Utah Gymnastics Falls Short, Finishes Fourth in NCAA Finals

Utah women’s gymnastics hit the national stage again with real championship hopes, but those dreams faded in Fort Worth. At the 2025 NCAA women’s gymnastics championships, the Red Rocks had flashes of brilliance, but mistakes on balance beam cost them dearly. They finished fourth, and that title drought now stretches three decades. It’s a reminder of how close this program stays to the top—and how tiny the margins really are in college gymnastics.

Utah’s Championship Quest Comes Up Short in Fort Worth

The 2025 NCAA championship finals brought together four of the country’s strongest teams. Utah came in ranked No. 4 and had every reason to believe a long-awaited 11th national title was possible.

Inside Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, the Red Rocks faced a tough field: Oklahoma, UCLA, and Missouri. The pressure was obvious from the start.

Utah got off to a solid start, but couldn’t keep momentum through all four rotations. They ended the night with a 197.2375, which landed them in fourth place.

Oklahoma grabbed its seventh national championship. UCLA finished second, Missouri third. More details on Utah’s night are in the Salt Lake Tribune’s coverage.

A Strong Opening on Uneven Bars

Utah started the final with confidence on uneven bars, always a reliable event for them. The Red Rocks put up a 49.45, which put them in third after the first rotation and kept them in the hunt.

Senior Grace McCallum set the tone with a stellar routine, earning a 9.95. Her experience and calm showed, and it looked like Utah was ready to make a real run.

Balance Beam Errors Shift the Meet

The opening rotation gave fans hope, but balance beam changed everything. Even small mistakes get amplified at this level, and Utah had just enough trouble to knock them out of the title picture.

The beam rotation showed how brutal the NCAA finals can be when a team can’t drop its lowest scores.

Costly Deductions and a Fall

Amelie Morgan had a few balance checks, ending with a 9.6875. Normally, Utah could have absorbed that, but things got worse.

McCallum took a fall—a rare miss for the Olympic silver medalist—and finished with a 9.2875. That stung.

With both scores counting, Utah ended up with a 49.1875 on beam. That pretty much ended any real shot at the championship.

• Beam score: 49.1875
• Key issue: Multiple routines with deductions prevented score drops
• Impact: Loss of momentum at the midpoint of the meet

Resilience Shown on Floor Exercise

Give credit where it’s due: the Red Rocks bounced back in the third rotation. Floor exercise let Utah settle down and show off the depth that’s kept them among the NCAA’s best for decades.

The team posted a strong 49.475, with energetic routines and clean landings that briefly sparked hope for a comeback.

Standout Performances Power the Floor Rotation

Jaylene Gilstrap, Ella Zirbes, and Avery Neff each scored 9.9, holding things down with confidence. Neff led the way with a 9.9125, Utah’s best on floor that night.

These routines highlighted Utah’s ability to regroup after adversity, even if the earlier beam issues had already left them little room to climb back.

Vault Closes the Door on a Comeback

Heading into the last rotation, Utah needed a nearly flawless vault set—and some luck from other teams—to get back in the mix. The Red Rocks were steady, but not spectacular enough to close the gap.

They finished with a 49.125 on vault. It was solid, but not enough to fuel any late heroics.

Final Scores Tell the Story

Once the numbers were in, Utah’s steadiness on three events just couldn’t erase the beam errors. The final standings showed how tight the championship really was, even with Utah in fourth.