March 2, 2002

Complete Results

COLUMBIA, Mo. - The 14th-ranked University of Denver gymnastics team posted a team score of 195.675 to take first place at the eighth annual Corvette Cup hosted by the University of Missouri Saturday night, Denver's sixth-straight win. The Pioneers finished above No. 19 Missouri (194.775), Illinois State (193.000), and Utah State (191.700). With three wins on Saturday, Denver's record improves to 8-2 on the season and the Pioneers have not lost since a setback at Stanford on Feb. 3.

Denver began the night on the floor exercise for the first time this season as the Pioneers scored a 49.125 on the event, the Pioneers' third-best floor score of the season. Denver was led by junior Michelle Kasuga (Defiance, Ohio) and sophomore Emily Bankhead (Houston, Texas), who both paced the Pioneers and tied for top honors in the meet with scores of 9.875. Freshman Karyssa Ancellotti (Sugarland, Texas) scored a 9.825 and classmate Jessica Kennedy (West Chester, Pa.) came through with a 9.8 as Denver's lowest counting score was a 9.75. The Pioneers led after the rotation with a 49.125.

The second rotation saw the Pioneers on the vault, where Denver's 48.675 placed them in the lead after the first two rotations with a total of 97.800. Leading the way for Denver on the vault was senior Jill Gunter (Lincoln, Calif.) and sophomore Ashley Shible (Palm Harbor, Fla.) who both scored a 9.775 to tie for the top spot in the meet. Ancellotti came in with a 9.75 to finish fifth and Kennedy a 9.725 for the Pioneers, who held a slim 97.800 - 97.325 lead over host Missouri after two rotations.

The uneven bars were next for Denver, who scored just a 48.500 on the event as the Pioneers' lead shrunk even further heading to the final rotation. Denver's top score on the bars was Bankhead's 9.775 in the second position, as the Pioneers counted all 9.7s and below for the event. Kennedy and Kasuga both tallied scores of 9.70 and junior Jacquelin Young (Colorado Springs, Colo.) scored a 9.675 for Denver, who saw their lead shrink to just .325 (146.375 - 146.050) heading to the fourth and final rotation.

The final event for Denver was the balance beam, who needed a good team score to hold on for the win and got a 49.300-a new school-record-to win the Corvette Cup. Denver began with a 9.825 from Bankhead, her second highest beam routine of the season, in a routine that seemed to energize the Pioneers. Following her was junior Jamie Martini (Houston, Texas), who tied her second-best score of the season with a 9.80 and freshman Courtney Young (Colorado Springs, Colo.) followed with a 9.775. Next for the Pioneers was Ancellotti, who came through with a season-best score of 9.85 and was followed one gymnast later by a career-best and meet-winning score of 9.925 from Kasuga as the Pioneers clinched the title.

Bankhead captured the all-around title for her third all-around title this season with a four-event total of 39.125.

"Our team did a fantastic job on balance beam tonight," head coach Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart said. "I thought we had a difficult rotation tonight, starting on floor and sometimes it takes a little bit to get you going in that event. And then to finish on beam with Missouri just three-tenths of possibly beating us, we hung in there and matched Missouri's floor score with our beam score. These girls have a lot of character, they're getting stronger as the year goes on and with this 195.675 we get to drop our 193 at Penn State which should improve our RQS (Regional Qualifying Score) as we head to Michigan next week."

The Pioneers travel to No. 3 Michigan next Saturday at 2 p.m.