DENVER - The No. 11 University of Denver gymnastics squad's upperclassmen may remember their last trip to Norman, Okla., in 2011 for a quad meet, but for Emily Barrett (Norman, Okla.), Friday's away meet at No. 3 Oklahoma will be a return home for the Pioneer freshman.
While the crowd inside Oklahoma's Lloyd Noble Center will be Sooner friendly tonight, Barrett and the Pioneers will have a following at Denver's road opener.
"I'm really excited to be back in Norman," Barrett said. "It's going to be a lot of fun to see my family and friends again. A lot of my friends have told me they are coming to the meet tonight."
With the way meets are scheduled now, coaches can't always get players back to their hometowns for a meet, but DU head coach Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart is excited to give one of her seven freshmen a chance to compete in her hometown again.
"With how far we schedule out now, it is more difficult to plan to return to someone's hometown, but it's nice for Emily to be able to go home and compete in-front of her family and her club," Kutcher-Rinehart said.
Coming off an early-season 196.600 at Hamilton Gymnasium a week ago, the Pioneers are looking to take the momentum and confidence from that meet into Norman. With Regional Qualifying Score talk not starting for another six weeks, Friday is one of four chances for the Pioneers to get one of their three RQS road scores before the first rankings are released on February 25.
Barrett has competed on vault twice, and made her beam debut last week against Air Force. Her 9.825 on vault last Saturday not only helped Denver to a 49.025 on the event, but Kutcher-Rinehart said Barrett's vault was bigger than that.
"Emily did a great job starting the team out on vault last week," Kutcher-Rinehart said. "Anytime you can get the first person in a competition to stick their landing, it creates that momentum for the team for the rest of the meet. She's been working really hard in practice, trying to do whatever she can to get in the lineup. Any coach will tell you, they want athletes on their team that continue to push to get better each and every day, and Emily has that mentality."
Friday will not only be a return home for Barrett, but the DU rookie will compete against former club teammate and friend Hayden Ward.
"Hayden and I were best friends and club teammates when I was in seventh grade," Barrett said. "We've stayed in contact, but we haven't been able to see each other recently, so I'm excited not only to see her."
Denver and Oklahoma last met at the 2012 NCAA Champaign Regional, as the Sooners booked a spot to the sport's final weekend with a 197.025 to take first at the competition.
Tonight's meet is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. MT, and will air live on FOX College Sports Pacific (DirecTV Ch: 626/Comcast Ch: 415).
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