CORVALLIS, Oregon – The No. 8-ranked University of Denver women's gymnastics team posted a 196.725 at a quad meet hosted by No. 18 Oregon State on Saturday.
 
Denver placed second overall, behind host Oregon State (197.200) but ahead of Brown (193.625) and Sacramento State (192.400).
 
COACH'S NOTES:
From Joy S. Burns Head Women's Gymnastics Coach Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart: "Today was a great opportunity to build experience, especially after a quick turn around with limited training this week. It was the start of us creating new opportunities for student-athletes to step up, and it will help us gain confidence and continue to build our depth over the next several weeks.
 
"The last two meets have provided us great competition in high-energy environments that will season and prepare us well moving forward."
 
SIGNIFICANT STATS

• DU followed up its record-setting vault lineup from January 13 with a 49.300 on Saturday, a score that would have been a season high during the 2022 season.
• Freshman Mila Brusch made her collegiate debut on floor, scoring a 9.725. She also improved on her vault score for the second straight week, doing so as a last-minute substitution into the lineup and tying for DU's high score with a 9.875.
• Two more DU gymnasts joined Brusch in making season debuts: senior Callie Schlottman on beam and junior Abbie Thompson on floor. Freshman Kiley Rorich also competed in exhibition on bars, the first routine of her career.
• For the second week in a row, Denver improved its team score on bars, posting a 49.325 on Saturday.
• Junior Rylie Mundell won her first title of the season, sharing first-place on bars with Oregon State's Jade Carey. It is the second meet in a row between the two teams that Mundell has tied with Carey for an event title (vault on March 13, 2022).

BARS RECAP
Denver began its day with a team-best 49.325 on bars with all six scores sitting at or above 9.800. Mundell anchored the lineup with a 9.925 that would tie for the top score of the meet while junior Jessica Hutchinson hit her routine for a 9.900. Junior Rosie Casali scored her third-straight 9.850, and graduate students Alexandria Ruiz and Lynnzee Brown were close behind with matching 9.825. Thompson rounded out the lineup with a 9.800.
 
BEAM RECAP
DU added four more scores above 9.800, doing so on beam in the second rotation. Hutchinson scored a 9.875 in the sixth position immediately following a fall to keep Denver from counting the mistake. In her first routine of the 2023 season, Schlottman tallied a 9.850 that was just .025 from her career high, a score that Thompson would match in the next routine. Brown led off the lineup with a 9.825, and junior Bella Mabanta had the team's final counted score with a 9.675.
 
FLOOR RECAP
Denver shuffled its floor lineup with two gymnasts making their season debuts on the event – Brusch and Thompson – and both counted their scores to DU's team total of 49.025. Ruiz started the rotation with a 9.850, and Mabanta and Hutchinson completed the lineup with a 9.825 and 9.875 in the fifth and sixth spots, respectively.
 
VAULT RECAP
For the second meet in a row, DU used three 10.0 start values and five counted scores above 9.800, finishing with a 49.300 for its second-strongest rotation of the day. Ruiz kicked off things with a 9.825, and Mabanta followed with a 9.850. Casali nearly stuck her Yurchenko 1.5 again, scoring a 9.875 this time, a score that Mundell would match two spots later in the lineup. Brusch was substituted into the lineup in the sixth spot at the last minute and added another 9.875, yet again improving on her score from the previous week.
 
PODIUM FINISHES
Vault
Brusch: Second Place (tie) – 9.875
Casali: Second Place (tie) – 9.875
Mundell: Second Place (tie) – 9.875
 
Bars
Mundell: First Place (tie) – 9.925
Hutchinson: Third Place – 9.900
 
Floor
Hutchinson: Second Place (tie) – 9.875
 
NEXT UP:
Denver returns 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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