WHO: No. 21 Denver vs. No. 10 Oregon State, Ball State, Texas Woman's
WHAT: Denver's annual Black Out meet and alumni reunion
WHERE: Magness Arena (Denver, Colo.)
WHEN: Sunday, February 16, at 1:45 p.m. MT
 
MEET THEME:
Sunday is DU's annual Black Out Meet. Fans are encouraged to join the team in wearing black to the meet.
 
This weekend is also DU's annual alumni reunion, featuring events for Denver Gymnastics alumni all weekend long and culminating with a pre-meet ceremony on Sunday.
 
LAST TIME OUT:
Denver posted a new season high with its 196.625-195.825 win over BYU for the team's second Big 12 Conference win of the year. DU also set a new season's best on vault (49.275) and added top-three marks on beam and floor.
 
DU gymnasts won at least a share of four of the five individual titles, led by sophomore Madison Ulrich in the all-around and on bars and floor.
 
EYE ON THE RANKINGS:
For the second week in a row, DU earned the No. 21 spot in the Road to Nationals rankings and is once again ranked in the top 15 nationally on vault and bars. The team sits at No. 9 on bars after Week 6 and moved up one spot to No. 13 on vault.
 
No Denver gymnasts are ranked in the top 25 this week, though three are within .025 across two events. Ulrich is the closest, sitting just .013 from a national ranking on bars while junior Mila Brusch and sophomore Maddison Reidenbach are both about a quarter tenth from the top 25 on vault.
 
This is the final week that national rankings are determined by season average. Beginning February 17, rankings will be determined by National Qualifying Score (NQS). DU will not have competed in the minimum number of away meets by February 17 to earn an NQS and will thus not appear in the Week 7 rankings.
 
QUICK HITS:

• After winning two titles against West Virginia on January 31, graduate student Rylie Mundell now owns 40 career titles and is four away from moving into Denver's top 10 all-time.
• With the win against BYU, Joy S. Burns Head Women's Gymnastics Coach Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart is one win away from the 500^th of her career.
  • A 500^th victory would make her third active NCAA Division I women's gymnastics head coach to achieve such a milestone (joining Michigan's Bev Plocki [998] and Oklahoma's KJ Kindler [615]).
  • She would also become what is believed to be the 18^th in NCAA DI women's gymnastics to earn 500+ career wins.
  • Kutcher-Rinehart is already the winningest in Denver Gymnastics history and owns the third most wins by a Denver head coach in any sport (surpassing DU Hockey's legendary Murray Armstrong [460] during the 2023 season).
• Oregon State will be the fifth nationally-ranked opponent that Denver has faced so far in 2025 and the second that was ranked in the top 10 at the time of the meet (joining No. 5 Missouri on January 12).
  • In total, half of Denver's opponents so far (including the three this weekend) appear in the top 20 in the Week 6 national rankings.
  • All four of Denver's remaining regular-season meets also feature an opponent that is currently ranked in the top 25: No. 4 Utah (February 21), No. 13 Stanford (March 14), No. 19 NC State (February 28) and No. 24 Arizona State (March 9).

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS:
Oregon State started the week with a home meet against Washington and Alaska-Anchorage on February 10, coming away with a first-place finish and a 197.325. The Beavers are ranked in the top 20 on all four events including No. 3 on beam and No. 7 on floor. Jade Carey is the No. 1 gymnast in the country in the all-around and on beam while adding a No. 3 ranking on bars, No. 6 on floor and No. 11 on vault.
 
Denver is 8-10 all-time against Oregon State but earned the win in the teams' most recent meeting in the 2023 NCAA Regional Final in Denver where DU finished first (197.875) and OSU was fourth (197.650). The last time the teams met in the regular season in Denver, Oregon State posted a narrow 196.875-196.800 win over an injury-depleted DU team on March 13, 2022.
 
View DU's complete history against Oregon State.
 
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS:
Ball State is coming off its best meet of the year, scoring a season-high 195.575 against Central Michigan at home on February 9. Gymternet favorite Suki Pfister won the vault title in her second appearance of the season, and Ashley Szymanski tied for the win on beam. Zoe Middleton won the floor title and is ranked No. 25 nationally on floor while also leading the team in the all-around.
 
DU holds a 6-1 record against Ball State, most recently claiming a 197.425-194.875 win at home on February 2, 2020. This will be the fifth time that BSU has made the trip to Denver and the third since 2018.
 
View DU's complete history against Ball State.
 
SCOUTING THE TWU PIONEERS:
Texas Woman's enters the week after also setting a season high with a 195.225 at Arizona State on February 7. Kaitlyn Hoiland won a share of the bars title and placed third on vault, and teammate Sophie Hernandez tied for second on beam. TWU will compete twice this weekend, beginning with the Metroplex Challenge against California and Utah State on Friday, February 14.
 
DU moved to 26-1 against Texas Woman's earlier this season with a 196.325-192.325 win over TWU in a tri meet at Arkansas on January 20. TWU last made the trip to Denver for the 2023 season opener with Penn State. DU topped that field with a 196.925 while Texas Woman's placed third with a 191.975.
 
View DU's complete history against Texas Woman's.
 
NEXT UP:
Denver hits the road for back-to-back Big 12 Conference away meets, first visiting Utah on Friday, February 21, before traveling to Iowa State for a tri meet with NC State on Friday, February 28.
 
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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