DENVER – The University of Denver Department of Athletics has two recently-graduated student-athletes in Rylie Mundell and Sidney Barbier who are heading to Europe during the 2025-26 academic year as a part of the U.S. Department of State's prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Program, the organization announced on Monday.
Mundell, a former Denver gymnast, and Barbier, a former Denver skier, are the first two DU student-athletes to earn grants from the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, which was established in 1946. The two former Pioneers are part of a University of Denver single-cycle-record eight DU students who are traveling across the world as part of the program in this academic year. Barbier and Mundell are two of 96 DU students to take part in the Fulbright program since its inception.
"The University of Denver Athletic Department has always prioritized the holistic student-athlete experience," Vice Chancellor for Athletics and Ritchie Center Operations Josh Berlo said. "We are so proud of Rylie and Sidney for excelling in the classroom while they were students at the University of Denver, for striving for national excellence in their respective sports and now for preparing to make a positive impact around the world as recipients of one of the most prestigious scholarship awards. As the first two DU student-athletes to earn this honor, we couldn't be more excited to hear their stories and to see the impact they make on the communities they're embedded with through this program."
Individual features on both student-athletes will be posted to DenverPioneers.com later this month.
A five-season member of the Denver gymnastics program, Mundell was an individual qualifier for the 2025 NCAA National Championships on bars after tying for second at the NCAA Regionals. Mundell won a combined eight titles in 2025, including two in the all-around and four on bars. The Parker, Colorado, native made an impact on the program in each of her last four seasons, earning Big 12 Event Specialist of the Year honors in 2024, winning a share of the Big 12 vault title in 2023 and a share of the Big 12 bars title in 2022.
In the classroom, Mundell was a two-time College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-American, earning second-team honors this past spring and third-team honors in 2023. Mundell was also a three-time member of the CSC Academic All-District Team, a five-time WCGA Scholastic All-American and a four-time Academic All-Big 12 honoree. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in physics in June 2024, before completing a master's degree in geographic information systems (GIS) in June 2025.
Mundell's grant will focus on teaching English at the University of Applied Sciences in Nowy Sacz, where she aspires to encourage students to see English as a pathway to communicating their passions and impacting a broader community.
Barbier, who earlier this summer was named the winner of the 2025 Honda Inspiration Award by the Collegiate Women's Sports Awards, was a four-year letterwinner of the Denver skiing program, battling nutcracker syndrome throughout much of her collegiate career. In 2025, Barbier finished all 10 races she started, including a 19th-place finish in the 10K freestyle pursuit and a 21st-place finish in the 7.5K classical interval at the Denver Invitational.
While earning a pair of bachelor's degrees in environmental science and music, Barbier was a four-time DU Athletics Scholar-Athlete of the Year and a four-time member of the National Collegiate All-Academic Ski Team. Barbier's impact on the DU student community saw the Steamboat Springs, Colorado, native serve on DU's Undergraduate Student Government and Sustainability Council while also being involved in the Lamont School of Music.
Barbier's Fulbright scholarship will focus on the pursuit of her master's degree in Earth, Planetary and Environmental Science with a concentration in Atmosphere, Hydrosphere and Cryosphere from the Universite Grenoble-Alpes in Grenoble, France.
Denver's Home for College Sports
Like Denver Pioneers Facebook
Follow @DU_Pioneers on X (Twitter)
Follow @denverpioneers on Instagram
Follow @denverpioneers on Threads
