Utah Red Rocks

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 Pac-12 Conference. Home meets are held in the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. As of the end of the 2022 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. Tom Farden is the current head coach, after the retirement of Megan Marsden in 2019.[3]

Utah Red Rocks
Founded1976
UniversityUniversity of Utah
Head coachTom Farden (6th season)
ConferencePac-12
LocationSalt Lake City, Utah
Home arenaJon M. Huntsman Center (Capacity: 15,000)
NicknameRed Rocks, Utes
ColorsRed and white[1]
   
National championships
10
(1981*,1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995)
(*AIAW National Championship)
Four on the Floor appearances
3
2021, 2022, 2023
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
41
(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)
Conference championships
6
Pac-12 Conference: 2014, 2015, 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023
Pac-12 Regular Season: 2020, 2021, 2022, 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 six times since joining the conference, winning in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2021, 2022 and 2023. 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.[4] The Red Rocks won outright in 2020 and 2021, and shared the title in a four-way tie in both 2022 and 2023.[5]

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

YearGymnastScore[6]
2012Corrie Lothrop39.625
2014Tory Wilson39.450
2015Georgia Dabritz39.775
2016Breanna Hughes39.550
2021Maile O'Keefe39.700

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]

Roster
2023–24 Roster
Name Height Year Hometown Club
Kara Eaker5-2JRGrain Valley, MOGAGE
Elizabeth Gantner4-11FRIndianapolis, INJPAC
Jaylene Gilstrap5-4SRMcKinney, TXMetroplex
Ashley Glynn5-2SOHockessin, DEFirst State Gymnastics
Olivia Kennedy5-3FRMaryville, TNGeorgia Elite
Sarah Krump4-10SOLas Vegas, NVBrown's Gymnastics
Grace McCallum5-3JRIsanti, MNTwin City Twisters
Amelie Morgan5-6JRBristol, EnglandThe academy
Maile O'Keefe5-2SR+Las Vegas, NVSalcianu Elite
Abby Paulson5-3SR+Anoka MNTwin City Twisters
Jaedyn Rucker5-3SR+Mesa, AZDesert Devils Gymnastics
Alani Sabado5-2SRTemecula, CASCEGA Gymnastics
Makenna Smith5-3SOAlbuquerque, NMGold Cup Gymnastics
Camie Winger5-3FROrem, UTBold Gymnastics
Ella Zirbes5-3FRStillwater, MNFlips Gymnastics
  • Head coach: Tom Farden
  • Assistant coaches: Carly Dockendorf, Jimmy Pratt, Myia Hambrick

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–present 101-33-1

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.[3]

Coaches for the 2021-2022 season
Name Position
Tom Farden Head coach
Carly Dockendorf Assistant coach
Jimmy Pratt Assistant coach
Myia Hambrick Volunteer assistant coach

Post-season history

NCAA Champions

As of the end of the 2023 season, 16 different Utah gymnasts have won a total of 32 individual event championships.

Event Winner/Year
Team1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995
All AroundSue Stednitz 1982
Megan Marsden 1983, 1984
Melissa Marlowe 1992
Theresa Kulikowski 1999
Maile O'Keefe 2023
VaultElaine Alfano 1982, 1983, 1985
Megan Marsden 1984
Kristen Kenoyer 1992
MyKayla Skinner 2018
Jaedyn Rucker 2022
Uneven BarsMelissa Marlowe 1992
Sandy Woolsey 1992
Angie Leonard 1999
Kristina Baskett 2006
Georgia Dabritz 2015
Maile O'Keefe 2021
Balance BeamSue Stednitz 1982
Melissa Marlowe 1991, 1992
Summer Reid 1996, 1997
Theresa Kulikowski 1999, 2001
Ashley Postell 2007
Maile O'Keefe 2023
Floor ExerciseLisa Mitzel 1985
Melissa Marlowe 1992
MyKayla Skinner 2017
Maile O'Keefe 2021

Team records

Past Olympians

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. Wood, Trent (2019-04-22). "Longtime Utah gymnastics coach Megan Marsden retires after 35 years". DeseretNews.com. Retrieved 2019-05-09.
  4. "Utah claims inaugural Pac-12 Gymnastics regular-season crown". Pac-12 Conference. 2020-03-03. Retrieved 2020-04-08.;
  5. "Utah Gymnastics Earns Share of 2022 Pac-12 Regular Season Championship". Utah Utes Athletics. 2022-03-06. Retrieved 2022-03-20.;
  6. "Team: Utah". Road to Nationals. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
  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. "Records and Awards". Utah Gymnastics. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
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