March 14, 2002
DENVER - On the strength of a near record-setting team performance on the vault, the 17th-ranked University of Denver gymnastics team powered to a first place finish Thursday night in the first-ever gymnastics meet held in Magness Arena. Denver recorded a team score of 196.275 in taking top honors followed by No. 25 North Carolina State (195.075) and Air Force (192.450). With two wins, Denver improves to 11-3 on the season. N.C. State moves to 18-6 and Air Force drops to 8-7.
Denver began with its near record-setting performance on the vault, where the Pioneers set a season-high and the second-best team score in the program's history with a 49.250. Sophomore Ashley Shible (Palm Harbor, Fla.) tied her season best score in winning individual honors with a 9.95, her fifth vault title this season. She was followed by freshman Karyssa Ancellotti (Sugar Land, Texas), who tied her personal best with a 9.875 and freshman Jessica Kennedy (West Chester, Pa.), who set a new personal career high with a 9.825. Senior Jill Gunter (Lincoln, Calif.), in her last regular season home meet, scored a 9.8 to tie with sophomore Emily Bankhead (Houston, Texas) to account for Denver's total. Denver captured all five of the top spots and its score of 49.250 was just .15 off the school record of 49.400 the Pioneers scored at home against Air Force in March of 1999.
The second rotation had Denver on the uneven bars, where junior Michelle Kasuga (Defiance, Ohio) set a new career-high with a 9.95 in winning her first uneven bars title of the season. Denver's other senior, Melanie Schiff (Highland Park, N.J.), tied with Shible for second in the meet with a 9.85 as both finished tied with N.C. State's Kelli Brown for second place.
The balance beam was next for Denver, who posted a 48.925 to finish second behind N.C. State. The Pioneers were led by Schiff's season-high score of 9.90 that won her first place in the meet, her third beam title of the season. Sophomore Rose Kiernan (Aspen, Colo.) was a surprising second for Denver, turning in a 9.775
Floor exercise was the final event of the evening for Denver, who won the event with a 48.925 to win three of the four event titles. Kasuga and Schiff tied for second in the meet as both tallied scores of 9.85 to finish second behind Jennifer Dougherty of Air Force, who won the event title with a 9.875. Junior Jacquelin Young (Colorado Springs, Colo.) finished fifth on the floor with a season-high 9.80 for Denver's third-best score.
Shible captured the all-around title with a 39.325, her third all-around title this season. Brown of N.C. State finished second with a 38.950.
"I was very happy with our performance considering we have a meet on Sunday and we were trying to be careful with our athletes, because we don't normally have two meets in one week," head coach Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart said. "It was great to be in Magness Arena as well, it was a nice walk-through for the Regional meet on April 6. But this score will help our Regional Qualifying Score and is a definite improvement over last week."
The Pioneers are next in action on Sunday, March 17 when they travel down I-25 to take on Air Force at 3:30 p.m.
