DENVER – The University of Denver gymnastics team capped off its 2024 preseason with a strong team performance at the Crimson & Gold Intrasquad in Magness Arena on Sunday.
Denver did not compete with its full depth but filled lineups on all four events while adding exhibition performances throughout the meet.
COACH'S NOTES
From Joy S. Burns Head Women's Gymnastics Coach
Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart: "Today felt less like an intrasquad and more like a real meet. It was a calm, confident, dialed-in performance, and I liked the team energy from the beginning to the end. It was great to feel the energy frm the fans in the arena.
"We're being selective in how we are pacing people through the season, so not everyone competed on every event today, and that allowed other people to step in gain valuable experience.
"This is exactly where you want to be at this meet, to see where you're strong and where you can continue to improve. We feel positive heading into the holiday break."
MEET RECAP
Denver began the meet with a hit vault rotation that featured struck or near-stuck Yurchenko fulls from junior
Mila Brusch, senior
Bella Mabanta and sophomore
Amanda Hargraves. Sophomore
Madison Ulrich added her strong front handspring front pike half, and fellow sophomore
Maddison Reidenbach debuted her upgraded Yurchenko 1.5.
On bars, DU saw a total of eight routines competed, highlighted by the return of junior
Cecilia Cooley¸ who made her return to competition after missing the entire 2024 season with an injury. Among the lineup staples from last season to compete on Sunday were Ulrich, senior
Mia Hebinck, graduate student
Rylie Mundell and fifth-year senior
Rosie Casali, among others.
Across the entire meet, 12 beam workers took to the event, starting with freshman
Sophia Hampp in her first routine competed in Magness Arena. Mabanta delivered a stellar beam set including a stick on her new gainer tuck full dismount. The senior duo of Hebinck and
Momoko Iwai delivered strong routines, and junior
Kiley Rorich made her first appearance on the event in her career so far.
DU ended the day with a full floor rotation – after completing additional routines earlier in the day to continue building depth. Among those competing in the lineup were mainstays from 2024 in Ulrich, Iwai and Mabanta. Brusch and Hargraves debuted their new routines while Cooley capped her return to competition with her third routine of the day.
NEXT UP:
Denver begins the 2025 season when it hosts Michigan on Sunday, January 5, at 2:45 p.m. MT in a nationally-televised meet on ESPN2 in Magness Arena.
TICKETS:
Tickets for the 2025 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.
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