WHO: No. 18 Denver at NCAA Regional Final
WHAT: DU seeks one of two team spots at NCAA Nationals
WHERE: Jon M. Huntsman Center (Salt Lake City, Utah)
WHEN: Saturday, April 5, at 5 p.m. MT
 
LAST TIME OUT:
Denver upset No. 13 Stanford and earned a tie with No. 4 Utah in Thursday's NCAA Second Round to book its spot in the NCAA Regional Final, scoring a season-high 197.650 and putting up one of the strongest postseason performances in Denver history. DU rallied from a third-place standing halfway through the meet to finish tied atop the final team standings, clinching a spot in Saturday's meet with a 49.500 on vault in the final rotation, which ranks third overall in the Denver record books.
 
QUICK HITS:

• This is Denver's 26^th consecutive appearance at NCAA Regionals and 28^th overall.
  • Six times, Denver has advanced to NCAA Nationals as a team, most recently as the NCAA Regional champion in 2023.
  • In 24 of the last 25 seasons (excluding the canceled 2020 postseason), at least one Denver gymnast has qualified for NCAA Nationals.
  • Denver has advanced to the NCAA Regional Final in every year that the competition has been held since the debut of the current NCAA tournament format in 2019.
• This week marks DU's third trip to the Salt Lake City area in the last seven weeks.
  • Denver competed at the Jon M. Huntsman Center for a Big 12 regular-season meet at Utah on February 21 where DU posted its highest score of the year (197.525).
  • DU's last meet before NCAA Regionals was held less than 25 miles from the Utah campus as well, with the Big 12 Championship being held at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah, on March 22.
• Salt Lake City is Denver's most frequented location for NCAA Regionals with DU competing at Utah five times previously.
  • Most recently, Denver competed at the Utah Regional in 2010.
  • Denver booked its first-ever team trip to NCAA Nationals from Salt Lake City as well, becoming the first team from the former "small college division" to do so in 2001.

NCAA REGIONALS FORMAT:
The NCAA Regional Final features the top two teams from each of the NCAA Second Round sessions. Denver and No. 4-seeded Utah earned the two spots from Thursday's evening session while No. 5-seeded UCLA and No. 12-seeded Minnesota did so in the afternoon session. The top two teams from Saturday's NCAA Regional Final will advance to the NCAA National Championships on April 17-19 in Fort Worth, Texas.
 
Individual qualifiers for NCAA Nationals will also be determined following Saturday's competition with advancing gymnasts determined by the final combined results from Thursday's second-round meets and after removing gymnasts from the two teams that advance to NCAA Nationals on Saturday night.
 
SCOUTING THE RED ROCKS:
Utah came into NCAA Regionals ranked No. 4 in the nation and attained the No. 1 seed for the Utah Regional. The 2025 Big 12 Champion is led in part by Grace McCallum, who earned WCGA regular-season All-America status in the all-around and on bars and beam, and was named the Big 12 Gymnast of the Year.
 
Denver made history by tying Utah in Thursday's NCAA Second Round. Entering the meet, Utah had won all 22 previous meetings between the two teams. The Red Rocks won both of the head-to-head meetings in 2025 – once at home in the regular-season and then again just down the road at the Maverik Center in the Big 12 Gymnastics Championship.
 
Saturday will mark the 21^st time that DU and Utah will have met in the postseason including nine meets held in Salt Lake City, including Thursday's second-round meet.
 
View DU's complete history against Utah.
 
SCOUTING THE BRUINS:
UCLA holds the No. 5 spot in the national rankings and is coming off a win in the Big Ten Conference Championship in the Bruins' first year in the conference. Helping lead UCLA in 2025 is Jordan Chiles, a four-time WCGA regular-season All-American this season. The junior finished in second overall in the race for the NCAA Regional all-around title with a 39.600 on Thursday.
 
DU and UCLA met twice in 2024 including in the NCAA Second Round of the Berkeley Regional where Denver earned its third-ever win against the Bruins (197.275-197.050). Saturday will mark the seventh postseason meeting between Denver and UCLA but the first in an NCAA Regional Final.
 
View DU's complete history against UCLA.
 
SCOUTING THE GOPHERS:
No. 12-seeded Minnesota is tied for No. 10 in the national rankings and placed second in the first session of the NCAA Second Round on Thursday afternoon. Mya Hooten put up the team's single-highest routine score of the meet with a 9.925 on floor, an event where she earned WCGA regular-season All-America status once again in 2025.
 
The last three meetings and four of the last five between Denver and Minnesota have all come at NCAA Regionals, most recently in the second round in Denver in 2023 where DU posted a 197.450-197.200 win over the Gophers. This will mark the 12^th time the teams have met at NCAA Regionals, including one previous competition also held in Salt Lake City in 2003.
 
View DU's complete history against Minnesota.
 
TICKETS:
Season ticket renewals and deposits for the 2026 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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