DENVER - Freshmen Ashley Shible (Palm Harbor, Fla. / East Lake HS) and Emily Bankhead (Houston, Texas / Stratford HS) finished first and second, respectively in the all-around competition and led four Pioneers to post career-high numbers as the Denver gymnastics team earned their highest score of the season in a dual meet with No. 5 Georgia at Hamilton Gymnasium on Friday night.

On a night when the Pioneers honored 26 years of gymnastics excellence by honoring the 1982 AIAW and the 1983 NCAA Division II National Championship teams, the Pioneers totaled a season-high 195.975 to post the fourth-best score in school history. The five-time NCAA Champion GymDogs won the meet with a 197.325, Georgia's second-highest road score of the season.

Denver (11-8) capped the night with a team score of 49.375 on the floor exercise to narrowly miss tying the school record for the best floor rotation. Shible finished second on the event with a career-high-tying 9.95, and sophomore Michelle Kasuga (Defiance, Ohio / Defiance HS) finished fourth with a career-high 9.925. Bankhead tied her career best with a 9.9, and senior Christina Parratt (Reno, Nev. / Reno HS) set a career high with a 9.85.

Shible scored 39.525 in the all-around to tie the second-best mark in school history - which she scored back on Feb. 10 to post what was then the school record. Bankhead scored a career-high 39.225 to place second.

Another freshman Lindsay Fitzgerald (Spring, Texas / Klein HS), had an outstanding meet, netting a career-high 9.85 on the uneven bars and a pair of 9.75s on beam and floor.

"I'm extremely happy with tonight's performance," said head coach Melissa-Kutcher Rinehart. "We hit on 23 of our 24 routines tonight, which is the first time that's happened all season. We knew we weren't going to beat Georgia, but that wasn't our goal. We just wanted to do the best we could, and we probably did exactly what this team can accomplish. The team showed a lot of character tonight to go through three meets in the span of eight days, during finals week, and compete the way they did. It shows we have the potential to become a great program. We don't want to be Georgia, but where they are is where we want to build. I think we can get there after seeing what this team did tonight."

The Pioneers conclude their regular season and hold their senior night next Thursday, March 22, when Denver hosts Air Force and Texas Woman's University at 7 p.m. in Hamilton Gymnasium.

DENVER GYMNASTICS - Burnsley Invitational at Denver, Colo. (Hamilton Gymnasium)

FINAL TEAM SCORES: No. 5 Georgia 197.325, DENVER 195.975
TOP INDIVIDUALS:
ALL-AROUND: 1. Ashley Shible (DEN), 39.525; 2. Emily Bankhead (DEN), 39.225; 3. Kristi Lichey (UGA), 39.200. VAULT: 1. Chelsa Byrd (UGA), 9.950; 2. Lichey (UGA), 9.925; 3. Cory Fritzinger (UGA), 9.900; 4. Shible (DEN), 9.875. UNEVEN BARS: 1. (tie), Byrd and Fritzinger (UGA), 9.925; 3. Shible (DEN) and Kathleen Shrieves (UGA), 9.900. BALANCE BEAM: 1. Marline Stephens (UGA), 9.950; 2. Talya Vexler (UGA), 9.875; 3. (tie), Melanie Schiff (DEN) and Cassie Bair (UGA), 9.850. FLOOR EXERCISE: 1. Stephens (UGA), 10.000; 2. (tie), Shible (DEN) and Fritzinger (UGA), 9.950.