresa Kuliokowsi 2002 5 39.800 Theresa Kuliokowski 2002 5 39.800 Kristen Kenoyer 1993

Past Olympians

• Missy Marlowe (1988)
• Daria Bijak (2008)
• Nansy Damianova (2008)
• Corrie Lothrop (2008 alternate)
• MyKayla Skinner (2016 alternate, 2020)
• Grace McCallum (2020)
• Amelie Morgan (2020)
• Kara Eaker (2020 alternate)

References

1. University of Utah Athletics Brand Guide (PDF). August 23, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
2. "University of Utah Gymnastics - A Tradition of Success". University of Utah Athletics . Retrieved 2017-03-23.
3. "Utah claims inaugural Pac-12 Gymnastics regular-season crown". Pac-12 Conference. 2020-03-03. Archived from the original on May 21, 2024. Retrieved 2020-04-08.;
4. "Utah Gymnastics Earns Share of 2022 Pac-12 Regular Season Championship". Utah Utes Athletics. 2022-03-06. Retrieved 2022-03-20.;
5. "Team: Utah". Road to Nationals. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
6. "How will conference realignment affect Utah gymnastics?". Deseret News . January 25, 2024.
7. 1992 Utah gymnastics media guide. University of Utah, Athletics Department 1992
8. Miller, Ryan - Gymnastics notes: the origin of the nickname “Red Rocks”. The Daily Utah Chronicle, Feb 23, 2015, Notes: The article incorrectly states 1993.
9. Hamilton, Linda - ROCKS' HELD TOGETHER LIKE GRANITE DURING TOUGH SEASON. Deseret News, May 1, 1992
10. "College Chat: Utah's Greg Marsden". Inside Gymnastics Magazine. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
11. "Record Crowd of 16,019 Sees No. 4 Ute Gymnasts Beat No. 5 Michigan". Utah Utes . Retrieved 2017-03-23.
12. "University of Utah Gymnastics - Red Hot Ticket". University of Utah Athletics . Retrieved 2023-04-01.
13. Lya Wodraska. "Megan Marsden named co-head gym coach of Utes". Salt Lake Tribune . Retrieved 2010-02-10.
14. Lya Wodraska. "Utah gymnastics: Marsden has new, old role". Salt Lake Tribune . Retrieved 2010-02-10.
15. "Greg Marsden Announces Retirement after 40 Years as Utah Gymnastics Coach". Utah Utes . Retrieved 2017-03-23.
16. Wood, Trent (2019-04-22). "Longtime Utah gymnastics coach Megan Marsden retires after 35 years". DeseretNews.com. Retrieved 2019-05-09.
17. "Tom Farden out as Utah gymnastics coach". ESPN . November 22, 2023.
18. "Records and Awards". Utah Gymnastics. Retrieved 2017-03-23.

External links

• Utah Gymnastics on UtahUtes.com
• Utah Gymnastics on RoadToNationals
• University of Utah Gymnastics official site