Author: Jesse

Wide receiver was already a position of need that Utah was looking to bolster in the transfer portal.

That need potentially became even greater Tuesday, after On3’s Pete Nakos reported that Zacharyus Williams has entered the portal.

State roads officials are mulling development of a new $125 million interchange along I-84 in Morgan County to accommodate growing traffic volumes brought on by development and interest in area recreational offerings.

“There’s just traffic congestion on the (existing) interchange and people trying to get on Trappers Loop. It’ll just continue to get worse as we continue to see development,” said Mitch Shaw, spokesman for the Utah Department of Transportation.

The plans near Mountain Green call for the extension of Trappers Loop Road, also known as state Route 167, south of where it intersects with Old Highway Road, directly to I-84, where the new full-access interchange would be developed. That would give both eastbound and westbound I-84 motorists more direct access to Trappers Loop to the north, Mountain Green and nearby recreational offerings to the north in Weber County, like Snowbasin ski resort and Pineview Reservoir.

As is, access to the northbound section of Trappers Loop from I-84 is indirect, requiring motorists to traverse road stretches more apt for local traffic. The upgrade, according to UDOT estimates, would reduce the time it takes to get to I-84 from the Trappers Loop-Old Highway Road intersection from a little over five minutes to a minute. What’s more, with additional development in the works north of I-84, congestion could get worse if the current road configuration is maintained.

Development “doesn’t really show signs of stopping,” Shaw said.

The proposed interchange has been a focus of discussion for years, and UDOT completed its preliminary report with project proposal details earlier this month. It’s the focus of an online public meeting on Tuesday at 6 p.m. to be held via Zoom. Then it’ll be the focus of an in-person public hearing on Wednesday from 5:30-7 p.m. at Mountain Green Middle School, 6200 N. 5000 West.

Adding to the potential traffic pressure in the area, a team of Ogden-based developers is mulling a development, Nine Springs, that in its preliminary incarnation calls for 2,200 or more housing units on a swath of land north of I-84 between Mountain Green and Snowbasin. Likewise, Snowbasin operators have expressed aspirations of increasing housing and development around the resort to host Alpine skiing during the 2034 Winter Olympics in Utah.

Currently, no roadway extends south of the proposed new I-84 interchange. But the project “would not preclude a future, separate” proposal to create a roadway connection heading in that direction, reads the report on the UDOT plans. The sprawling Wasatch Peaks Ranch resort project, geared to high-income clients and also in Morgan County, sits south of I-84.

Preliminary estimates put the cost of the interchange project at $125 million, Shaw said. After taking public input — to be accepted through May 8 — UDOT officials would likely refine the plan and come up with a more precise cost estimate, possibly by next fall. No project timeline has yet been determined, and funds, at this stage, haven’t been put aside for the project.

Apart from the I-84/Trappers Loop interchange, the proposal calls for a signalized intersection just to the north where Trappers Loop meets Old Highway Road. The partial I-84/Old Highway Road interchange, Exit 92, would be removed.

Every year for the last half-century, thousands of the poorest Utahns have turned to Planned Parenthood for free or discounted family planning health care, like birth control or testing for sexually transmitted infections.

But under a directive from President Donald Trump’s administration to freeze the federal funds that helped pay for those services, Planned Parenthood Association of Utah was forced to raise its fees earlier this month. And now, it will close a quarter of its clinics in the state — the two furthest from Salt Lake City, and ones most accessible to some of Utah’s most rural residents.

“When the Title X news came to us, we were unhappy, shocked in a way, but not surprised,” said Sarah Stoesz, the interim CEO for Planned Parenthood Association of Utah. “We’ve been giving it a lot of thought for some time, and had been creating contingency plans. We didn’t know how deep the cut would be, we didn’t know how permanent it might be.”

According to Planned Parenthood, it provided services to 26,000 Utah patients using Title X funds at clinics last year. The organization was slated to receive $2.8 million toward that care this year.

The Logan clinic will close on April 30 and the St. George location will shut its doors on May 2.

The shuttering of clinics comes about a month after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services informed nine Planned Parenthood state affiliates that their approved Title X grants were being “temporarily withheld,” Politico reported.

Interim President Shireen Ghorbani said, “This is not a decision we have made lightly. This is a decision we are forced to make because of the Trump administration.”

Planned Parenthood Association of Utah is the only Title X recipient in the Beehive State, meaning Utahns are losing the entirety of the more than $2 million set aside to help them seek care. According to an analysis by KFF Health News, Utah is one of seven states to have all of its Title X funds blocked.

Signed into law by Republican President Richard Nixon in 1970, the program is meant to empower low-income Americans to establish healthy families by connecting them to resources that allow them to plan when and how many children they have. It also covers disease prevention.

Since its inception, none of the money distributed through Title X could be used to pay for abortions.

“We have been around for so long in Utah and in this country,” Stoesz said, “that we have served women who are now in their 60s and 70s, and we have served their daughters, and we are serving their granddaughters.”

She continued, “That service, that ability to get the health care that they need, has opened the door to infinite possibility for infinite numbers of people, and it is a terrible, terrible shame and a stain on this current administration and political leadership here in Utah and all across the country that this is being permitted to happen.”

Letters HHS sent in March, according to Politico, pointed to alleged “possible violations” of federal civil rights law and Trump’s executive orders barring efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion. They also cited the organization’s practice of providing medical care to immigrants without permanent legal status, what it termed “taxpayer subsidization of open borders.”

Planned Parenthood Association of Utah declined to share copies of correspondence with HHS regarding its Title X grant with The Salt Lake Tribune, citing legal concerns. A spokesperson confirmed that the organization was notified grant money would not come on March 31.

In response to emailed questions about the status of Utah’s grant, and whether the agency could provide the letters detailing its reasons for withholding it, an HHS official wrote in an email, “On background to an HHS official: Some Title X grantees received notification that their grants were paused pending a compliance review. Each of the organizations with grants on hold received a detailed letter explaining the reason for the pause in funding and requesting documentation within 10 days to assess compliance with grant terms and conditions.”

According to its spokesperson, Planned Parenthood Association of Utah submitted a response reaffirming that the organization is operating in compliance with Title X before the April 10 deadline. It has not yet heard back from the Trump administration.

It’s clear that Planned Parenthood is being targeted by Trump, said Amy Friedrich-Karnik, the director of federal policy at sexual health and reproductive rights think tank Guttmacher Institute. But when it comes to the other recipients whose funding is in jeopardy and the states impacted, Friedrich-Karnik said the decisions seem random.

The future of the program, altogether, is uncertain. Inside Health Policy reported last week that a leaked White House draft budget proposes eliminating the office that runs the Title X program.

This isn’t the first time Planned Parenthood — including Utah’s chapter —has had its access to Title X funds cut off by Trump. After his last administration changed Title X requirements to block grant recipients from referring patients to doctors who can perform abortions, which critics call the “gag rule,” affiliates across the country withdrew from the program.

Utah’s affiliate also joined a lawsuit challenging the move, an option the organization said is once again on the table. Utah rejoined the program after President Joe Biden took office and undid Trump’s refashioning of the law.

‘Because … I had access to care’

The closing clinics in Utah, which are the association’s northernmost and southernmost, are both within walking distance of university campuses — the Logan one near Utah State University, and the St. George location in the neighborhood of Utah Tech University.

The two locations collectively serve thousands of patients annually. The most common services sought there are birth control and testing for sexually transmitted infections and diseases.

While the southern Utah location has never offered abortion care, the Logan clinic provides medicated abortion. It is also a 20-minute drive from the Idaho border, which has one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country. According to Planned Parenthood Association of Utah’s annual report, the organization cared for 233 Idaho patients last year.

The CDC tracks who benefits from Title X through its Family Planning Annual Report. In Utah, 41% of the nearly 20,000 patients in 2023 lived below the poverty line, and 47% were uninsured.

“When you attack this one program, the ripple effect is huge, and people’s access to health care overall is compromised,” Friedrich-Karnik said.

Sentiments included in reviews left for the clinics on Google reflect the story told by CDC numbers.

“Went in for an STI screening without an appointment and they fit me only had to wait about 30 minutes,” one patient who gave the Logan health center five stars wrote. “Everyone I interacted with was polite, knowledgeable, and courteous. I don’t have health insurance and they were able [to] help with financial assistance towards the cost of the tests.”

Another review for the St. George clinic said, “It’s never very crowded and the ladies at the front desk [are] ANGELS! They are. They help you so much and don’t pressure you if you can’t afford to pay.”

For the patients who rely on Planned Parenthood, there are few alternatives. That’s true across the country, Friedrich-Karnik said.

“In many communities, if Planned Parenthood were to shut down, there is not really many other options for folks who are low-income, who face access barriers to care, to be able to receive these services,” she said. “It’s a huge blow to communities that already face substantial barriers to care, whether it’s rural communities, low-income folks, LGBTQ folks [or] young people.”

As Planned Parenthood Association of Utah loses its grant funding, it faces other financial hurdles.

The cost of staffing its clinics has increased as medical facilities across the country confront health care worker shortages. In 2023, Planned Parenthood’s Logan clinic closed for several months because it did not have enough providers to operate.

Slashes to Medicaid being eyed by Congress would be another hit.

For now, the organization will work to raise money from private donors to subsidize as much care as it can.

Like the attacks Planned Parenthood has seen on the national level, it has also faced retaliation from Utah officials as it sues to stop a near-total abortion ban in the state. That law is blocked, and abortion is currently legal up to 18 weeks.

Lawmakers earlier this year blocked the organization from providing sex education in the state, and in a previous session attempted to ban abortion clinics from operating. They later repealed that law after it was blocked in court and would have likely delayed a ruling in the larger abortion ban lawsuit.

“[The government] doesn’t seem to understand that the very reason that I never had to seek abortion care … is because I had information, and I had access to care,” Ghorbani, describing the ways she has benefitted from Title X services she received when she was younger, said.

It’s been a week since the Utah Hockey Club’s inaugural season came to an end. Now that we’ve heard from everyone within the organization, the focus shifts to the offseason and how they plan to make the team better.

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There are a few key questions that need to be addressed.

The first centers around their pending free agents — both unrestricted and restricted — and who they might target in free agency.

Pending Unrestricted Free Agents:

• Nick Bjugstad

• Michael Carcone

• Robert Bortuzzo

• Nick DeSimone

• Jaxson Stauber

DeSimone spoke publicly about wanting to return and play for Utah again. Bjugstad, meanwhile, is expected to draw interest on the open market and could end up signing elsewhere. Bortuzzo appears to be leaning toward retirement, and Carcone won’t be back after spending most of the season as a healthy scratch. He spoke about it openly after the season ended.

Utah’s Robert Bortuzzo Gets Fitting Send-Off In Utah’s Season Finale As last night’s game came to an end and the Utah Hockey Club’s first chapter closed, it looked like their defenseman Robert Bortuzzo could be calling it a career.

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Restricted Free Agents:

• Jack McBain

• Kailer Yamamoto

McBain will be back — there’s no question. He’s proven himself to be a key part of the bottom six. Yamamoto, on the other hand, might look for a more defined role with another NHL team. That said, a return to Utah is still possible.

Once they make decisions on who’s staying and who’s moving on, attention will turn to the 2025 NHL Draft. With Utah missing the playoffs, they’ll be selecting somewhere in the 10–15 range. That should still give them a shot at landing a player with real NHL potential.

André Tourigny Reflects on Utah HC’s Season, Looks to Future In End of Season Interview Just days after Utah’s players completed their exit interviews, it was André Tourigny’s turn at the podium on the morning of April 21.

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However, there’s also a possibility that the pick is used as a trade chip to improve the current roster. There’s already been talk that Utah plans to be aggressive this offseason — and trading the pick could be part of that plan.

Finally, they’ll need to take a long look at free agency. They’re expected to be in the mix to make a splash, and there are a few intriguing names that could fit.

• Mitch Marner

• Brock Boeser

• Nikolaj Ehlers

• Aaron Ekblad

• Sam Bennett

There are plenty of players who could make sense for Utah. But regardless of the route they take, one thing is clear — they’ll need to make a move or two to push closer to a playoff spot in 2026.

Utah Reportedly Facing Issues With Trademark Office The Utah Hockey Club is having some serious trouble when it comes to picking a permanent team name.

Key Takeaways from Utah HC’s Exit Interviews Yesterday, the Utah Hockey Club held their end-of-season exit interviews, and today we’re going over some key takeaways from what the players had to say.

Utah’s Keller To Play For Team USA At World Championships Utah Hockey Club’s captain Clayton Keller has confirmed he’ll be playing for Team USA at the upcoming World Championships.

Clayton Keller Hits 90 Points, Finishes As Team’s Leading Scorer With Utah Hockey Club’s season now in the books, it is official: Clayton Keller finishes as the team leader in scoring.

Former Auburn defensive back and Loachapoka standout JC Hart announced his new home Monday morning.

The 6-foot-2, 199-pound corner announced his commitment to Utah, becoming the second Auburn player to transfer to a Big 12 school this spring, the other being Terrance Love to Colorado.

Hart spent two seasons at Auburn, but never saw consistent playing time. He made eight appearances during his Auburn career, with four coming in 2023 and four more in 2024. Nagging injuries kept him from creating a bigger role for himself on multiple occasions, as he was limited or most of this spring too.

With Hart and Tyler Scott gone from Auburn’s cornerback room, the Tigers still return contributors such as Jay Crawford, Kayin Lee and Champ Anthony.

They also added former Freshman All-American Raion Strader through the transfer portal and true freshmen Blake Woodby, Donovan Starr and Devin Williams.

That puts Auburn at seven scholarship corners, and with Williams reportedly out for the season with a torn ACL, Auburn adding another corner in the portal isn’t out of the question.

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at prauterkus@al.com

FORT WORTH, Texas — Life waits for no one, especially not in sports.

The 2025 women’s college gymnastics season ended Saturday evening with Oklahoma winning its seventh title in the past 11 seasons (the 2020 season is excluded as the pandemic forced that season to end without a national champion).

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The University of Utah’s team, the Red Rocks, finished fourth in the national title meet and, before the results were officially official — there was a bit of confusion on that front — the minds of many fans had already turned to next year.

That is sports. When disappointment strikes, well, there is always next year.

So where does Utah stand going into the 2026 season? How are the Red Rocks situated? Who is coming in as reinforcements?

Time to break down what’s next for Utah gymnastics.

Who is returning for Utah?

Twenty-four routines were competed by 10 gymnasts Saturday for Utah in the national championship meet. Three of those gymnasts won’t be around next season, at least not as competitive gymnasts.

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Jaylene Gilstrap, Grace McCallum and Amelie Morgan have all exhausted their eligibility — the caveat here being eligibility restrictions of any kind by the NCAA are being challenged in court. McCallum will be back as an assistant coach next season but her competitive days as a Red Rock are over.

Those three combined to compete eight routines in the national championship — in other words, one-third of Utah’s routines in the most important meet of the year.

That being said, only 20 routines are counted in a meet, and of the routines Utah counted in the national title meet, 14 will be back next season. Said another way, that is 70% of the routines that counted for the Red Rocks in the biggest meet of the year.

Those routines are from Elizabeth Gantner, Ashley Glynn, Avery Neff, Ana Padurariu, Makenna Smith and Ella Zirbes. Each had at least one routine go for 9.8750 or better in the national championship. Neff, Padurariu and Zirbes each broke the 9.9 barrier at least once.

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Which is to say, Utah will have a solid corps of gymnasts who’ve proven they can compete at their best when it matters the most.

All told, Utah will return — barring any transfers or early medical retirements — 12 gymnasts from the 2025 team.

Here’s the list:

• Elizabeth Gantner (junior)

• Ashley Glynn (senior)

• Zoe Johnson (sophomore)

• Olivia Kennedy (junior)

• Sarah Krump (senior)

• Avery Neff (sophomore)

• Ana Padurariu (senior)

• Clara Raposo (sophomore)

• Makenna Smith (senior)

• Poppy-Grace Stickler (sophomore)

• Camie Winger (junior)

• Ella Zirbes (junior)

That group includes four All-Americans (either regular season or postseason).

Neff and Smith should get the most attention, simply because they were two of Utah’s most impactful gymnasts in 2025. In the national championship meet, they finished third (Neff) and sixth (Smith) overall in the all-around competition.

Smith will enter 2026 as the senior leader of the team. And based off her 2025 season — easily her best yet — she could be in line for one of the most memorable senior seasons by a Red Rock.

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As for Neff, she was the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year for a reason. A burgeoning superstar before she even competed for Utah, Neff is a straight up superstar after her freshman season. Utah will rely heavily on her, and she has proven she can thrive under that load.

Zirbes had an up-and-down sophomore campaign, but she was on at nationals (save for on vault where she was replaced by Gilstrap), scoring a 9.9 or better every time she competed. Zirbes dealt with considerable performance anxiety in 2025, but she largely found a way to manage that and has the potential to be at the least a three-event star for Utah, if not a replacement for McCallum in the all-around.

And though Winger struggled at the end of the year and in the postseason, her ability on balance beam made her an All-American on the event. Winger, at times, also competed three events in 2025 and Utah will likely need to her do that more in 2026.

Glynn competed three events this season and did well. Odds are she will do so again in 2026, though Utah will hope she is more consistent in her senior season. When at her best, Glynn can put up some monster scores on uneven bars and vault. Glynn wasn’t always near or at her best, however.

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Padurariu ended the season strong on beam, becoming a key cog in that lineup. Early in the season she was in real contention on bars and it is likely that she will earn a spot in that lineup in 2026.

Johnson proved herself a great vaulter late in the year, her performance in the national championship notwithstanding. A former top 10 recruit, Johnson could easily slot into Utah’s floor lineup and maybe threaten for lineup spots elsewhere.

Gantner competed solely on beam in 2025 and when Neff returned from injury she fell out of the lineup. That is, until the national championship, and Gantner was ready. She could, maybe should be a regular in the beam lineup going forward.

The rest of the roster — Kennedy, Krump, Raposo and Stickler — have a lot more to prove. Krump competed the most in 2025, following Neff’s injury, but Raposo and Stickler are the most highly touted (Raposo was a five-star recruit in the 2024 class).

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It would not be a surprise to see Raposo take on a much larger role in 2026 and if Stickler can return to health she should be able to make a run at a spot on floor. Kennedy’s best event is bars and there will be some openings, albeit not too many. And Krump could vie for a spot on either beam or floor.

Even without accounting for Utah’s incoming freshmen class, the 2026 team will be deep with a wealth of proven talent. It will be deep enough and experienced enough to believe that the Red Rocks won’t take any sort of step back from contention at the top of the sport.

Who is incoming for Utah?

There are four gymnasts slated to join the Red Rocks in 2026, which will — again barring transfers or early medical retirements — balloon Utah’s roster to 16 gymnasts.

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They are:

• Bailey Stroud

• Norah Christian

• Abbi Ryssman

• Sage Curtis

The group is an intriguing one.

“We have a lot of different personalities coming in next year,” Neff said.

Stroud was a five-star recruit who blew up as a recruit after coming back successfully from injury. The Indiana native is a multi-time national champion (in the all-around and on beam), who should immediately challenge for spots in Utah’s bars, beam and floor rotations.

If there is a star in Utah’s 2025 class, it should be Stroud. She has the sort of talent that makes it a real possibility that she becomes an all-arounder for the Red Rocks, even if that doesn’t happen during her freshman season.

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Christian and Ryssman, meanwhile, were both four-star recruits who were previously committed to different programs before deciding Utah was the right place for them.

Both are top 50 recruits, Christian and Ryssman are complementary gymnasts.

Christian, a former Elite, looks the strongest on floor, and is capable on both bars and vault. Ryssman on the other hand was a national champion on beam as a Level 10.

Christian should contend for a spot in Utah’s floor lineup, at the worst providing real depth. And she could, under the tutelage of assistant coach Jimmy Pratt, crash the bars lineup with some unique and compelling skills.

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Ryssman could make a real run at a lineup spot on beam. It shouldn’t be a surprise if she locks down a spot in the lineup, even at the expense of a returning Red Rock.

As for Curtis, the Utah native was a three-star recruit who has scored a perfect 10 on vault as a Level 10 and won a national title on the event.

Utah will have openings in its vault lineup, at least two possibly more. Curtis could slot into one of those spots immediately.

Per the usual, Utah landed some talent recruits, all of whom will have a case for why they should compete in 2026. At worst they will provide depth, which is vital in a sport where injuries happen early and often. In 2025 Utah was without two gymnasts — Rucker and Stickler — for essentially the entire season and also lost other gymnasts for weeks at a time, like Neff, Johnson and Padurariu. Depth isn’t a luxury Utah has always had, but the Red Rocks will have it in 2026.

Will Utah be back at the national championships in 2026?

The Red Rocks will be vying for a 50th trip to the NCAA women’s gymnastics championships next season. That is the reality. Utah’s expectations are to always make it to nationals and compete for a national title and that isn’t about to change any time soon.

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The Red Rocks will also be the favorite to win the Big 12 Conference title — regular season and postseason titles each — in 2026 as well. Denver was the chief competition in 2025 and the Pioneers are looking at a serious rebuild after losing multiple fifth year seniors.

Really, in a lot of ways, Utah shouldn’t look too dissimilar in 2026 from how it did in 2025. The Red Rocks should be a top five team in the regular season and an argument can be made that Utah should be top two given the personnel losses that LSU, Florida and UCLA are looking at.

The Red Rocks should be deeper next season and they were deeper this year than about any Utah team that came before them. The team is also lined up to be incredibly balanced with four gymnasts in every class. They’ll be balanced when it comes to event strengths, too.

There are proven all-arounders (Neff, Smith) and aspiring all-arounders (Stroud, Zirbes). There are intricate event standouts (Padurariu, Gantner), leg event stars (Glynn, Johnson) and plenty of gymnasts ready to join them.

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The roster Carly Dockendorf has constructed looks — on paper — elite. Another great edition of Utah gymnastics.

There will be questions about mental toughness, confidence and resolve. The fourth place finish at the 2025 national championship left a lot to be desired.

Barring a rash of transfers or major injuries, Utah should be what it always has been though — one of the nation’s best women’s gymnastics teams.