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DENVER - Senior All-American Jenny Ebdon (Marietta, Ga. / Walton HS) won two individual events and the Pioneers set a school record for highest team score to open a season as the 13th-ranked University of Denver gymnastics team finished in first place its season-opening quadrangular meet vs. No. 16 Washington, No. 23 Maryland and Cal on Saturday night in Hamilton Gymnasium.

The Pioneers (3-0) finished with a 194.175, which shatters the previous best for an opener (193.175) by a full point. Washington tallied a 192.900, Maryland was at 191.925 and Cal rounded out the field (191.650).

Ebdon, who won a staggering 31 titles in 52 routines last season, posted solid scores of 9.925 on both the balance beam and the floor exercise to take her first titles of the 2001 season. In addition, freshman Ashley Shible (Palm Harbor, Fla. / East Lake HS) debuted her signature namesake vault to an event-winning score of 9.875 to win her first collegiate title. The "Shible" was performed for the first time collegiately on Saturday night, and the throng of Pioneer faithful roared their approval when she stuck her landing.

Ebdon's floor routine was one of four that earned scores of 9.8 or better on the way to a team apparatus score of 49.225 the sixth-highest total in school history. Shible's vault paved the way for a strong team score of 48.775 and helped the Pioneers take four of the top six spots on vault.

"With some of the injuries we had tonight, I was very pleased with how well we did for our first meet of the season," said head coach Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart. "The crowd got involved from the start with Ashley's vault, and they were vocal all the way through the floor routines. It really energized our team, and I thought our underclassmen did a good job in their first meets."

Sophomore Michelle Kasuga (Defiance, Ohio / Defiance HS) performed well in all three of her events, capped by a pair of career-high 9.875s on the uneven bars and floor exercise to place second in both events. Shible also earned a 9.875 on floor to tie with Shible and Maryland's Jill Fisher.

The Pioneers hit the road for the first time this season next Saturday, Jan. 20 to face pre-season No. 15 Brigham Young and Air Force at the Rocky Mountain Open in Colorado Springs at 7 p.m.

DENVER GYMNASTICS
at Denver, Colo. (Hamilton Gymnasium)

FINAL TEAM SCORES:
1. No. 13 DENVER, 194.175; 2. No. 16 Washington, 192.900; 3. No. 23 Maryland, 191.925; 4. Cal, 191.650

TOP INDIVIDUALS:
ALL-AROUND:
1. Lanna Apisukh (WA), 39.050; 4. Emily Bankhead (DEN), 38.600; 5. Ashley Shible (DEN), 38.550.

VAULT:
1. Shible (DEN), 9.875; 2. Janet McKnight (Cal), 9.825; 3. Kit Johnson (MD), 9.775; 4. (tie), Bankhead (DEN), Jenny Ebdon (DEN) and Melanie Schiff (DEN), 9.750.

UNEVEN BARS:
1. Stacy Wong (WA), 9.925; 2. Michelle Kasuga (DEN), 9.875.

BALANCE BEAM:
1. Ebdon (DEN), 9.925; 2. Genine Ishino (Cal), 9.900; 3. (tie), Katreece Stone (Cal) and Lanna Apisukh (WA), 9.875.

FLOOR EXERCISE:
1. Ebdon (DEN), 9.925; 2. (tie), Kasuga (DEN), Shible (DEN) and Jill Fisher (MD), 9.875.