DENVER ââ'¬" For the 18th straight season, the University of Denver women's gymnastics team will compete at the NCAA Regionals, traveling to the Minneapolis Regional on Saturday at 3 p.m. MT. Denver enters as the region's No. 2 seed and is ranked No. 11 nationally. Joining the Pioneers will be No. 2 Florida, No. 16 Minnesota, No. 20 Missouri, Ohio State and BYU.

The top two teams at Saturday's meet will advance to the NCAA National Championships in Fort Worth, Texas, on April 15-16.

MEET #13: No. 11 Denver (19-5, 3-2 Big 12) at Minneapolis Regional

Date and Time: Saturday, April 2, at 3 p.m. MT
Location: Sports Pavilion/5,840 (Minneapolis, Minn.)
Video: Live stream
Stats: Meet Info: Denver meet notes Facebook: /DenverGymnastics | /DenverPioneers
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MEET OVERVIEW
DU holds a No. 2 seed at NCAA Regionals for the first time in program history. Ordered by seeding and with national rankings in parentheses, the Minneapolis Regional will feature:

(2) Florida ââ'¬" 197.795 RQS
(11) Denver ââ'¬" 196.725 RQS
(16) Minnesota ââ'¬" 196.495 RQS
(20) Missouri ââ'¬" 196.235 RQS
(28) Ohio State ââ'¬" 195.885 RQS
(31) BYU ââ'¬" 195.550 RQS

Denver will begin the meet on beam in the first rotation and will finish on bars in the final rotation.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR
Vault: Senior Nina McGee (Cincinnati, Ohio) leads the team in average scoring this season on vault. Freshman Diana Chesnok (Charlotte, N.C.) and junior Julia Ross (Henderson, Nev.) are next in line with near-identical averages for second-best. Senior Maggie Laughlin (Scottsdale, Ariz.) led the team in vault scoring in DU's last meet at the Big 12 Championships.

Bars: Three Pioneers set or tied their career highs on bars at the Big 12 Championships in helping the team to score the second highest bars total in program history. McGee and Chesnok set personal bests with a 9.950 and 9.900, respectively, while Ross matched her best with a 9.900.

Beam: With the exception of the first meet of the year, Ross leads DU in average scoring on beam this year, followed by McGee. Senior Emily Barrett (Norman, Okla.) tied for third at the Big 12 Championships on the event with a team-high 9.875.

Floor: In the team's last meet, all of DU's counted scores on floor were 9.800 or higher, anchored by McGee's meet-best 9.950. Three of Denver's highest floor scorers this year each added 9.850s: Laughlin and sophomores Nikole Addison (Fort Myers, Fla.) and Claire Hammen (Loveland, Colo.).

RECORD-BREAKING REGULAR SEASON
The Pioneers made their mark on the DU record books in 2016, starting by scoring the second highest team total in program history (197.525) on February 27 and the third-highest road score in program history (197.050) on March 6.

DU posted five top-10 event scores as well, including the second highest bars score (49.375) on March 19 and the second highest beam score (49.475) on February 27. Denver also tied the fourth highest bars score (49.325 on February 27) and floor score (49.575 on March 6).

Additionally, DU's final Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) of 196.725 is the second highest in program history.

McGee set new school records, beginning with her 39.775 all-around performance on February 27, which became the highest AA total in DU history. She also eclipsed the most career individual event titles-now at 94-to overtake previous record holder Jessica Lopez (82). Finally, her three perfect 10.0s in 2016 are the most in a single season by a DU gymnast.

NATIONAL RECOGNITION FOR MCGEE
Last week, McGee was named as a finalist for the prestigious AAI Award, presented to the best senior gymnast in the nation. Two of McGee's fellow finalists will also compete at the Minneapolis Regional: Bridget Sloan (Florida) and Lindsay Mable (Minnesota).

McGee also earned four regular season All-American honors this year, bringing her career total to eight. She was named a first-team All-American on floor and in the all-around, and a second-team All-American on vault and bars.

REGIONALS HISTORY
In 2015, DU qualified as the No. 3 seed to the Ames Regional, finishing third with a 195.950-the third highest Regionals score in team history. McGee tied for the bars title and tied for second in the all-around to qualify to the 2015 NCAA National Championships.

Denver has qualified to the NCAA National Championships as a team three times: 2001, 2007 and 2008. In every season since 2000, at least one Pioneer gymnast has qualified to NCAA Nationals.

This will be DU's second time competing in Minneapolis, Minn., for Regionals, last doing so in 2000 where Denver finished third overall.

THE MATCH-UPS
DU and Florida have not competed against each other since the 2011 NCAA Regionals hosted in Denver. The Gators finished second overall, topping DU 196.425-195.625. All-time, Florida holds the head-to-head advantage 9-0, including 5-0 at Regionals.

Denver split the head-to-head series against Minnesota in the 2016 regular season, winning at home on March 4 (196.825-196.175) but falling in a tight meet at Air Force on March 6 (197.050-197.225). The teams last met at NCAA Regionals in 2009 at Iowa with DU coming out on top 195.600-193.775.

Against Missouri, DU holds a 9-7 head-to-head lead, winning in their last meeting on March 3, 2012 (194.100-194.025). Denver and Missouri have only met once at NCAA Regionals, doing so in Denver in 2002 where DU topped Mizzou 196.000-195.000.

The Pioneers have a 6-5 all-time record against Ohio State, which includes a 196.925-194.775 win in Denver on March 7, 2015. The teams have never met at NCAA Regionals.

Head-to-head against BYU, DU leads 30-19. The team's last competed at the 2015 MRGC Championships in Denver with Denver topping BYU 196.075-194.225. The teams have competed against each other at nine NCAA Regionals where Denver holds a 7-2 record-including wins in seven straight Regionals. They last met at the 2014 Seattle Regional, and DU came out on top 195.625-194.650.

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