MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – The No. 7-ranked University of Denver women's gymnastics team matched the eighth-highest road score in program history (197.350) at a Big 12 Conference tri meet hosted by West Virginia on Sunday.
For the second meet in a row, DU topped No. 24-ranked Iowa State (195.675) and also added a win over host West Virginia (195.250).
COACH'S NOTES:
From Joy S. Burns Head Women's Gymnastics Coach
Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart: "I'm proud of how they continued to be adaptable. We made the deliberate choice to rest some people to help us peak in the postseason, and we will continue to rest some people like Rylie (Mundell) and Bella (Mabanta). It's allowing different people to step up and gain competitive experience.
"I'm proud of the team's work ethic, passion and commitment, and I thought they adapted well to an early meet and a two-hour time change. The leadership from the seniors was phenomenal today. They stayed within the team and brought energy, and their attitude and effort were exceptional. Even Jessica (Hutchinson) wasn't feeling great and still had a gritty performance. I want everyone to use this experience to continue to grow and compete at a high level."
SIGNIFICANT STATS
- Denver set a new program record for highest bars score achieved at an away meet with its 49.600, which also tied the third-highest score on the event in school history.
- Freshman Madison Ulrich scored a near-perfect 9.975 on bars, her highest single-routine score yet.
- Senior Jessica Hutchinson won her seventh-consecutive floor title – doing so in every meet so far in 2024 – while also capturing her sixth all-around win through seven meets.
- In total, she won three titles, bringing her to 21 on the second so far and already tying for 12th-most in a single season in DU history.
- Two Denver freshmen made collegiate debuts in Sunday's meet:
- Amanda Hargraves made her overall collegiate debut, making the vault lineup for the first time with a stuck Yurchenko full.
- Maddison Reidenbach debuted in the full beam lineup after making three previous appearances in exhibition on the event.
- Senior Rosie Casali set a new career high in the all-around with a 39.400 showing, helped by a season-best-tying 9.925 on floor that earned her a sixth-career event title and her first on floor.
BARS RECAP
Denver started the meet with a record-setting bars lineup in the first rotation, using five 9.9+ scores to set the program record at an away meet – its 49.600 also become the second-highest single-event score for the team so far this year. Ulrich's near-perfect 9.975 was the meet's top score on any event, allowing her to join three teammates in achieving such a score on bars this year. Hutchinson had the second-highest bars score of the competition with a 9.925 while sophomore
Kiley Rorich, junior
Mia Hebinck and senior
Rylie Mundell each scored a 9.900. Casali led off the rotation with a 9.850.
BEAM RECAP
DU overcame a fall early in its beam lineup, responding with two 9.875s and a 9.950 to help finish with a 49.200. Helping get the lineup back on track was junior
Momoko Iwai, scoring the team's first 9.875 in the routine immediately following the fall. Two routines later, Ulrich would match that mark, and Hutchinson secured the rotation with a season-high-tying 9.950 in the anchor. Senior
Abbie Thompson once again served as the beam leadoff, and fellow senior Casali made her fifth-career appearance on the event.
FLOOR RECAP
In the third rotation, Denver scored at least a 9.800 in all six floor routines on its way to a 49.400, highlighted by meet-best 9.925s from Hutchinson and Casali. Ulrich's 9.900 gave her a fourth score in the 9.9+ range this year on the event and gave DU a sweep of the event podium. Rorich and Reidenbach had the final counting scores with matching 9.825s, the freshman's just a quarter tenth from her personal best.
VAULT RECAP
DU shuffled its vault lineup, allowing Hargraves to make her first competitive lineup for the first time. Her stuck Yurchenko full tied with classmate Reidenbach for Denver's third-highest score of the rotation, 9.825, just .025 from the team-high 9.850s from sophomore
Mila Brusch and Casali. Ulrich added a 9.800 to round out Denver's counting scores in the lineup.
EXHIBITION NOTES
DU welcomed Hebinck back to the beam exhibition slot for the second time this season, and Brusch took the spot on floor for the third meet in a row. Iwai was slated to compete in exhibition on bars as she had done in every meet so far this season but was removed from the lineup at the last minute.
PODIUM FINISHES
Vault
Casali: Third Place (tie) – 9.850
Brusch: Third Place (tie) – 9.850
Bars
Ulrich: First Place – 9.975
Hutchinson: Second Place – 9.925
Hebinck: Third Place (tie) – 9.900
Mundell: Third Place (tie) – 9.900
Rorich: Third Place (tie) – 9.900
Beam
Hutchinson: First Place – 9.950
Iwai: Second Place (tie) – 9.875
Ulrich: Second Place (tie) – 9.875
Floor
Casali: First Place (tie) – 9.925
Hutchinson: First Place (tie) – 9.925
Ulrich: Third Place – 9.900
All-Around
Hutchinson: First Place – 39.575
Ulrich: Second Place – 39.550
Casali: Third Place – 39.400
NEXT UP:
Denver continues its two-meet road trip when it travels to new Big 12 Conference opponent BYU on Friday, February 23.
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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