This trio of Red Rocks will be competing at NCAA championships

Championship week looks different for Utah’s gymnastics team this year. The team, which has been a mainstay in the national championship for 49 straight seasons, didn’t qualify as a group out of its regional final earlier this month.

The Red Rocks aren’t ending the season just yet though, as they will still have a presence at the championship with three gymnasts, Ana Padurariu, Ella Zirbes and Avery Neff, qualifying as individual competitors. All three will be featured in the second semifinal on Thursday at 7 p.m. MDT in Fort Worth, Texas.

“We’re just looking forward to supporting these three amazing women this week, and such a great opportunity for them to collect some accolades on events that they’ve excelled at all year,” said Utah coach Carly Dockendorf. “Their individual work that they’ve put in is going to get to be showcased this weekend and that’s what it’s all about.”

Ella Zirbes and Ana Padurariu qualified in individual events and will rotate together with Minnesota. Zirbes is a Minnesota native so she’s familiar with the Gophers. The bonus is the junior also gets to rotate with her teammate, which isn’t always a guarantee.

“I’m really excited, especially to be with Ana,” said Zirbes. “I feel like she’s just a calm person to be with during a meet and I just am so honored to be able to be at her last meet with her and support her all the way. I think it’s a really special way for her to go out.”

Zirbes will contend on floor, which is the second rotation for Minnesota. The junior qualified for the championship after knotting a 9.9 in the regional semifinal and a 9.925 in the final.

Padurariu will compete in the Gophers’ first rotation which is beam. The senior was named Big 12 Specialist of the Year for her outstanding season, and recorded back-to-back 9.9s in the two regional meets to qualify.

“Right after regionals I didn’t know that I qualified, and was truly very content with just how the whole season went, how I finished it off there,” explained Padurariu. “So, just to have this extra opportunity is truly just a cherry on top. It kind of just feels like a victory lap of one last routine before I get to be done.”

Neff will rotate with UCLA and compete in the all-around. She’ll start on bars and is coming into the championships off a season full of accolades, including Big 12 Gymnast of the Year, WCGA Gymnast of the Year for region 2 (North Central) and regional all-around and beam champion. She scored 9.9 or higher on all four of her events in both regional meets and finished with an all-around score of 39.65 both days to advance.

The sophomore will be rotating with one of her biggest competitors in the event in UCLA’s Jordan Chiles. Chiles ranks second in the all-around, while Neff is No. 3. Both are expected to compete with LSU’s Kailin Cho, who ranks No. 1, and a handful of other talented gymnasts for the coveted individual title.

“I think I’m a competitor that rises to the occasion and I think I do really well with pressure,” Neff noted. “And even though it’s a different kind of pressure than I’ve been used to the past two years, I think it’s a pressure that I’m used to that I’ve done for so long.”

Utah’s three gymnasts shared that the meet reminds them of their careers prior to Utah where the team component wasn’t the focus. While all three know the opportunity to keep competing is a bonus, they all acknowledge it was not the season they anticipated nor the way they wanted team competition to end.

The positive is that all three won’t have the added pressure to help a team advance out of a semifinal and can just let their gymnastics fly.

“It’s obviously very different, but I definitely don’t want to take away from the moment of these three women who have such a great opportunity to go out and perform at the highest level and collect some awards,” said Dockendorf. “It absolutely is different, you know, we’ve always been here with a team, I’ve always been here with a team.

“It’s a part of sports, and sports can be tough and sports can be really challenging at times. But, for me this week I really am just focusing on celebrating these three women and the work that they’ve done. And, they deserve to be here and I’m so proud of them, and that’s really where my brain is at this week is on these three.”

Meet notes

All individual titles are awarded after both semifinals conclude to the top overall scorer in each event. The NCAA final is Saturday at 2 p.m. MDT with the top two teams from each semi advancing.

Semifinal 1, First Rotation, 2:30 p.m. MDT

• LSU, Vault
• Georgia, Bars
• Florida, Beam
• Stanford, Floor

Semifinal 2, First Rotation, 7 p.m. MDT

• Oklahoma, Vault
• UCLA, Bars
• Minnesota, Beam
• Arkansas, Floor