DENVER – The No. 15-ranked University of Denver women's gymnastics team earned a 197.250 during Saturday's Big 12 Gymnastics Championship. It was the team's second highest score of the season and tied the fourth highest postseason score in program history, helped with season high marks on bars and beam.
Sophomore
Jessica Hutchinson won the Big 12 all-around title while sophomore
Rylie Mundell shared the bars title, and freshman
Momoko Iwai captured a share of the beam title.
Denver placed second overall, despite competing with just five student-athletes on vault and bars. No. 1 Oklahoma finished first (198.200), West Virginia was second (196.650), and Iowa State placed fourth (196.100).
COACH'S NOTES
From head coach
Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart: "I am so proud of the grit and resiliency of this team. We continue to say that – and it sounds like a cliché – but it's true. Other teams might have given up, but instead out team has grown together and shown mental toughness.
"Our student-athletes put their hearts and souls out there. I couldn't be more proud of them."
SIGNIFICANT STATS
- Hutchinson became Denver's third Big 12 all-around champion and second in a row, joining Maddie Karr (2019) and Lynnzee Brown (2021). She did so with a career high-tying 39.625.
- Mundell narrowly missed her career high on bars with an event-winning 9.950, earning a 10.0 from one of the four judges.
- Iwai set a new career high on beam with a 9.950, placing in a tie for first overall.
- Hutchinson was also announced as the 2022 Big 12 Gymnast of the Year, Denver's third since joining the conference in 2019. She joins Nina McGee (2016) and Lynnzee Brown (2021).
- DU's 49.500 on bars ties the fifth highest score in program history and is the team's second highest postseason score.
- Denver's 49.550 on beam is a new program postseason record and ties the fourth highest overall score in school history.
FLOOR RECAP
Denver began the competition on floor, scoring a 49.225 with a team-best 9.925 from Hutchinson. Sophomore
Abbie Thompson returned to the lineup for the first time since January 30, scoring a 9.850. Iwai and junior
Emma Brown led off the lineup with matching 9.825s, and Mundell added a 9.800 for the team's final counted score.
VAULT RECAP
DU competed five-up, five-count once again on vault and tallied a 48.975 with 9.850s from Hutchinson and Mundell. Iwai and sophomore
Rosie Casali each scored a 9.775, and senior
Alexandria Ruiz had a 9.725.
BARS RECAP
Denver began to really build momentum with an outstanding bars lineup with three 9.900+ scores and all five routines scoring at least a 9.850. Mundell tied for first overall in the meet with her 9.950, which immediately followed a 9.925 from Hutchinson and a 9.900 from freshman
Mia Hebinck. Ruiz led off the rotation with a season-high matching 9.875, and Casali matched her season high of 9.850.
BEAM RECAP
DU's beam squad closed the meet with its strongest rotation of the night, posting a 49.550 with four scores of 9.900 or higher and all five counted scores at least a 9.875. Iwai won the first title of her career – a Big 12 Conference title at that – with a personal-best 9.950. Mundell and Hutchinson anchored the lineup with a 9.900 and 9.925, respectively, coming under the pressure of a fall in the fourth spot. Ruiz led off the lineup with a season high-tying 9.875, and sophomore
Bella Mabanta added a 9.900.
PODIUM FINISHES
All-Around
Hutchinson: First Place – 39.625
Mundell: Second Place – 39.500
Bars
Mundell: First Place (tie) – 9.950
Beam
Iwai: First Place (tie) – 9.950
Hutchinson: Third Place – 9.925
NEXT UP:
Denver has mathematically clinched its spot in NCAA Regionals and awaits final seeding and placement, which will be announced during the NCAA Selection Show on Tuesday, March 22, at 10 a.m. MT. More details will be announced in the coming days.
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- OUR JOURNEY, OUR TIME –
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