DENVER - The No. 17 University of Denver women's gymnastics team will celebrate two of its seniors during the team's final regular season home meet of the year on Saturday at 6 p.m. in Magness Arena. Following the end of the meet against Ohio State and Air Force, the Pioneers will recognize Alix Angelopulo (Burlingame, Calif.) and Ellese Sakai-Hart (Aptos, Calif.).

About Denver
Head coach Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart is in her 17th season with the Pioneers and is seeking another team berth to the NCAA National Championships in Dallas/Fort Worth on April 17-19. Kutcher-Rinehart has led the squad to 16 consecutive NCAA Regionals appearances and is the program's all-time winningest coach.

After winning the inaugural Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference championship in 2014, the team will look to defend its title when it hosts the 2015 Championships in Magness Arena on March 21.

Last Time Out
DU finished February on the road for an all-MRGC meet at No. 21 Southern Utah with Utah State on Friday, February 27, tallying a 196.100 overall team total to finish second on the night. The vault squad tied the second-highest score in program history (49.425), led by a career high and event-winning 9.950 from Nina McGee (Cincinnati, Ohio). Three other Pioneers recorded or tied personal bests during the vault rotation.

In her first collegiate all-around appearance and her first at any level since her sophomore year of high school, sophomore Julia Ross (Henderson, Nev.) won the all-around title with a 39.375 to edge out teammate McGee, who finished in second with a 39.325. Ross also tied for second on vault and beam.

Senior Night
Two Pioneer seniors will be recognized following Saturday's meet: Alix Angelopulo and Ellese Sakai-Hart. In their DU careers, these two seniors have won two conference championships and helped the team finish inside the top 25 each of their first three seasons-and are on track to continue that trend this year.

Angelopulo, who joined the team as a walk-on, competed as a beam specialist, tallying a career-high 9.750 on February 4, 2012, while also competing in four exhibition routines in her four years.

Sakai-Hart competed in 48 meets in her career, setting personal bests of 9.875 on vault, 9.800 on bars, 9.850 on beam and 9.900 on floor. She also competed three times in the all-around.

Nina McGee will return in 2016 for a fifth year of eligibility, granted by the NCAA last fall.

Ticket Offer
Due to weather, fans with unused tickets from the February 21 meet against BYU and Iowa may show one ticket at the box office and receive a buy one, get one free offer for Saturday's meet. Fans must bring their February 21 tickets to the Ritchie Center Box Office during normal business hours Thursday or Friday between 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., or on Saturday before the meet.

MRGC Honors
Denver gymnasts earned two weekly MRGC honors for the week of March 1, beginning with Gymnast of the Week recognition for Ross. The DU sophomore set and tied career highs on vault (9.925), beam (9.800) and floor (9.825) on her way to her first career all-around title win. Her 39.375 final score was the highest of any eligible all-around gymnast in the conference last week.

Sophomore Rachel Fielitz's (Walden, N.Y.) 9.925 career-tying vault tied for the highest individual event score for an eligible MRGC gymnast. She shared the honors with Southern Utah's Brittney Jensen and Boise State's Ann Stockwell.

The honors were the first for each Ross and Fielitz in their careers, giving DU a total of seven weekly awards in 2015. McGee won Gymnast of the Week for the first three weeks of the season (January 12, January 19 and January 26). Sophomore Leah Lomonte (Katy, Texas) and junior Maggie Laughlin (Scottsdale, Ariz.) each won Specialist of the Week for the weeks of February 8 and February 22, respectively.

Eyes on the Polls
DU is No. 17 in the GymInfo poll for the week of March 2 with an RQS of 195.935, up one spot from last week. The Pioneers are also ranked No. 8 in the nation on floor (49.290) and No. 15 on vault (49.195).

McGee continues to be ranked nationally, coming in a three-way tie for No. 2 in the nation on floor (9.935) and No. 20 in the all-around (39.235). Fielitz is just outside the top 25 on vault, tied for No. 26 (9.885).

In the MRGC, Denver is again second overall, first on floor and second on vault. McGee leads the conference on floor individually, is second in the all-around and tied for third on vault. Fielitz is second on vault, while Laughlin is third on floor.

Neither Ohio State or Air Force are ranked inside the top 25 overall, but the Buckeyes are No. 18 on floor and No. 24 on beam.

About Ohio State
The Buckeyes last competed on Saturday, February 28, recording a 195.650 - 192.475 victory over Southeast Missouri at home. Freshman Stefanie Merkle won the all-around title with a personal-best 39.325, and also won the vault, bars and floor titles.

In the Big Ten conference, Ohio State is 2-3-0, including its last conference meet on February 14 against Penn State, falling 195.200 - 196.275 to the Nittany Lions.

About Air Force
AFA is coming off a narrow 193.125 - 193.050 win over MPSF conference opponent Seattle Pacific on the road. Senior Jessica Wallander tied for the vault and bars titles. Senior Alexandra Stych and sophomore Kara Witgen tied for the floor title.

Air Force and Seattle Pacific met earlier in the year for another conference battle on January 24 with AFA coming up short 192.275 - 192.650 in Colorado Springs.

The Match Up
Denver holds a 94-10-0 combined record against Ohio State and Air Force. OSU holds the slight edge head-to-head over DU 5-6-0. The teams' last meeting was February 18, 2012, in Columbus, Ohio, where the Buckeyes won 197.625 - 195.450. Their last time competing in Denver was February 4, 2011, where the Pioneers won 196.375 - 195.575.

The Pioneers hold an 89-4-0 overall record over the Falcons, last meeting on February 25, 2014, in Denver where DU won 195.800 - 192.400. The teams will meet again two days after Saturday's meet on Monday, March 9, in Colorado Springs, Colo.

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