Former Utah Utes gymnast Sage Thompson announced that she is transferring to Oregon State.
Utah’s Sage Thompson performs her bars routine during a gymnastics meet against Arizona at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, on Friday, March 3, 2023. Thompson announced Tuesday, May 30, that she is transferring to Oregon State. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

By Trent Wood

Sage Thompson’s career with Utah gymnastics is officially over.

An All-American and Utah native (Lehi), Thompson announced on social media Tuesday that she is transferring from the University of Utah to Oregon State.

“The color orange has always been special to me,” Thompson wrote. “I just want to thank everyone who was a part of this process! Thank you for supporting me! Grateful for the opportunities that came my way! So thankful to (R)ed (R)ock nation and fans and appreciate your last two years of support! Excited for what’s to come! Go (B)eavs!”

A rising junior, Thompson played a key role in third-place national finishes for Utah in both 2022 and 2023, earning NCAA All-America honors on uneven bars as a true freshman in 2021.

Thompson also has a perfect 10 to her name, earned on bars against Minnesota on March 4, 2022.

Thompson competed on bars and vault as a Red Rock, though she was in an out of both lineups during the 2023 season after holding down a consistent spot in the Red Rocks’ bars lineup as a freshman in 2022.

Part of Utah’s high profile 2021 signing class (which included Olympians Grace McCallum, Amelie Morgan and Olympic alternate Kara Eaker), Thompson was viewed as a prospective star for the Red Rocks.

“Her bar set, it could be just a jaw-dropping back of the lineup bar routine for the Red Rocks in the future,” Utah head coach Tom Farden said when Thompson signed her letter of intent.

“The thing I have always thought of Sage, being in Utah and watching her grow up, is she has a natural ability over there that sometimes warrants those high-end scores that are very difficult to attain. With the skills themselves and the way she executes — and we really like the way she pays attention to details — her standout event is bars.”

Thompson will join an Oregon State team that has been revitalized since the arrival of Olympic gold medalist Jade Carey, with the Beavers earning a share of the Pac-12 regular season titles in back-to-back seasons.

Thompson is the third Red Rock to transfer from Utah this offseason, with Jillian Hoffman joining LSU and Lucy Stanhope joining Nebraska.

The Red Rocks will welcome in one of the top signing classes in the country this summer — ranked in the top six by College Gym News — with multiple five-star gymnasts and former elites in Ella Zirbes, Elizabeth Gantner and Camie Winger, as well as three-star prospect Olivia Kennedy.