DENVER – University of Denver gymnasts Cecilia Cooley and Abby Steeley earned weekly Big 12 Conference honors, the conference announced on Tuesday.
 
Cooley collected Big 12 co-Gymnast of the Week recognition while Steeley added a Big 12 Newcomer of the Week nod.
 
Cooley won her fourth consecutive all-around title after continuing her trend of improving her personal best score in every meet so far, posting a 39.500 on February 14. Along the way, the DU senior set a new career high on vault (9.825) and tied her personal best of 9.925 beam – a score she first achieved one week ago. Her 9.850 on bars equaled her top score of the season on the event, and she finished the competition with a 9.900 on floor, her fifth mark in the 9.9+ range through the team's first six meets.
 
Steeley shattered her personal best on beam by more than a tenth with a 9.925 on beam during DU's meet against Arizona on February 14. The Denver freshman tied for the event title – the first of her career – with teammate Cooley. Their event-winning 9.925s came in the first two routines immediately following a fall in Denver's beam lineup and eventually allowed the team to once again not count a fall toward the team total.
 
Cooley's and Steeley's combined five scores contributed toward Denver's season-high home score of 196.600 against Arizona on February 14.
 
This is Cooley's second career Big 12 Gymnast of the Week award and her first for 2026. This is Steeley's first Big 12 weekly award.
 
Denver gymnasts have now combined for five Big 12 weekly awards this year. Cooley is the first to earn Gymnast of the Week honors, and Steeley joins classmates Shyla Bhatia and Megan Aamold as Newcomers of the Week (Bhatia in Week 1 and Aamold in Weeks 4 and 5).
 
The No. 16-ranked University of Denver gymnastics team hits the road for the final time in Big 12 Conference competition when it visits No. 23-ranked BYU on Friday, February 20, at 7 p.m. MT.
 
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.