DENVER – The University of Denver gymnastics coaching staff won both of the 2019 Region 2 Coach of the Year awards, the Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association announced on Thursday.
 
Head coach Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart was named Coach of the Year for the third consecutive season. Associate head coach Linas Gaveika and assistant coach Jay Hogue earned Assistant Coaches of the Year nods for the second year in a row.
 
Kutcher-Rinehart, also the Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year, has helped lead Denver to one of its most successful seasons ever. The Pioneers attained a top-five national ranking for the first time in program history on their way to the team's fifth NCAA National Championships berth. Seven of the top nine scores in school history have been set during the 2019 season, including the top postseason mark of 197.375 at the NCAA Regional Final that secured DU's first-ever regional championship.
 
This is Kutcher-Rinehart's fifth regional head coach of the year award, all five coming during her tenure at Denver.
 
Gaveika, the team's lead bars coach, helped the Pioneers to seven of the top nine bars tallies in program history including a new all-time school record (49.525). Under his leadership, two DU gymnasts – sophomore Lynnzee Brown (Kansas City, Mo.) and junior Maddie Karr (Stillwater, Minn.) – scored near-perfect 9.975s on bars, the team's first such scores on the event since 2012. Denver's final national ranking on bars (tied for No. 5) is a new program record.
 
This is Gaveika's third regional award and his second while coaching at Denver.
 
Hogue, the team's lead coach on vault and floor, was instrumental in the team's record-high final floor ranking (No. 6) and record-matching final vault ranking (No. 7). On floor, he helped coach Brown to a perfect 10.0 and three more near-perfect 9.975s. On vault, he coached Karr to three more near-perfect marks of 9.975 as well.
 
This is Hogue's fourth regional award and his third as a DU coach.
 
Regional awards are determined by a coaches' vote. DU is a member of Region 2, formerly known as the North Central Region. Joining Denver in Region 2 is Air Force, BYU, Iowa, Iowa State, Minnesota, Utah and Utah State.
 
The University of Denver gymnastics team is set for the 2019 NCAA National Championships on April 19-20 in Fort Worth, Texas. DU will compete in Semifinal II on Friday, April 19, at 6:00 p.m. CT/5:00 p.m. MT.
 
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