FAYETEVILLE, Ark. – The No. 16-ranked University of Denver women's gymnastics team started its two-meet week with a rare Monday afternoon competition, placing second overall in a tri meet at Arkansas.
 
DU posted a 196.325, finishing only behind host and No. 17-ranked Arkansas (197.000) but ahead of Texas Woman's (192.325).
 
COACH'S NOTES:
From Joy S. Burns Head Women's Gymnastics Coach Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart: "I'm excited about how the team is continuing to improve on every event, regardless of the scores. We had some new faces and people stepping into lineups for the first time. They all showed composure in our first meet on the road, and the work ethic, passion and commitment is there. It's early in the season, and we're prioritizing peaking at the right time.
 
"We're looking forward to being back home in front of our fans in Magness Arena again on Sunday."
 
SIGNIFICANT STATS

• A total of five DU gymnastics accounted for a combined seven podium finishes including wins for junior Mila Brusch on vault, senior Mia Hebinck on bars and graduate student Bella Mabanta on beam.
  • Brusch's career high-tying 9.900 on vault became the single-highest score by a Denver gymnast on the event so far this year, as did Mabanta's 9.925 on beam.
• Denver finished with the meet's top team score of bars (49.100) and equaled the meet high on beam (49.150).
• For the first time so far in 2025, Denver hit 100 percent of its routines – including exhibitions on all four events.
  • Denver did so while also shuffling lineups on three of the four events from its last meet.
• DU welcomes newcomers to all four events including freshman Sophia Hampp in exhibition on vault, marking her first time appearing in a DU lineup so far.
  • Junior Kiley Rorich made her season debut in the team's full lineups on bars and floor.
  • Sophomore Maddison Reidenbach competed in the full DU floor lineup for the first time and also added an exhibition on bars.
  • Sophomore Ashley Gallen went in exhibition on beam for Denver in what just the second appearance in her career.
• In total, all 14 of Denver's available gymnasts made at least one appearance in Monday's meet.

BEAM RECAP
Denver started the competition with its strongest beam rotation so far this season, putting up its top event score of the night. Senior Momoko Iwai and Mabanta bookended the lineup with DU's top scores of the night, 9.850 and 9.925, respectively. Sophomore Madison Ulrich got back on track after an uncharacteristic fall in the team's last meet, posting a 9.825 this time around. Junior Cecilia Cooley and Mundell both contributed 9.775 in the middle of the rotation while graduate student Abbie Thompson rounded out the lineup for the second meet in a row.
 
FLOOR RECAP
All five of Denver's counted scores on floor were at or above the 9.800 mark, even after having two gymnasts make their season debuts on the event. Mundell and Ulrich had the team's top marks of the afternoon with a 9.850 each. Three Denver floor workers contributed 9.800s in Cooley, Rorich and Reidenbach – the latter two doing so in their first full floor routines of 2025. Brusch resumed as the team's leadoff performer.
 
VAULT RECAP
Brusch again led off on vault and stuck her Yurchenko full cold in what would be one of two 9.900s on the event in the entire meet. Sophomore Amanda Hargraves returned to the lineup after a week away, counting the first of three consecutive 9.800s for DU. Ulrich and Reidenbach also added 9.800s in the first two of four 10.0 start value vaults – a new Denver season best. Mundell and fifth-year senior Rosie Casali capped the lineup with Yurchenko 1.5s as well.
 
BARS RECAP
Denver delivered a stellar bars rotation to close out the meet, highlighted by Hebinck's meet high-matching 9.850 midway through. Rorich was just off her pace in her first competitive bars routine of the year, and Ulrich and Mundell would finish the rotation with their own 9.825s as well. Cooley and Casali completed the team's lineup with hit routines of their own to secure DU's 24-for-24 team performance on the day.
 
EXHIBITION NOTES
For the second meet in a row, Denver filled all four of its exhibition slots – all four going to first-time performers in 2025. Hampp competed for the first time in a Denver leotard on vault as a last-minute substitution, and Reidenbach took the bars spot for the first time in her career. For only the second time in her career, Gallen went in exhibition on beam and hit her routine. The floor exhibition came from Hargraves in what was her first time doing so since the 2024 season opener in what was her first collegiate meet.
 
PODIUM FINISHES
Vault
Brusch: First Place (tie) – 9.900
 
Bars
Hebinck: First Place (tie) – 9.850
Mundell: Third Place (tie) – 9.825
Rorich: Third Place (tie) – 9.825
Ulrich: Third Place (tie) – 9.825
 
Beam
B. Mabanta: First Place – 9.925
 
All-Around
Ulrich: Second Place – 39.300
Mundell: Third Place – 38.975
 
NEXT UP:
Denver returns home to Magness Arena for its first Big 12 Conference meet of the season, hosting West Virginia on Sunday, January 26, at 1:45 p.m. MT.
 
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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