CEDAR CITY, Utah - On Friday night inside the America First Event Center, the music will start, the lights will hit the floor, and when Carilia Martinez raises her arm to salute, she'll pause for just a second.

She'll be talking to her dad.

For Martinez, a junior from Lehi majoring in exercise science, this year's "My Cause" meet isn't just another date on the schedule for the Flippin' Birds gymnastics team. It falls exactly five months to the day since her father passed away from a heart attack after battling and beating oral cancer four separate times.

That's why her cause is twofold: oral cancer and heart attack awareness. And that's why this Friday's meet means more than just the final score.

"He battled oral cancer four times," Martinez said. "Ultimately, he ended up passing from a heart attack because his body was just worn down. He'd been through a lot. So these causes are really special to me."

"Carilia's strength is hard to put into words," said Head Coach Scotty Bauman. "What she's walked through in the last year, most people never have to face, but she shows up every single day with heart, with purpose, and with joy. Watching her step into that floor lineup this season has been one of the most rewarding moments of my coaching career."

If you've watched Martinez this season, you've seen glimpses of her father already.

After not competing during her freshman or sophomore seasons, aside from a floor exhibition at Utah State last year, Martinez has broken into the floor lineup in 2026. She scored a season-high 9.900 in the Thunderbirds' win at Oregon State and has helped power a floor squad that recently posted a 49.450, one of the top-five scores in program history.

But her routines are about more than numbers.

"My dad has always been a huge dancer," Martinez said, smiling. "Always dancing, always laughing, always singing. I think my performance on floor comes a lot from him."

One of her most treasured memories came at that exhibition in Logan. Her father, still in the middle of his cancer battle, was there to watch her perform her first collegiate floor routine. She hugged him after the meet.

It was the last time he would be able to attend a meet.

"That will be one of my forever favorite moments," she said. "He was still fighting, and he was there in my corner."

When she finally earned her first true competition spot in the lineup this season, in the home opener against Boise State, she went last. The arena was full. The moment was finally real.

"That was just a huge 'I made it' moment," she said. "People were in tears telling me my dad would be so proud."

"She came in really young, and she's grown in every possible way as a gymnast, as a teammate, and as a person," commented coach Bauman. "To see her fight for her dream, stay committed when she wasn't in the lineup, and now thrive the way she is, that's what perseverance looks like."

At Oregon State, on the night of her 9.900, she felt something different.

Earlier that day, she admitted she had been missing him more than usual. But after she finished the routine, she felt peace.

"It's hard to say he's there with you," she said. "But you feel a lot of love and a lot of peace. To me, that means he's with you. I think that was his way of saying, 'I'm still here.'"

Before every floor routine, right after she salutes, Martinez talks to him. Assistant coach Jamie Wysong reminds her to dance with him. Head coach Scotty Bauman was the first person her mom called the morning her father passed; he handed Martinez the phone when she got the news. Her teammates have given her grace through the heaviest grieving moments and celebrated with her through the breakthroughs.

"They've been here every step of the way," she said. "I wouldn't have been able to do any of this without them."

At this meet, the team is dedicating the entire night to her father's memory, a gesture that leaves her searching for words.

"These beautiful, amazing girls and coaches are willing to think of me the whole meet and think of my dad when they're doing their gymnastics," Martinez said. "Most of them never even met him. It means more to my family and me than I can say."

"This wasn't even a question for our team," added Coach Bauman. "We wanted to honor her dad and stand behind Carilia the same way he always stood behind her. That's what this program has always been about. Anyone who walks into our gym sees our motto, 'One Family One Fight'. When one of us hurts, we all step in."

She describes her dad in one word: fighter.

He lost his tongue to cancer before she was born, but still insisted on cooking meals for his family, even when he couldn't eat them himself. No matter what he faced, she said, he always came out dancing.

His loss has completely shifted her perspective. The stress of a lineup decision, a missed landing, a tough practice, it doesn't weigh the same anymore.

"The little things matter so much more, and so much less at the same time," she said. "Spending time with people you love and doing the things you love, that's what's important."

Gymnastics has given her consistency in a world that suddenly felt unrecognizable. It's given her a reason to get up every morning, to keep moving, to keep living.

And now, it's given her a way to honor him.

When Martinez steps onto the floor Friday night, the routine will be joyful. It will be expressive. It will be full of life.

Behind the choreography is a daughter still grieving, still healing, still fighting, just like her dad did.

And when she dances on the floor, she won't be dancing alone.

Oral Cancer Foundation

The Oral Cancer Foundation's missions are rooted in science. OCF funds life-saving research and work that elucidates mechanisms for early discovery and furthers disease understanding. We provide direct peer-to-peer support for oral cancer patients and their caregivers. We disseminate vetted professional and public information on oral and oropharyngeal cancer, and work as advocates for national policies that facilitate disease awareness, early discovery, and improve treatments and their outcomes. Our foundation's missions are changing patients' lives today and altering outcomes in the future. To learn more about the Oral Cancer Foundation and what you can do, click here.

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