Feb. 23, 2002

Complete Results

DENVER - The 15th-ranked University of Denver women's gymnastics team set a season-high score for the second consecutive week in defeating Air Force Saturday night, 196.500 - 192.925 in front of 1,370 fans at Hamilton Gymnasium. Denver's score of 196.500 is the second-best score in school history and stands as their season-best. Denver won their fourth straight home meet and improved their season record to 5-2 on the season. Air Force falls to 5-3.

Denver began the night on the vault, where three Pioneers set a season-high score on the apparatus with a 49.125. Senior Jill Gunter (Lincoln, Calif.) began the run of three consecutive scores of 9.875 by tying her personal in the third position and was followed by freshman Karyssa Ancellotti (Sugarland, Texas), whose 9.875 also tied a personal best. Sophomore Ashley Shible (Palm Harbor, Fla.) wrapped up Denver's scoring with a 9.875 of her own as the Pioneers jumped out to a 49.125 - 47.425 lead after the first rotation.

The second rotation saw the Pioneers on the uneven bars, where senior Melanie Schiff (Highland Park, N.J.) set the pace for Denver by winning her fourth title of the season with a personal-best tying score of 9.95. The Pioneers took the top four positions on the bars and posted their second highest team mark of the season on the apparatus, and held a huge 98.275 - 95.800 lead following two rotations.

The balance beam was next for Denver, where the Pioneers nearly equaled the best mark in school history with a 49.225 score, just .025 off the school record of 49.250. Schiff tied for the win with Air Force's Bethany Stott, each scored a 9.90. Freshman Courtney Young (Colorado Springs) and sophomore Emily Bankhead (Houston) both tied their personal-best scores with a pair of 9.850s. Sophomore Rose Kiernan (Aspen, Colo.), in Denver's starting lineup for the first time this season, also equaled a personal-best with a 9.775.

The floor exercise was the final event for Denver, and the Pioneers didn't disappoint their faithful as four Denver gymnasts tied for top honors on the apparatus, all with a score of 9.850. Ancellotti set a new career-high with her 9.85 and tied with freshman Jessica Kennedy (West Chester, Pa.), Bankhead, and Kasuga for top honors.

"I feel really good about the team's performance, the second-best score in school history," head coach Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart said. "We had talked about doing what we know we can do, regardless of the team that we're competing against and to just keep improving on our own performances. We also had some substitutes in. We didn't use Ashley (Shible) on two events and used Rose (Kiernan) on the beam and Jacquelin (Young) on the vault. With all the substitutions, I was really happy with what we did. I think they're getting stronger and stronger and its coming at the perfect time as we enter the second half of our season."

The Pioneers are next in action next Saturday, Mar. 2 when they compete against No. 20 Missouri in the Corvette Cup in Columbia, Mo. at 6 p.m.