March 4, 2006

Complete Results

DENVER - Junior Heather Huffaker (DeSoto, Texas) won the vault and balance beam titles and freshman Jessica Lopez (Caracas, Venezuela) and sophomore Sasha Sullivan (Glen Allen, Va.) shared the floor exercise title but it wasn't enough as the 18th-ranked University of Denver gymnastics team lost its first meet since Jan. 14 to No. 11 Michigan Saturday night, 196.050 - 195.250. The loss snaps a DU school-record seven-meet winning streak and drops the Pioneers to 13-4 on the season.

Huffaker notched her fourth vault title of the season with a 9.875 and tied her season-high with a 9.875 for her first balance beam title of the season. She scored a 39.250 in the all-around and finished second to Michigan's Tatjana Thuener-Rego (39.350).

The Pioneers opened the meet with a 48.950 on vault, led by Huffaker's 9.875 that was tied with Michigan's Katie Lieberman for first place. Right behind her in third place was sophomore Courtney Butler (Naperville, Ill.), who posted a season-high with a 9.85. Freshman Liz Meals (Gibsonia, Pa.) tied her career-best with a 9.775 and finished sixth.

On uneven bars, the Pioneers scored a 48.650 and were led by Butler, who finished second in the meet with a 9.8. Freshman Nikki Brown (Louisville, Ky.) was next for the Pioneers in fourth place with a 9.775 and junior Katie Andrews (Crawfordsville, Ind.) was sixth with a 9.725. Michigan's Lauren Mirkovich won the event with a 9.85.

The Pioneers were stellar on floor exercise Saturday, posting a season-high team score of 49.225 and finishing with four scores of 9.825 or better. Lopez and Sullivan tied for top honors at 9.9 and junior Casey Dobyns (Woodinville, Wash.) was fourth with a 9.85. Right behind her in a tie for sixth place was Huffaker, who posted a 9.825.

The Pioneers are next in action on Friday, March 10 when they travel to take on No. 14 Arizona at 7:30 p.m.