DENVER - The 21st-ranked University of Denver gymnastics program begins a two-week road trip with its first of three away meets tomorrow (Saturday, Feb. 24) for the Masters Classic in Lincoln, Neb. The four-team meet will feature the Pioneers, No. 23 North Carolina State, No. 12 LSU and the host Huskers of Nebraska, ranked sixth.
NU holds a 10-5 series record against the Pioneers, last defeating Denver by 0.8 points at the 1998 Star Market Challenge in Denver. The last time the Pioneers and Wolfpack hooked up in Raleigh last season, both school broke their school records as N.C. State went a whopping 197.725 and Denver scored 196.425 to finish 1-2 in a seven-team meet and even their series at one win apiece. LSU defeated Denver last month in Baton Rouge by just over a point to stretch its winning streak to 4-0.
Three different Pioneers are ranked among the top 50 in the country on various events. Freshman Ashley Shible (Palm Harbor, Fla. / East Lake HS), who had arguably the best individual evening by a Denver gymnast ever last weekend, is ranked fourth in the nation on vault with a 9.892 average. She is also No. 32 on the floor exercise (9.867) and No. 36 in the all-around (39.033). Junior Melanie Schiff (Highland Park, N.J. / Highland Park HS) is Denver's best all-arounder by average, as her 39.133 has her ranked No. 25 in the country. She is also 39th on the uneven bars (9.835). Finally, sophomore Michelle Kasuga (Defiance, Ohio / Defiance HS) is right behind Schiff on bars at No. 44 (9.825).
A week after breaking Jenny Ebdon's school record in the all-around on Feb. 10, Shible set three personal bests and won four out of the five individual titles last Friday (Feb. 16) to pull the feat again. She started the evening with a 9.9 on vault to win that event for the fifth time in six tries this season; she then won the uneven bars with a career-high 9.925, finished third on the balance beam (9.8) and then capped her record evening by winning the floor exercise with a career-high 9.95. Shible has won nine event and three all-around titles to date this season.
