DENVER – The No. 21-ranked University of Denver women's gymnastics team finished its 2026 Big 12 Conference schedule with a 196.100 on Sunday against No. 12 Utah in Magness Arena.
 
In what was the team's penultimate home meet of the season, Denver started with set or tied seasons highs on its first two events before finishing with its 196.100, placing second behind Utah (197.200).
 
SIGNIFICANT STATS

• On Senior Day, all three DU seniors tied a career high in the meet:
  • Mila Brusch on vault with a 9.900, her first vault since the season opener.
  • Cecilia Cooley on bars with a 9.925 after sliding into the anchor spot.
  • Kiley Rorich on floor with a 9.900, her season debut on the event.
• DU set a new season high on vault with a 49.175 and followed it by tying its season on bars with a 49.150 in the next rotation.
• Denver shuffled its lineups on all four events – welcoming back Brusch on vault for just the second time in 2026 and Rorich on floor for the first time this year, as well as seeing freshman Sevana Kasparian make her collegiate bars debut.
• For the first time this season, Denver did not have an all-around competitor.
• Despite falls early in the bars and beam lineups, DU finished out the rotations with hit routines to continue its trend of not counting a fall in any meet so far in 2026.
  • DU has now gone 17 meets without counting a fall – the fourth longest streak in program history – last doing so on January 31, 2025.

VAULT RECAP
Denver started the meet with its best vault rotation of the season thus far, counting four scores at or above 9.800 and highlighted by the return of Brusch, who missed the last six meets on vault with an injury. The senior matched her career high of 9.900 with just a small hop on her 9.95 start value – the third time in her career to achieve a 9.900 on a Yurchenko full.
 
Junior Amanda Hargraves led of the lineup and also equaled her career high, sticking her Yurchenko full for a 9.875. Kasparian followed her up with a 9.825, and sophomore Addie Hewitt added a 9.800 later in the lineup, slotting into the No. 4 spot in just her third full lineup appearance in her career. Junior Maddison Reidenbach had the final counted DU score with a 9.775 midway through the rotation.
 
BARS RECAP
With a rearranged lineup, Denver matched its season high on bars, overcoming a fall in the No. 2 spot after Kasparian went over on an aggressive handstand in what was her first full lineup appearance. Fellow freshman Kaitlynd Kastl continued on as the lead-off performer, a spot she has held for four consecutive meets, and earned a 9.775. Immediately following the fall in the second routine, Rorich got things back on track with a 9.850 after moving into the No. 3 spot for the first time this season. Freshman Shyla Bhatia and senior Brusch each added a 9.800 in the next routines, setting up Cooley for a career high-tying 9.925 in the anchor position, her first time competing there this year.
 
BEAM RECAP
DU also mixed up its beam lineup and once again was able to step up to drop a fall from the third routine. Freshman Megan Aamold had the team's top score with a 9.850 in the anchor spot, guaranteeing the fall would not count to the team total. Junior Ashley Gallen was a last-minute substitution into the lineup, going into the No. 5 spot only after the four-minute touch and contributed a 9.725.
 
Freshman Terra Rutter returned to the lineup after a meet away, scoring a 9.700. Cooley moved up to the lead-off spot – a place she competed for much of last season – and scored a 9.650 after earning two different start values from the judges. Hargraves had the final counted score with a 9.625, the final result following a coach's inquiry that lowered her start value from one judge.
 
FLOOR RECAP
The team regrouped and once again closed out a meet with its strongest performance of the competition, finishing with a 49.225 on floor. In one of the standout moments of not just the meet but possibly the year, Rorich made her first floor appearance of the season after an injury kept her out for the first half of 2026. Shortly after a hit punch front through to double tuck to start the routine, her floor music cut out. The crowd rallied for her, cheering a loud as it had all meet long and exploding when she executed a well-controlled double pike in the final pass. She finished with a 9.900 final score, tied for DU's highest floor score of the day and matching her career high.
 
Two routines later, Reidenbach also earned a 9.900, her third score in the 9.900 range this season and her second in as many meets. Bhatia earned a 9.825 for a third counted score for Denver, going along with matching 9.800s from Gallen and Hargraves in the first two routines. An out-of-bounds from Cooley in the anchor spot finished the meet with a 9.725.
 
EXHIBITION NOTES
Denver chose to compete with only one exhibition in the meet, seeing Bhatia go on beam for just her second such routine this year and scoring a 9.700.
 
PODIUM FINISHES
Vault
Brusch: Second Place – 9.900
Hargraves: Third Place (tie) – 9.875
 
Bars
Cooley: Second Place – 9.925
 
Beam
Aamold: Third Place – 9.850
 
NEXT UP:
Denver competes twice in four days against its fellow Colorado team in Air Force, starting with a trip to the US Air Force Academy on Friday, March 6, 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.