Utah will be ranked No. 5 in the country when the rankings are officially released Monday and much of that will be because one of the best all-around duos in the country.
There have been a lot of great all-around gymnasts who have competed for the University of Utah over the years.
Some of the best in NCAA women’s gymnastics history, in fact.
The list includes national championship winning all-arounders like Sue Stednitz, Megan McCunniff (Marsden), Missy Marlowe, Theresa Kulikowski and, most recently, Maile O’Keefe.
But also gymnasts like Suzanne Metz, Kristen Kenoyer, Melissa Vituj, Ashley Postell, Annabeth Eberle, Georgia Dabritz, MyKayla Skinner and Kristina Baskett.
The list could go on for quite awhile, in truth. There have been a host of gymnasts come through Utah who have thrived competing on all four events, week after week.
That includes the current duo of Grace McCallum and Makenna Smith.
McCallum and Smith aren’t newcomers to competing in the all-around.
McCallum has, for a good portion of her career starting when she arrived at Utah as a freshman, competed in the all-around. Smith has been a regular in the all-around since her freshman year, too.
But this season, the two women have arguably been the best they’ve ever been at Utah — as a duo, especially.
As of Sunday night, McCallum and Smith are both ranked in the top 10 nationally in the all-around.
McCallum boasts an NQS of 39.545, good enough for No. 8 overall, while Smith is sitting on an NQS of 39.535, which slots her in at No. 9 overall, per Road to Nationals.
Both Red Rocks have scored above a 39.700 in a competition this season, making them two of only 10 gymnasts this year who have met that threshold.
McCallum is currently tied for the single highest all-around score this season — with Oregon State’s Jade Cary — with a 39.800.
Smith’s 39.725 is equal to the best performances by Oklahoma’s Jordan Bowers and Audrey Davis, as well as LSU’s Kailin Chio.
Additionally, McCallum and Smith are responsible for a combined 31 event wins this season (counting ties). That is 70% of all event wins for Utah so far this season.
Suffice it to say, McCallum and Smith are having excellent seasons for the Red Rocks, arguably the best of their respective careers (and in Smith’s case, 2025 has definitely been her best season).
Having two Red Rocks in the top 10 in the all-around nationally is a rarity, though, at least in the program’s recent history.
The last time Utah had multiple gymnasts ranked in the top 10 in the all-around nationally (through nine weeks of competition) was 2019.
Back then, it was MyKayla Skinner (ranked No. 2 overall) and MaKenna Merrell-Giles (ranked No. 8) who thrived in the all-around.
Prior to that duo (who did the same thing in 2018) you have to go back to 2009 to find an equally accomplished all-around pair at Utah.
That year, Kristina Baskett and Nina Kim slotted in at No. 2 and No. 10 overall.
That Utah hasn’t regularly had multiple top 10 all-around gymnasts isn’t surprising. It is a difficult feat for any program to pull off, even one as storied as Utah.
This season, only Utah (with McCallum and Smith), Oklahoma (with Bowers, Davis and Faith Torrez) and Florida (with Leanne Wong and Selena Harris-Miranda) have multiple top 10 all-arounders currently.
Last year, only Oklahoma and Cal managed the feat (again, through nine weeks of competition), and the year before that only Florida and UCLA pulled it off.
Interestingly, the last team to win a national title with multiple top 10 all-arounders was Oklahoma in 2017, when Maggie Nichols and Chayse Capps were No. 1 and No. 3 in the country (through nine weeks). That may say something about the importance of depth and having many capable contributors, as opposed to relying on all-around excellence.
Whether or not Utah goes on a run to win a national title this year, McCallum and Smith have been difference makers for the Red Rocks.
Utah will be ranked No. 5 in the country when the rankings are officially released Monday and much of that will be because one of the best all-around duos in the nation.
Source: Utah News