March 22, 2003

Complete Results

DENVER - The 18th-ranked University of Denver gymnastics team posted a season-high 49.375 on vault and sent out its three seniors with a victory in a triangular meet Saturday night, Denver's final regular meet of the regular season. The meet was moved to Champions Gymnastics Academy and closed to the public after structural damage to a wall at the Daniel L. Ritchie Center was discovered early Saturday morning. The Pioneers (15-7) won the meet with a score of 195.325, beating West Virginia (194.400) and No. 19 Arizona (193.600).

Denver began the night on vault, where the Pioneers posted a season-high 49.375 on the event and counted no scores below a 9.8. Senior Michelle Kasuga (Defiance, Ohio) won her second vault title of the season with a career-high 9.975, just edging teammate Ashley Shible (Palm Harbor, Fla.), who finished second with a 9.95. Kasuga's 9.975 is Denver's second-best score on vault this season. Next for Denver was junior Emily Bankhead (Houston, Texas) and sophomore Karyssa Ancellotti (Sugar Land, Texas), who tied for seventh at 9.825. Freshman Cassidy Willingham (Mountain View, Calif.) was next for the Pioneers with a career-high 9.80.

Uneven bars were Denver's second event, and the Pioneers emerged with a 48.750. Sophomore Jessica Kennedy (West Chester, Pa.) was the bright spot for Denver, as she won the first uneven bars title of her career as she tied West Virginia's Amanda Halovanic with a career-high 9.85. Bankhead and Kasuga were next for the Pioneers in a tie for third at 9.825 and junior Rose Kiernan (Aspen, Colo.) finished sixth with a 9.8.

The third rotation had the Pioneers on balance beam, where Denver scored a 48.500 and took three of the top five spots individually. Bankhead won the first balance beam title of her career as she tied with Arizona's Monica Bisordi at 9.875, tying her second-best score of the season. Kasuga finished fourth at 9.80 and senior Jamie Martini (Houston, Texas) finished tied for fifth at 9.775.

Floor exercise was the final event for Denver, and the Pioneers posted a score of 48.700 and captured the top four spots to win the meet. Bankhead posted her fourth 9.95 of the season and won her ninth floor exercise title this season, tops on the team in any event. She just edged Kasuga, who finished second with a 9.9. Shible finished third with a 9.875 and Ancellotti was fourth with a 9.85.

Kasuga won the all-around with a 39.500, just edging Bankhead's 39.475, her second-best score of the season. Shible finished fifth at 38.950.

It was the last home meet for Denver's three seniors, Kasuga, Martini, and Jacquelin Young (Colorado Springs, Colo.), who end their Denver careers as three of the program's most successful gymnasts.

Denver will next be in action when they compete in the NCAA Regionals on April 12. Denver's destination for Regionals will be determined on April 1.