University of Denver
Maryland
No. 24 Gymnastics Opens Home Season with Win Over Maryland
1/17/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
Jan. 17, 2004
DENVER - Freshman Heather Huffaker (DeSoto, Texas) captured the vault and all-around titles and three other Pioneers captured event titles as the 24th-ranked University of Denver gymnastics team opened its 2004 home season Saturday night with a 195.975 - 194.650 win over Maryland in front of 1,188 fans in Hamilton Gymnasium. The Pioneers won their first meet of the season and improved to 1-5 on the year while Maryland dropped to 0-3.
Denver started the meet off strong with a 49.200 on vault, as the Pioneers had each of the top four finishers. Huffaker earned the first event title of her career with a career-high 9.9, edging out senior Ashley Shible (Palm Harbor, Fla.) and freshman Casey Dobyns (Woodinville, Wash.), who tied for second at 9.85. Freshman Katie Andrews (Crawfordsville, Ind.) finished fourth with a career-best 9.825.
Denver's second event was the uneven bars, where Denver's seniors helped push the Pioneers to a 48.900 team score. Shible won her first event title of the season with a 9.9 and was followed by fellow senior Emily Bankhead (Houston, Texas), who tied for second with a season-high 9.85. Maryland's Mandy Pascual tied with Bankhead with a 9.85 and Denver's Stephanie Lorber (San Carlos, Calif.) finished alone in fourth with a career-high 9.8.
Balance beam was next for the Pioneers, where Bankhead set a new personal-best score with a 9.925 to take top honors. That broke her previous career-best score of 9.9 set at Arkansas last season and is the third balance beam title of her career. Maryland's Alex Gatch finished second with a 9.825 and was followed by Huffaker, who scored a career-high 9.775 to finish third.
The fourth and final event of the meet for the Pioneers was floor exercise, where Pioneers took three of the top four spots en route to a team score of 49.100. Sophomore transfer Meredith Fricke (Midlothian, Texas) captured the title with a 9.9, her first floor exercise title as a member of the Pioneers. Maryland's Rachel Martinez finished second with a 9.85 and was followed by a pair of 9.825s from Huffaker and Bankhead in third place.
Huffaker captured the all-around title with a 39.250 followed by Shible (39.075) and UM's Martinez (39.075).
Denver is next in action next Friday, Jan. 23 when it travels to take on West Virginia and Pittsburgh in a tri-meet beginning at 6 p.m.
