The night was a mixture of triumph and tragedy for the Utah Red Rocks gymnastics team, as their victory over Iowa State was overshadowed by the devastating injury to freshman Avery Neff. While the team delivered a season-high score of 197.

Neff’s injury is a big blow to Utah’s lineup moving forward. The star freshman took first on vault and beam against the Cyclones, scoring 9.9 and a career-high 9.925, respectively. Dockendorf was impressed with her team’s composure to finish the final floor routines of the meet.

The three gymnasts were the ones tasked with speaking after Utah gymnastics' victory over Iowa State on Friday night. It was a bounce back performance by the Red Rocks in their Big 12 opener and there were no shortage of highlights.

The #4 Utah gymnastics team came away with an easy victory over Iowa State in its Big 12 Conference opener Friday night, but it came at a price. Freshman Avery Neff, the #1 recruit in the country, suffered what looked like a devastating injury on her floor routine,

The Red Rocks opened up the afternoon meet on floor, where Makenna Smith and Ashley Glynn recorded competitive 9.825 and 9.850 scores as the team looked to build from there. But in the third spot, Ella Zirbes suddenly stopped mid routine to gather her breath, Dockendorf said, in an unusual moment.