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.

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,

Utah’s success Friday was overshadowed by a devastating injury to star freshman Avery Neff. Neff, the highest rated recruit ever (since College Gym News started ranking gymnastics recruits starting with the 2021 class), collapsed on the floor at the tail end of her floor routine.

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 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.