Utah gymnastics got off to a fast start with three meets in 11 days to kick off 2026.
Then, the script flipped, giving the Red Rocks an even longer stretch of time between their next drives.
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Practice time focused on the lineup and preparation for the first out-of-state game, which pits No. 12 Utah against Iowa State, ranked outside the top 50.
Utah will benefit from two of its hottest bars and vault events starting Sunday at 3 p.m. MST. Red Rock placed fourth on bars and second on vault while earning the nation’s top scores in both events with scores of 49.675 and 49.6, respectively.
“I think it does build up our energy to start the meet (on bars and vault). But, it’s just, you know, the rotation doesn’t matter, we still have to do our job,” Utah coach Carly Dockendorf said.
Utah has been a bit inconsistent so far, ranking 31stYingshi 17 on the crossbarth But some of that can be attributed to the sheer number of new routines in these lineups.
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refuge
The tables seemed to be turning for Utah’s vaulters, who were successful in all three meets. The event has given the Red Rocks some headaches in recent years, and there have been some personal highlights along the bumpy road.
“It’s a very fluid event that can go really well or go bad very quickly, and because it’s a skill, a landing, it’s amplified,” assistant coach Mike Henge explained.
Hunger was hired in May 2024 to focus on vault but also help in other areas. He is a veteran club coach who founded the Twin Cities Tornadoes in Minnesota, the club behind Utah All-American and Olympic medalist Grace McCallum, Utah All-American and U.S. Senior National Team member Abby Paulson, and others.
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“Mike is a very veteran coach,” Utah senior Makena Smith said. “He knows a lot about vault and is passionate about it. His passion has been woven into our fabric.
“His understanding of the vault and how he breaks it down into a frame-by-frame picture — he tells you exactly one little thing that will change the entire trajectory of the vault.”
The uniqueness of the vault is sometimes lost because it is really one important skill rather than the multiple skills that make up the other three events. This leaves little room to make up for mistakes.
Hungry has always been a fan of vaulting and Utah State Gymnastics. He cheered for many Utah games, and his daughter Breanna Hughes, who competed for Red Rock from 2013 to 2016, recalled back-to-back 10.0-second performances from Tory Wilson and Georgia Dabritz in 2015.
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“Vault has been my world for the past 20 years. As a club owner, I kept hiring coaches who wanted to coach the bar, who wanted to coach the floor. I never hired anyone who wanted to coach the vault, so I became the de facto vault coach.”
While hunger is a big driver of vault growth, he admits he’s in good hands.
“It doesn’t hurt that they gave me some really good (gymnasts) to work with,” Hungry laughed. “We have a lot of really good, natural vaulters who put in the hard work. Our roster also inherited the most from last season, so we’re able to continue to work together.”
Nowhere was this more evident than in each other’s success as Utah finished with the nation’s highest score in the Sprouts Quad Meet earlier this month. The collective effort was outstanding, with gymnast Avery Neff and Hunger posting their first collegiate grade of 10.0.
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Beyond that, Utah has added scoring depth, with seven vaulters Hungry believes could compete for their 10.0 starting value “any day” with two other closers.
Meeting notes
After leading to several judging sessions and lower scores, Neff changed her beam routine. Neff worked on her jump sequence well in the preseason, but it didn’t work consistently in games.
Dockendorf hopes to give Neff a better chance to score, but promises there’s still something unique about the routine.
To prepare for the new arena this weekend, Dockendorf said her staff printed photos of the facility to help the team visualize the scene.
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Freshman Abbi Ryssman earned Big 12 Freshman of the Week honors after posting career-best scores on beam (9.9) and beam (9.925) at Utah State.
All over the state
Three weeks later, all four of Utah’s college teams were ranked in the top 25. Utah is followed by No. 22 Brigham Young University, No. 23 Utah State University and No. 25 Southern Utah University.
BYU travels to Arizona State on Friday. Utah State has a busy weekend, hosting San Jose State on Friday before taking on Oregon State on Sunday. Southern Utah won’t play again until Feb. 1.
