[15] Denver |  | [11]Arkansas
Iowa State |
Mar. 14, 2018
DENVER -- The No. 15-ranked University of Denver women's gymnastics team will compete in its final regular season meet of the season on Friday, March 16, with a trip to No. 11 Arkansas along with Iowa State. The meet is set for a 6 p.m. MT start.
REGULAR SEASON WRAP-UP
Denver finishes its regular season with its second consecutive road meet against No. 11 Arkansas. The two teams met last Friday in a quad meet at No. 1 Oklahoma.
Next up for the Pioneers will be the 2018 Big 12 Championships hosted by Iowa State on Saturday, March 24, to kick off DU's postseason.
BIG 12 HONORS
Freshman Lynnzee Brown (Kansas City, Mo.) was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Monday following her performance at Oklahoma last weekend. Brown had consistent routines on both bars and beam including a 9.850 on bars to help DU tie the second-highest score in program history (49.400). It is Brown's second award of the season.
The conference also announced the Academic All-Big 12 Team on Tuesday, which features four Pioneers. Senior Nikole Addison (Fort Myers, Fla.), sophomore Maddie Karr (Stillwater, Minn.), junior Claire Kern (Charlotte, N.C.) and senior Leah Lomonte (Katy, Texas) all earned first-team nods with minimum GPAs of 3.20 and participation in at least 20 percent of DU's meets this season.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
Vault: Karr led the Pioneers on vault last week with a 9.900 to tie for third overall in the top-15 quad meet at Oklahoma. Addison and Schou rounded out DU's top three scores on the night. Four DU vaulters have an RQS of at least 9.800: Karr, Addison, junior Diana Chesnok (Charlotte, N.C.) and freshman Mia Sundstrom (Boulder, Colo.).
Bars: Denver's bars performance last week was its strongest of the season, earning a 49.400 to tie the second-highest score in school history. All six scores were above 9.800 including 9.900s from Karr and Sundstrom. Sundstrom's routine tied a career high, as did Kern's 9.875. Karr, freshman Emily Glynn (Longmont, Colo.) and Brown hold the team's top three RQSs on bars, all above 9.850.
Beam: Karr led the beam line-up on Friday with a 9.850 while Addison, Brown and junior Kaitlyn Schou (Orlando, Fla.) tied for DU's next-highest score with 9.800s. Three Pioneers have an RQS above 9.850: Karr, Schou and Sundstrom. Schou has been nationally-ranked on the event every week this season, and Karr has done so in every week but one. Both are tied for No. 14 nationally this week.
Floor: DU's floor score of 49.200 at Oklahoma matched the team's highest road score on the event this year. Karr's 9.900 and Schou's 9.875 topped Denver's line-up while Glynn set a new personal best with a 9.850. On the season, it is Karr, Addison and Schou with the top RQSs on the event.
EYE ON THE RANKINGS
Denver improved its RQS by more than a tenth and a half last week to 196.525--now the fourth-highest in program history--to maintain its No. 15 ranking.
The Pioneers are also ranked inside the top 15 on all four events for the first time this season, beginning with No. 11 on vault. DU drastically improved its bars ranking, jumping up to a tie for No. 11 after being outside the top 25 last week. Denver is also ranked No. 14 on both beam and floor.
Karr is once again ranked on all four events and in the all-around this week, moving up to a tie for No. 6 in the all-around. She also returned to the top 10 on vault, holding the No. 7 spot this week. The sophomore is also tied for No. 12 on floor, tied for No. 14 on beam and tied for No. 20 on bars.
Schou, too, is ranked on beam again this week, tying for No. 14.
LAST TIME OUT
Denver traveled to No. 1 Oklahoma along with then-ranked No. 10 Arkansas and No. 12 Arizona State last Friday where DU finished second overall, tallying its second-best road score of the season (196.525). The Pioneers finished the meet with their strongest event of the night, tying the second-highest bars score in program history (49.400). DU's 49.200 on floor also matches a season high on the road.
Karr had DU's top marks on all four events--including three scores of 9.900--and finished second in the all-around. Three Pioneers set or tied career highs: Kern and Sundstrom on bars, and Glynn on floor.
ABOUT ARKANSAS
The Razorbacks tied for third with Arizona State, each earning a 195.700 at Friday's quad meet with Denver at Oklahoma. Jessica Yamzon was the team's top gymnast in the all-around. Braie Speed is tied for No. 18 nationally on vault, Sophia Carter is tied for No. 17 on beam, and Sarah Shaffer is tied for No. 21 on floor.
ABOUT IOWA STATE
The Cyclones topped Missouri and Iowa at home on March 9, earning a season-high 196.700. Meaghan Sievers won the all-around title while teammate Haylee Young won on vault and floor. Young is just outside the top 25 nationally in the all-around, as is Sievers on vault.
THE MATCH-UP
This will be the second meet in as many weeks between Denver and Arkansas after both teams competed at Oklahoma last Friday where DU topped Arkansas 196.525-195.700. Denver is now 6-2 all-time against Arkansas. The Pioneers last traveled to Fayetteville, Ark., for last year's NCAA Regionals where DU earned a 197.050 to book a trip to the 2017 NCAA National Championships.
Denver holds a 13-7 all-time record against Iowa State. They last met at the 2017 Big 12 Championships in Frisco, Texas, in 2017 where DU outscored ISU 196.475-195.500. The two teams will meet again next week when Iowa State hosts the 2018 Big 12 Championships on Saturday, March 24.
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