ANN ARBOR, Michigan – The No. 9-ranked University of Denver women's gymnastics team used a school record on vault (49.550) in the final rotation to secure a 197.200 at a Michigan tri meet on Friday.
No. 9 Denver finished second, behind host No. 4 Michigan (198.125) but ahead of Fisk (184.800), which is in its inaugural season.
COACH'S NOTES:
From Joy S. Burns Head Women's Gymnastics Coach
Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart: "I'm really proud of our student-athletes, starting with the vault team. It was fun watching them translate how they practice to competition and to end the meet with that kind of strength.
"I'm really pleased with their performance, but there are lots of opportunities to improve. We've had flashes of brilliance here and there, and we don't have to be perfect yet. There's strategy in peaking at the right time, and this is the time to build. We've asked them for growth from one meet to the next, and they did that tonight – and did it on the road.
"We have a very strong team, and we still have student-athletes who will be entering lineups over the course of the next month."
SIGNIFICANT STATS
- Denver's 49.550 on vault is nearly a tenth higher than the previous program record (49.475 at the 2014 MRGC Championship).
- The team's overall score of 197.200 become the third-highest January score in school history.
- Five of Denver's six vaulters set a new career high, beginning with junior Rosie Casali's event-winning near-perfect 9.975.
- The 49.550 on vault matches DU's highest score on any event during the 2022 season (achieved twice on beam).
- Friday's meet ties the second-quickest 197+ score that DU has achieved in program history. DU also hit its first 197+ score of the season in the second meet in 2021, behind only 2022's 197.000 in the season opener.
BARS RECAP
Denver opened the meet on bars with five counted scores at or above 9.800 to tally a 49.300 overall. Graduate student
Lynnzee Brown and junior
Rylie Mundell had matching 9.900s to lead DU's scoring while juniors Casali and
Abbie Thompson both scored a 9.850. Graduate student
Alexandria Ruiz led off with a 9.800.
BEAM RECAP
DU added four more scores of at least 9.800 on beam, finishing with a 49.175. Juniors Thompson and
Jessica Hutchinson had DU's high scores with 9.875s while Mundell was just off that pace with a 9.850. Sophomore
Momoko Iwai had a 9.800 while Brown's 9.775 was the team's final counted score.
FLOOR RECAP
Hutchinson anchored DU's floor lineup with a near-career-high 9.925, helping DU score a 49.175. Casali and junior
Bella Mabanta both scored 9.850s – Casali's just .025 from her personal best. Ruiz and Iwai added a 9.800 and a 9.750, respectively.
VAULT RECAP
Denver finished the meet with a bang, using four stuck vaults to set the program record with a 49.550. Ruiz got the rotation going with her stuck Yurchenko full for a career-high 9.875, and freshman
Mila Brusch improved on her collegiate debut by a full tenth with her 9.850. Mabanta, too, stuck her Yurchenko full for a personal-best 9.900. Casali competed her Yurchenko 1.5 for the first time in a full competition, sticking it and scoring a near-perfect 9.975 that was more than a tenth higher than her previous best. Hutchinson followed with her second-straight stuck Yurchenko 1.5 to add a career-high 9.925. Mundell secured the record score with her 9.875 in the anchor position.
PODIUM FINISHES
Vault
Casali: First Place – 9.975
Bars
Brown: Second Place (tie) – 9.900
Mundell: Second Place (tie) – 9.900
Beam
Hutchinson: Second Place (tie) – 9.875
Thompson: Second Place (tie) – 9.875
Floor
Hutchinson: Second Place (tie) – 9.925
NEXT UP:
Denver continues competing on the road, returning to the site of its first-ever NCAA Regional team championship (2019) when DU travels to Oregon State with Sacramento State and Brown on Saturday, January 21, at 1 p.m. PT/2 p.m. MT.
DU will return home on Sunday, January 29, for a Big 12 showdown when it hosts reigning NCAA National Champion and No. 1 Oklahoma in Magness Arena at 1:45 p.m. MT.
TICKETS:
Tickets for the 2023 University of Denver gymnastics season are now on sale and can be
purchased online, by calling 303-871-4625 or by visiting the Ritchie Center Box Office. Season ticket renewals can be purchased by calling 303-871-4625.
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