TUCSON, Ariz. - In her first all-around competition of the season, Denver senior all-American Jenny Ebdon (Marietta, Ga. / Walton HS) scored a solid 39.175 over four events to help the Pioneers' 24th-ranked gymnastics team shatter its season-high score Friday night at the McKale Center in Tucson, Ariz. Denver (5-3) scored 194.825 to top its previous best by more than half a point and handily defeat No. 20 Oregon State. Host Arizona won the three-team meet with a score of 195.175.

The Pioneers drew the traditionally tough assignment of leading off the meet on the balance beam, and came through with some solid individual scores. Junior Melanie Schiff (Highland Park, N.J. / Highland Park HS) had a season-best 9.85 to tie for second, and Ebdon added a 9.775.

Denver rebounded to post its ninth-best floor exercise rotation in school history, and second-best this season at 49.0. Freshman Emily Bankhead (Houston, Texas / Stratford HS) posted a career-high 9.825 in Denver's third spot of the order, and Ebdon ended the team's rotation with a sparkling 9.9 routine to finish second.

Three career-highs on the vault put the Pioneers just 0.175 points behind the host Wildcats heading into the final rotation. Sophomore Jamie Martini (Houston, Texas / Jersey Village HS) led off Denver's vaulters with a career-high 9.6; she was followed two vaults later by a 9.8 from Bankhead to finish third and post her best mark as a collegian, and freshmen Ashley Shible (Palm Harbor, Fla. / East Lake HS) -- ranked 13th in the country on the apparatus -- capped off a solid rotation with a career-high 9.925 to finish second; it also ended her string of three straight vault titles. The team's total of 48.75 was Denver's second-best of the season and tied the 14th-best total in school history.

A solid bars rotation that saw the Pioneers go six-for-six put Denver over the top on its team score. Ebdon's 9.75 gave her a solid start to her all-around season, and Schiff's 9.85 gave her third place and a total of 39.05 in the all-around to just miss her career high by the smallest of margins (0.025). Sophomore Michelle Kasuga (Defiance, Ohio) completed the stellar bars set for Denver with a closing 9.825.

"I am so proud of the team. It was a close meet tonight, and for us to go 6-for-6 on bars with the struggles we've been having and the pressure we had to keep things close shows the kind of composure and competitiveness this team has," said head coach Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart. "I'm thrilled with Jenny Ebdon's performance with this being her first bars routine of the season. We still have areas to improve upon; our beam is still rocky, but we have competitors and we'll improve."

The Pioneers return home for the next two weekends, and start their homestand this next Saturday, Feb. 10, when Denver hosts Utah State in a dual meet at Hamilton Gymnasium. 1996 Olympic Gold Medalist Amanda Borden will be in attendance as the University's special guest.

No. 24 DENVER GYMNASTICS - at Tucson, Ariz. (McKale Center)

FINAL TEAM SCORES: 1. Arizona, 195.175; 2. No. 24 DENVER, 194.825; 3. No. 20 Oregon State, 194.575.

TOP INDIVIDUALS:
ALL-AROUND: 1. Randi Liljenquist (AZ), 39.375; 2. Jenny Ebdon (DEN), 39.175; 3. Melanie Schiff (DEN), 39.05; 4. Ashley Shible (DEN), 38.775; 5. Emily Bankhead (DEN), 38.75. VAULT: 1. Katrina Severin (OSU), 9.975; 2. Shible (DEN), 9.925; 3. (tie), Emily Bankhead (DEN) and Lara Degenhardt (OSU), 9.8; 5. Liljenquist (AZ), 9.8. UNEVEN BARS: 1. (tie), Elizabeth Jillson and Stepanie Bychowski (OSU), 9.95; 3. (tie), Kara Fry (AZ), Degenhardt (OSU), and Schiff (DEN), 9.85. BALANCE BEAM: 1. Annie Campbell (OSU), 9.9; 2. (tie), Schiff (DEN) and Liljenquist (AZ), 9.85. FLOOR EXERCISE: 1. Liljenquist (AZ), 9.95; 2. Ebdon (DEN), 9.9.