- Utah gymnastics won its second straight Big 12 Championship in 2026, swept every individual title at the meet and finished .125 from nationals in the Corvallis Regional Final. Here is the program heading into 2027.
- Avery Neff, Ella Zirbes, Camie Winger, Utah Gymnastics connect back to University of Utah and the wider gymnastics picture.
- The story is backed by 24 sources and a visible last-verified date.
October 18, 2026
October 18, 2026
5 min / 1,001 words
24 official links
Utah gymnastics enters the 2027 season as the two-time defending Big 12 champion. The Red Rocks won the 2026 Big 12 Championship at the Maverik Center with 197.675, after going 6-0 against conference opponents in the regular season, and their gymnasts won every individual title at the meet. Junior Avery Neff was named Big 12 Gymnast of the Year. The season ended in the Corvallis Regional Final on April 5, where Utah scored 197.500 and finished third, .125 short of the second qualifying place behind UCLA and Minnesota. The Utah gymnastics team page carries the official roster, schedule and dated results.
A program built on ten national titles
Utah counts 10 national team championships: the 1981 AIAW title and nine NCAA titles, in 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1994 and 1995, according to the program's 2026 media guide. The same guide lists 32 NCAA individual champions and a team scoring record of 198.600, set against BYU on March 19, 2004.
Through 2025 the Red Rocks reached 49 consecutive national championship meets, six in the AIAW era and 43 in the NCAA. Utah's own season review is direct about what changed in 2026: it was the first season in the program's 51-year history without a trip to nationals as a team.
How the 2026 season unfolded
Utah opened with a home tri-meet win over Minnesota and Iowa on Jan. 2, scoring 196.625. Eight days later it finished fourth at the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad in West Valley City, where Oklahoma and LSU each scored 197.500 and UCLA 197.000. Two nights later the Red Rocks were back at the Maverik Center to win the Best of Utah meet with 197.300, their sixth straight title at the in-state event.
The Big 12 schedule went Utah's way from there. The Red Rocks won at Iowa State, beat Arizona State at home and won at Arizona. On Feb. 13 they beat BYU 198.025-196.025 at the Jon M. Huntsman Center, the season high, and their 49.750 on bars that night was the second-highest bars total in program history. A 197.200-196.100 win at Denver on March 1 clinched the Big 12 regular-season title outright, and a home tri-meet win over West Virginia and BYU on March 7 closed the home schedule. Utah's schedule page lists the team 7-0 at home and 13-4 overall, counting each opponent in a multi-team meet as its own result.
Every title at the Big 12 Championship
The conference championship on March 21 was the high point. Utah scored 197.675 to win its second straight Big 12 title, and its gymnasts took every individual crown. Neff won the all-around with 39.700 and the bars and floor titles, Makenna Smith won vault and Camie Winger won beam with a 9.975, according to Utah's season review. The Big 12 named Neff its Gymnast of the Year and Ana Padurariu its Specialist of the Year. Utah's floor rotation scored 49.725, the third-highest floor total in program history.
Corvallis and Fort Worth
In the Corvallis Regional, Utah won its second-round session on April 3 with 197.500 to reach the regional final with Alabama. Two days later Utah posted 197.500 again, but UCLA scored 197.725 and Minnesota 197.625 to take the two places at nationals. Alabama finished fourth with 197.175.
Three Red Rocks still went to the NCAA Championships in Fort Worth as individuals. Neff placed seventh in the all-around with 39.5125 and fourth on floor with 9.9375, Ella Zirbes scored 9.925 on floor and Padurariu 9.850 on beam. Utah finished 10th in the final national rankings, as its season review stated it.
Who leads the 2027 roster
Utah's 2027 roster lists 15 gymnasts. Avery Neff, a junior from South Jordan who trained at Olympus Gymnastics, returns as the reigning Big 12 Gymnast of the Year; her bio lists perfect 10.0 scores on vault and bars and a 39.700 all-around career high. Ella Zirbes, a senior from Stillwater, Minnesota, is a seven-time All-American whose bars career high of 9.975 came against BYU. Camie Winger, a senior from Orem, is the 2026 Big 12 beam champion.
The incoming class on the roster includes Ayla Miller of Big Lake, Minnesota, from Twin City Twisters, and Léonie Gervais of Trois-Rivières, Quebec, who signed as a late addition in November 2025.
Coaching staff
Carly Dockendorf is head coach; her Utah staff bio is headed "Head Coach 4th Year/10th Overall," and her contract was extended through 2031 on April 9, 2026. Utah added Steve Arkell, a USA national team staff coach, as its new bars coach in April. Mike Hunger and Myia Hambrick are assistant coaches, and Smith returned in September as a student coach.
When the 2027 season starts
Utah had not published its 2027 schedule when this story was checked on Oct. 18, 2026; the schedule page still showed the 2026 season. The Big 12 has extended its gymnastics championship agreement with the Maverik Center through 2030 and says 2027 details will be announced later. NCAA.org lists the 2027 national championships for April 15 and 17 at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Utah college gymnastics guide sets out how Utah's four programs compare, and the gymnastics section collects every team page and story.
Key facts:
- Team: Utah Red Rocks women's gymnastics, Big 12 Conference, Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City
- Head coach: Carly Dockendorf, extended through 2031
- National titles: 10, the 1981 AIAW title and nine NCAA titles (1982-86, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995)
- 2026 record: 13-4 overall and 6-0 in the Big 12, as Utah's schedule page counts multi-team meets
- Big 12 Championship, March 21, 2026: first with 197.675, a second straight title; Utah won every individual event
- Season high: 198.025 against BYU on Feb. 13, 2026
- Corvallis Regional Final, April 5, 2026: third with 197.500, .125 behind second-place Minnesota
- NCAA Championships: Avery Neff seventh in the all-around and fourth on floor as an individual
- 2027 schedule: not yet published as of Oct. 18, 2026; NCAA Championships April 15 and 17, 2027 in Fort Worth