TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Junior all-arounder Moriah Martin (Lake Mary, Fla.) stretched Denver’s streak of sending at least an individual to the NCAA Semifinals to 14-straight seasons, as she led the No. 15 University of Denver gymnastics squad to a fourth-place finish on Saturday at the Tuscaloosa Regional inside the Coleman Coliseum. Martin scored a 39.150 in the all-around to finish fourth, and lead Denver to a 195.275. No. 3 Alabama and No. 9 Utah advanced to Nationals with a 197.400 and a 196.400, respectively. Iowa State finished third with a 195.400, while BYU posted a 194.475 and Kent State inked a 193.500 to round out the field.

“We’re really excited for Moriah, and we know she’ll represent the University of Denver very well on the national stage in two weeks,” head coach Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart said. “Moriah had a good night, and most importantly, she went four-for-four, and I know she’ll get back into the gym this week, clean a few things up and get ready for Nationals.”

Denver opened with a 49.175 on floor, led by junior Kaitlin Moorhead’s (Palo Alto, Calif.) 9.900 in the fifth spot of the rotation. Moorhead finished third overall at the Regionals. Junior Nina McGee (Cincinnati, Ohio) followed that up with a 9.875 in the anchor spot. Sophomore Ellese Sakai-Hart (Aptos, Calif.) inked a 9.850 to start a string of four-consecutive routines of over 9.825 for the Pioneers. Junior Jorie Hall (Denver, Colo.) followed up Sakai-Hart’s performance with a 9.825. DU and Utah were tied for second after the meet’s second rotation, all square at 49.175. Alabama turned in a 49.350 on vault to take the early lead.

For the 10th time this season, Martin led the Pioneers on vault, recording a 9.875 for her performance. What’s turned into a great vault partnership this season continued on Saturday night, as Moorhead preceded Martin’s vault with a 9.825 of her own. Senior Simona Castro (Santiago, Chile) opened the rotation with a 9.800, her fourth 9.800 or better on vault in the last five meets of her career.  Denver combined for a 48.875 on vault, and took a 0.225 lead over Utah for second at the midway point.

Denver tallied a 48.950 in its third rotation of the evening, led by McGee’s 9.850 on bars. Castro opened the rotation with a 9.725, followed by a 9.750 from junior Melodie Pulgarin Linero (Barcelona, Spain) in her second meet back from injury. Junior bars specialist Emily Warfield (Lafayette, Colo.) inked a 9.800, while Martin scored a 9.825 one rotation shy of her 10th all-around appearance of the season. Denver and Utah were tied up at 147.000 heading into the final rotation for the final Nationals spot.

Hall led the Pioneers in their fourth rotation, earning a 9.825 on beam. The Pioneer junior finished fourth at the meet on the apparatus. Martin added a 9.725 to round out her evening, and Sakai-Hart opened the rotation with a 9.700. As a team, Denver combined for a 48.275 on the apparatus to conclude its 2013 campaign. Utah closed out its evening with a 49.400 on vault.

“It was not our best night on beam,” Kutcher-Rinehart said. “It was tough knowing that we were tied going into the last rotation with Utah on vault, and the crowd noise from Alabama on floor. We didn’t do a great job of performing under that intensity tonight. We’re almost there, and I think tonight proved to our girls that we can run with anyone in the country. We just have to get the job done in the moment, something we didn’t do tonight.”

Alabama advances to its 31st-straight NCAA Championships, while Utah advances to its 32nd-straight, the two longest streaks in the sport’s history. Martin’s National rotation order and pairing will be released on Monday.

“I’m excited to get another chance to compete,” Martin said. “Tonight isn’t exactly how I wanted the season to be, because I didn’t compete the way I know I can. (Competing without the team there) just takes a little bit more focus because I’m going to be by myself. I just want to work on some details in the gym over the next two weeks, and then go have fun at Nationals.”

The Pioneers will lose two seniors, in Brianna Springer (Arvada, Colo.) and Castro as the team, outside of Martin, sets its sights on 2014.

“We will have a very experienced group coming back,” Kutcher-Rinehart said. “Our juniors will now be seniors next year, and will be very motivated and very passionate about not letting this happen again. I’m excited about the freshman class coming in, and excited about the future of this program. Like I said earlier, we are right there.”

Martin will compete at the NCAA Semifinals on Friday, April 19, in Los Angeles, Calif., at Pauley Pavilion.

-EXPERIENCE DENVER ATHLETICS - 

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