DENVER Junior All-American Jessica Lpez (Caracas, Venezuela) won all four individual events and the all-around and the 13th-ranked University of Denver gymnastics team posted a 195.125 189-250 win over Ball State in front of 1,133 fans in Hamilton Gymnasium Saturday night. DU posted season-high team scores on uneven bars and floor exercise and improved its record to 10-2 on the season.
Lpez was the star of the evening on Saturday, setting a career-high with a 39.575 all-around score that included event victories on vault (9.9), uneven bars (9.875), balance beam (9.85) and floor exercise (9.95). Her score of 39.575 tied Ashley Shible (2/16/01) for the seventh-best all-around score in school history.
DU opened the meet on vault and tied its season-best with a 49.125 that included three scores better than 9.8. Behind Lpez was sophomore Kelley Hennigan (The Woodlands, Texas), who posted a 9.85 to finish second overall. Next for DU and in third was senior Courtney Butler (Naperville, Ill.) with a 9.825 and juniors Liz Meals (Gibsonia, Pa.) and Lauren Garan (Cos Cob, Conn.) each tallied a 9.775 to finish tied for fourth.
On bars, the Pioneers had their finest performance of the season with a 49.075, the first time DU has scored over a 49.0 this season. Behind Lpez in second place with a 9.85 was junior Nikki Brown (Louisville, Ky.) and right behind her in third place was sophomore Ellen McCarthy (Aurora, Ontario), who posteda 9.825. Senior Paige Schuster (Loveland, Colo.) also turned in a fine performance, matching her career-high with a 9.775.
DU really struggled on balance beam Saturday night, as the Pioneers were forced to count three falls on the event and scored a season-low 47.750. Following Lpez’s meet-winning 9.850, Hennigan finished second with a 9.775 as Ball State took each of the next four places.
Denver rebounded nicely on floor exercise with a season-best performance. The Pioneers took each of the top five spots in posting a season-high team score of 49.175. Lopez’s 9.95 tied her career-best she set earlier this season and right behind her in second place was senior Sasha Sullivan (Glen Allen, Va.) with a 9.925, also a season-best. Freshman Dani Kirchhof (Norwood, N.J.) posted a career-high 9.8 to finish alone in third place and Meals and McCarthy rounded out DU’s scores with a pair of 9.75s.
DU is next in action next Saturday, Feb. 23 when the Pioneers travel to take on nationally-ranked Nebraska in Lincoln. The meet begins at 6 p.m. MST.
