With a cheesy grin painted on her face, Utah gymnast Avery Neff jumped in the air and ran into a coach’s outstretched arms.
The star freshman then let out a joyful scream, pointed her fingers in the air and finished off her celebration with a ferocious clap.
Neff, the former No. 1 recruit in the nation and Big 12 Freshman of the Year, had just stuck her landing on her vault routine. Her rotation earned a 9.95 mark from the judges, the highest individual score of any Red Rock in the routine.
It was Neff’s highlight moment on a night when she garnered the Salt Lake City NCAA regional semifinals all-around title. She finished the competition with a 39.650 on Thursday, as the No. 4 Red Rocks earned a bid to regional finals, tying with Denver 197.650-197.650 in the first round of the regionals.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Avery Neff competes on the beam for Utah in the NCAA regional semi-finals at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on Thursday, April 3, 2025.
“This has been a goal of mine all season,” Neff said after the meet. “For it to finally come true at regionals is amazing on its own. It was such a great feeling.”
Neff’s performance was the best of her up-and-down 2025 season. Three months ago, the freshman’s season seemed over after she sprained both of her ankles. But Neff quickly went from scootering around on the sidelines to returning to the lineup on uneven bars before making her triumphant return to the all-around lineup.
She’s now at the forefront of Utah’s hopes of a 49th straight trip to the NCAA finals and an 11th national championship.
Neff knows it’s been a long journey back, and she credits her performance to keying in on the details.
On beam, Neff tied Amelie Morgan for a team-high 9.9 individual score on Thursday. The Red Rocks uncharacteristically had several mistakes during the event, finishing with a 49.175. Neff watched on as all-arounders Grace McCallum and Makenna Smith stumbled multiple times, but she found a way to respond with a team-high score.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Avery Neff celebrates with student assistant coach Maile O'Keefe after her vault in the NCAA regional semi-finals at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on Thursday, April 3, 2025.
“It’s definitely a confidence boost,” Neff said. “My gymnastics is my gymnastics. No matter what happens before or after me, I still need to do my job. Even if there are some mishaps, I know what I’m going to do and I’m confident in myself that I’m going to do it.”
Utah head coach Carly Dockendorf was also complimentary of Neff’s composure after the meet.
“I think she does a really good job focusing on herself,” Dockendorf said. “I think that’s such a strong mindset to have.”
Balance beam blues
Despite getting off to a strong start in their first three rotations, the Red Rocks had several mishaps on the balance beam.
Their 49.175 score in the event was the third-lowest total they’ve had in the event this season. McCallum finished with a 9.75. Smith, who suffered a fall in the same event during the Big 12 championships, had a 9.825. And Sophomore Camie Winger ended with a 9.7.
The Red Rocks entered the regional semifinals with the third-best mark on beam this season, however.
So, what went wrong?
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Amilie Morgan competes on the beam in the NCAA regional semi-finals at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on Thursday, April 3, 2025.
“Beam, not much to say about that,” Dockendorf joked after the match. “To be honest, I was dreading today more than Saturday because I knew we were going to be finishing on beam last. Just kind of watching the pattern of our team this year, we tend to get tight sometimes on that event. There’s new people in the lineup that haven’t been in that pressure situation, and we just needed to do our normal job.”
The good news for the Red Rocks is they now have a chance to right their wrongs in the regional finals with a trip to the NCAA championships on the line.
McCallum says they’ll use that as motivation.
“We have a lot of areas to improve on, which is great,” McCallum said. “I think it will help build our confidence heading into Saturday, which is what we need.”
So does Dockendorf.
“I think they are very determined, and they don’t like the way that feels,” Utah’s coach said. “They know that they are capable of so much more. So, my guess is that they’re going to come back pretty fired up on Saturday in that event.”
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah head coach Carly Dockendorf cheers with fans during the Big 12 Gymnastics Championship at Maverick Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, March 22, 2025.
Zoe Johnson shines on vault
It’s been a long time coming for Zoe Johnson.
At the beginning of the season, the freshman wasn’t even in Utah’s vault lineup.
Johnson slowly earned her stripes with time. Through ups and downs, missteps and stuck landings, the Durham, North Carolina native finally earned her way into the Red Rocks lineup.
And, on Thursday, she stuck her vault landing and finished with a 9.925, which was Utah’s second-highest individual performance in the rotation.
“I feel like at the beginning of the season I didn’t have a lot of confidence,” Johnson said of her vault performance. “I kind of had a back problem at the beginning of the season and didn’t get to do as many numbers as I had hoped. So when it was time for the season I didn’t have a lot of confidence in myself.
“But, all the coaches kind of helped me believe in myself again, so I guess I can vault again.”
As Utah pivots to the Salt Lake City regional finals against No. 5 UCLA, No. 10 Minnesota and No. 18 Denver (5 p.m. MT on Saturday at the Huntsman Center), a repeat of Johnson’s vault performance will be needed with a trip to the finals on the line.
A repeat of her performance could separate the Red Rocks from the rest of the pack in their chase for another national championship.
“It’s taken her a little bit to get here,” Dockendorf said. “I’ve been saying it for a while now, but that’s the kind of caliber vault we need in the postseason to separate ourselves. I’m really proud of her.
