DENVER – Three University of Denver gymnasts earned Big 12 Conference weekly awards for Week 9 of the 2024 season, the conference announced on Wednesday.
Senior
Jessica Hutchinson was named Big 12 co-Gymnast of the Week; junior
Momoko Iwai captured Big 12 Event Specialist of the Week honors; and freshman
Madison Ulrich collected the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week nod.
Hutchinson won her third Gymnast of the Week award of the year – and the sixth of her career – following a 39.725 all-around winning performance on March 3, her second time posting such a score this season, which ties the 10
th-highest mark in DU history. She ended the meet with a 10.0 on floor, her second of the season and the third of her career on the event. In total, she now owns four 10.0s in her career, giving her sole possession of second-most in program history.
She won her an eighth-consecutive floor title, doing so in every meet that she has competed in 2024, and added a seventh win in the all-around. She also won the bars title for the third time this year.
Iwai set new personal bests on beam and floor to secure Event Specialist of the Week honors for the second time in her career. She began the day with a near-perfect 9.975 on beam, the highest score by a leadoff performer on any event in Denver history, and followed it up with a 9.950 on floor, a half-tenth improvement over her previous personal best on the event. She took home the third beam title of her career while placing second on floor.
Ulrich's fifth Newcomer of the Week award came after she debuted an upgraded double layout to open her floor routine and again matched her career high with a 9.925. She matched that score on bars earlier in the meet, earning a place on the final event podium on both events while also finishing second in the all-around, her sixth time placing in top three this year.
The trio combined to help Denver earn the second-highest team score in program history and just its third 198+ score ever with its 198.025 performance on March 3 in the team's final home meet of the year. DU's beam and floor marks from the competition ranked among the top six in Denver history.
DU's Week 9 awards became the ninth, 10
th and 11
th for Denver this season in the Big 12 Conference. Ulrich leads the way with five Newcomer of the Week honors. Hutchinson now has three Gymnast of the Week awards in 2024, and this was Iwai's first Event Specialist of the Week win this year. Junior
Mia Hebinck has twice been named the Big 12 Event Specialist as well.
The No. 11-ranked University of Denver gymnastics team begins a three-meet road trip – all at Power-5 schools – with a visit to No. 13 Missouri with New Hampshire and SE Missouri State on Sunday, March 10.
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