April 12, 2003

Complete Results

SALT LAKE CITY - Top-seeded and sixth-ranked Stanford and No. 8 Utah held off No. 21 Denver in the North Central Region Championships at the University of Utah Saturday night, advancing to NCAA Nationals in two weeks. The fifth-seeded Pioneers finished third with a 195.350, just behind Utah (196.975) and Stanford (196.625). California (195.025) finished fourth followed by Minnesota (193.125) and Brigham Young (192.400). A bright spot for Denver was senior Michelle Kasuga (Defiance, Ohio), who became Denver's seventh gymnast to qualify for NCAA Nationals with a third-place finish in the all-around. Kasuga moves on as finishing as one of the top two all-arounders not on an advancing team.

After sitting out the first rotation on a bye, Denver finally began its competition on the uneven bars, where the Pioneers turned in a team score of 48.350. After an injury to junior Rose Kiernan (Aspen, Colo.) in the pre-meet warm-ups, the Pioneers were forced to change their lineup and junior Lindsay Fitzgerald (Spring, Texas) led off for Denver in her first action since Feb. 8, scoring a 9.50. Sophomore Jessica Kennedy (West Chester, Pa.) was next for the Pioneers with another 9.50, and junior Emily Bankhead (Houston, Texas), Ashley Shible (Palm Harbor, Fla.) and Jacquelin Young (Colorado Springs, Colo.) each scored a 9.675. Senior Michelle Kasuga (Defiance, Ohio) scored a 9.825 to finish with Denver's high score and finished tied for seventh in the meet.

Denver's second event was the balance beam, where the Pioneers posted a score of 48.825, their fourth-best score of the season on the event and the best score since a 49.225 on Feb. 24. Senior Jamie Martini (Houston, Texas) started off for Denver with a 9.625 and sophomore Karyssa Ancellotti (Sugar Land, Texas) was next with a 9.75. Shible finished third for the Pioneers with a 9.775 and Bankhead had Denver's second-highest score with a 9.825. Kasuga was once again Denver's best performer as she finished with a team-best 9.85 that put her in a tie for 10th place. After the teams had all finished two events, the Pioneers found themselves in fourth place with a two-event total of 97.175.

Following their second bye in the fourth rotation, the Pioneers went to the floor exercise for the fifth rotation and scored a meet-high 49.275, its fifth-best score of the season. Kennedy started the Pioneers off with a 9.8 and Ancellotti followed her with a 9.9, tying her for Denver's best score on the event. Shible was third for the Pioneers with a 9.85 followed by Kasuga's 9.825, and Bankhead wrapped up Denver's scoring with a 9.9, the 10th time this season she's led Denver on floor exercise. Both Ancellotti and Bankhead finished tied for second in the meet, just behind Melissa Vituj of Utah, who won the floor exercise title with a 9.925.

The final event of the night for Denver was vault, where the Pioneers scored a 48.900. Both Kasuga and Shible tied for Denver's best score with a 9.825, putting them in a tie for ninth place. Ancellotti was next for the Pioneers with a 9.8 and Bankhead finished fourth at 9.775.

Kasuga had Denver's top score on three of the four events and finished third overall in the all-around, becoming the seventh gymnast in Denver history to advance to NCAA Nationals. She will compete in the all-around April 24-26 at the University of Nebraska.

"I'm always disappointed when we don't advance to Nationals but overall I'm pleased with our performance and I have no regrets," head coach Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart said. "We weren't a better team than either Stanford or Utah tonight; but we will be. We didn't count a fall on any event and the athletes gave it 110 percent. I think this meet can be a turning point for our program, the day we can look back and say that we became a team on the same level with Stanford and Utah. We have great returners coming back and five excellent freshmen coming in and we're excited for what the future holds for Denver gymnastics."

Kasuga will be Denver's lone competitor April 24-26 at NCAA Nationals in Lincoln, Neb. The Pioneers lose just three seniors from this season's team and have five freshmen coming to the program in the fall.