Utah Gymnastics Ends Season with Annual Banquet
SALT LAKE CITY – The 2024 Utah gymnastics team held their annual team banquet following another incredible season, which ended in an unprecedented 48th-straight trip to the national championships and a third-place finish in the nation for the fourth year in a row.
At the team banquet, the five 2024 awards were given out and selected by the coaching staff. The five awards given are the Team MVP, the Coaches' Award, Dahl Academic-Athletic Award and Marsden's Leadership Award, and the fifth award added in as the newest award in the rotation, Newcomer of the Year.
The Team MVP was given to Makenna Smith after her consistent and energetic performances in the all-around all season long. Earning All-Pac-12 honors in the all-around, after scoring a 39.350 at the championship meet. Smith showed out at the NCAA Championships, collecting three NCAA All-America honors, including a pair of first-team accolades in both the all-around and on vault with a second-team nod on the uneven bars. In the loaded second semifinal session, Smith posted a career-high all-around score of 39.6375 with a vault score of 9.9125 and a matching bars score of 9.9125.
The Coaches' Award was given to Alani Sabado, who filled a crucial role on bars this season for the Red Rocks. Sabado hit 10 of 13 routines this season, including a career-high 9.925 at the NCAA Gainesville Regional Second Round competition. Sabado hit a sentimental career-high just weeks before the postseason started, with a 9.900 during her final routine in the Huntsman Center on Senior Night.
Coming off a Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year nod, Abby Paulson was named the Dahl Academic-Athletic Award recipient. A six-time All-American on beam (4 regular season, 2 NCAA), she is a four-time All-Pac-12 Conference honoree and two-time Pac-12 Beam Champion (2021, 2022). Paulson becomes the fourth Red Rock to achieve the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year honor, joining Stephanie McAllister (2012), Georgia Dabritz (2015), and most recently Breanna Hughes (2016). Paulson is a double major in Kinesiology and Political Science, with a 3.966 GPA, set to obtain both her undergraduate degrees at the end of the 2024 academic year. In the classroom, Paulson is a four-time WCGA Scholastic All-American, earning Co-SIDA Academic All-American status in 2022, with two all-district honors to her name. She has earned All-Pac-12 Academic honors each year of her collegiate career. Paulson captured her second NCAA All-America award at the 2024 NCAA Championships with a first-team honor on beam, scoring a 9.9500. After earning first-team distinction on beam during the regular season, Paulson added the post-season honor to her resume.
A trio of seniors including, Maile O'Keefe, Abby Paulson, and Jaedyn Rucker were honored with the Marsden's Leadership Award. All three Red Rocks led the team with different leadership styles and served as a direct line of communication to the team and coaches throughout the entire year.
The final award of the evening and the newest award established this year, was the Newcomer of the Year given to Ella Zirbes. Zirbes made an immediate impact on the Utah lineup this season, making a start on both vault and bars in every meet in her debut season with the Red Rocks. Zirbes would make her way onto the floor lineup at the midway point of the season when Utah made their first Pac-12 road trip to the University of Washington. Zirbes made a statement at her first NCAA Championships, earning her first two All-American honors of her young career, capturing first-team honors on vault (9.9125) and second-team distinction on bars (9.9250). Zirbes collected Pac-12 Newcomer of the Week after a standout performance against Stanford where she posted three career-high scores on vault, bars, and floor.