DENVER – The No. 10-ranked University of Denver women's gymnastics team scored a 197.175 to finish second in a showdown of some of the biggest names in collegiate women's gymnastics teams on Sunday.
 
No. 1 Oklahoma finished in first with a 198.325. No. 10 Denver was second (197.175), No. 11 UCLA was third (196.550), and Stanford placed fourth (196.100).
 
COACH'S NOTES:
From Joy S. Burns Head Women's Gymnastics Coach Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart: "They showed fantastic improvement over the last meet. But we still have pieces of the puzzle to put together, and it's still early in the season. We have an incredibly strong team, and they are starting to demonstrate that.

"Today wasn't our typical beam performance, but the thing I'm most proud of was how they responded on floor. That was important to our confidence – to finish the meet strong – and it will be one of the building blocks that will help prepare us for postseason."
 
SIGNIFICANT STATS

• Sunday's meet featured a standing-room-only crowd for the second time in Denver gymnastics history. The final attendance of 6,224 is now the second-highest in program history.
• Three of DU's event scores finished above the 49.300 mark including a 49.475 on floor that became the team's highest score of the season so far, regardless of event.
• For the third-straight meet to start the season, senior Jessica Hutchinson claimed at least a share of the floor title with a 9.950 performance.
• Senior Rosie Casali won her first title of the season with a stuck Yurchenko 1.5 and a 9.950 to tie atop the event podium.
• Casali, Hutchinson and freshman Madison Ulrich each matched at least one career high in the meet while sophomore Kiley Rorich set a new personal best on floor.

VAULT RECAP
DU opened the meet with its top vault performance so far this year with a 49.325, counting four scores of at least 9.850. With their Yurchenko fulls, sophomore Mila Brusch led off with a 9.775, and senior Bella Mabanta followed with a 9.850. Ulrich matched Mabanta's 9.850 with her front handspring front pike half, and Hutchinson continued the momentum with a 9.900 for her Yurchenko 1.5. Casali had the highlight of the rotation, sticking her Y1.5 cold for a 9.950 that was just .025 off her career high. Senior Rylie Mundell rounded out the lineup with a four 10.0 start value but came in under-rotated on her Y1.5.
 
BARS RECAP
Denver carried momentum into the second rotation with a 49.450 on bars. Again as the leadoff, Casali kicked things off with a personal best-tying 9.925. Rorich followed with the first of four-consecutive 9.875 – Ulrich's also matching a career high, and junior Mia Hebinck 's improving over her first two routines of the season. Hutchinson netted another 9.875 for Denver, setting up Mundell's third-straight score of 9.9+ to begin the year – and earning a 9.950 from one judge.
 
BEAM RECAP
DU's beam lineup hit a bit of a speed bump but fought through to the final routine – a team-best 9.900 from Hutchinson in the anchor spot. Ulrich had Denver's second-highest score, a 9.800, in a routine immediately following a lower score that the team would hope to drop – and successfully do so by the end of the rotation. Junior Momoko Iwai led off the lineup for the third time in a row with a 9.775, and senior Abbie Thompson put up a fight for a 9.750 in the fifth spot. Mundell came in with the final counted score and allowed DU to drop a 9.475.
 
FLOOR RECAP
The floor squad hit the reset button before the final rotation, resulting in the team's best single-event score of the season so far (49.475). All five counted scores were at or above the 9.850 mark, starting with Iwai in her second routine of the year. Rorich led off with a 9.900 – her first 9.9+ score outside of bars – and Casali would equal that mark in the No. 3 spot. Ulrich just narrowly missed her score from last week with a 9.875. In the anchor spot once more, Hutchinson collected a 9.950 and earned a 10.0 from one judge.
 
EXHIBITION NOTES
As it had done in the first two meets of the year, Denver filled all four of its exhibition slots, starting with freshman Maddison Reidenbach on vault (9.800) and floor (9.650). Iwai went on bars for the third-straight time with a 9.750, and Casali made her first exhibition appearance of the season on beam (8.850).
 
MORE COACH'S NOTES
Kutcher-Rinehart on the crowd: "I want to thank everyone who turned out to watch some of the best collegiate women's gymnastics teams in the country. The crowd and energy were outstanding. It makes a difference to our student-athletes to feel that support and have that home-field advantage."
 
PODIUM FINISHES
Vault
Casali: First Place (tie) – 9.950
 
Bars
Casali: Second Place – 9.925
Mundell: Third Place (tie) – 9.900
 
Floor
Hutchinson: First Place (tie) – 9.950
 
All-Around
Hutchinson: Third Place (tie) – 39.625
 
NEXT UP:
Denver faces off against the Sooners for the second week in a row when DU visits Oklahoma on Friday, January 26, at 7 p.m. CT/6 p.m. MT.
 
TICKETS:
Tickets for the 2024 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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