April 9, 2005
Complete Results
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Oh so close. The 17th-ranked University of Denver gymnastics team was in perfect position to advance to its first trip to NCAA Nationals since the 2001 season entering the final rotation at the Southeast Region Championships. Needing just a 48.500 to advance, Denver's youth and inexperience in regional competitions caught up with the Pioneers as they posted a 47.375 and allowed No. 5 Georgia to make up a huge deficit and advance along with sixth-ranked Florida to the National Championships. Denver posted a team score of 194.075 to finish tied for third with North Carolina behind Florida (196.575) and Georgia (195.150) at the Southeast Region Championships Saturday night in front of 3,289 fans at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. West Virginia (193.675) finished fifth and North Carolina State (193.575) was sixth.
Sophomore Heather Huffaker (DeSoto, Texas) qualified for her second consecutive trip to NCAA Nationals as an individual all-around competitor as she finished fifth with a score of 39.150. Huffaker advanced by finishing as one of the top two all-arounders not on an advancing team.
Denver opened the meet on floor exercise, statistically its best event of the season. That fact showed for Denver, as it posted a 48.925 team score and posted three scores of 9.8 or better. Freshman Sasha Sullivan (Glen Allen, Va.) posted Denver's best score with a 9.85 to finish tied for sixth and Huffaker and sophomore Casey Dobyns (Woodinville, Wash.) posted scores of 9.8 to finish in a tie for 16th.
Denver's second event was the vault, where the Pioneers posted a team score of 48.850. Dobyns led the way in a four-way tie for second place with a 9.85 and finished just in front of teammate Stephanie Lorber (San Carlos, Calif.), who finished tied for eighth with a 9.80, her second-best score of the season.
Following their first bye of the night, the Pioneers headed to uneven bars. In easily their best performance of the season on the event, Denver posted a season-high 48.925. Freshman Courtney Butler (Naperville, Ill.) led the way with a 9.825 to finish tied for sixth and sophomore Katie Andrews (Crawfordsville, Ind.) and junior Cassidy Willingham (Mountain View, Calif.) finished tied for ninth with scores of 9.80.
The Pioneers entered their final event holding a 146.700 - 146.000 advantage over Georgia and needing to post just their season average to move on. But the balance beam proved to Denver's undoing, as the Pioneers were forced to count a pair of falls and posted a season-low score of 47.375, allowing Georgia to catch up after the GymDogs scored a 49.350.
Denver has just one graduating senior on its roster and will return 22 of Saturday's 24 routines.
