DENVER – University of Denver gymnast Shyla Bhatia was named the Big 12 Conference Newcomer of the Week for the first full week of the season, the conference announced on Wednesday.
 
The Denver freshman made her collegiate debut in DU's season-opening win over preseason-No. 13 Stanford on January 11. Bhatia competed in the full lineup on three events for Denver and finished the day with two top-three finishes in the meet.
 
Bhatia started things off with a stuck Yurchenko 1.5 on vault that won her the title outright with a 9.925 that matched the DU program record score for a freshman on the event in her first collegiate meet. She then added a 9.800 on bars and a 9.875 on floor, which tied for third overall and also tied the program's third highest score by a freshman in her debut meet.
 
All three of her scores contributed toward DU's 196.575, which became the sixth highest score in a season opener in program history. Her floor score helped DU earn a 49.425 on the event, which also set a new program record for highest floor score in a season opener.
 
This is Bhatia's first Big 12 Conference award and DU's first weekly conference award of the season. The Big 12 considered performances for the first two weeks of the NCAA season for this week's awards, which were its first of the year.
 
The No. 12 University of Denver gymnastics team makes its first road trip of the season when it visits No. 25 Texas Woman's for a tri meet with fellow Big 12 team Arizona on Friday, January 16.
 
TICKETS:
Tickets 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.