WHO: No. 23 Denver at Big 12 Championship
WHAT: DU vs. No. 12 Utah, No. 24 BYU, Arizona in evening session
WHERE: Maverik Center (West Valley City, Utah)
WHEN: Saturday, March 21, at 5 p.m. MT
 
LAST TIME OUT:
Denver ended its regular season with a top-25 road meet at Oregon State on March 14. In each of the first three rotations, DU posted some of its top road marks of the season – including season-best away score of 49.200 on bars in the first rotation. Unfortunately, Denver counted its first falls of the year in the final rotation on beam, ending what was tied as the program's third-longest streak without counting a fall of 19 consecutive meets.
 
EYE ON THE RANKINGS:
Denver increased its NQS for its overall team score and on three events in the penultimate NQS rankings of the season. DU's overall NQS is up to a 196.361 to rank No. 23 for a third consecutive week. Denver gained two spots on vault, moving up to No. 20 with an NQS of 49.075, an improvement of nearly a half tenth. On both floor and bars, DU also improved by a spot in the national rankings to No. 12 and No. 22, respectively.
 
Senior Cecilia Cooley jumped 13 spots in the individual floor rankings to a tie for No. 12, increasing her NQS by .015 to 9.930, which is now tied for No. 10 in program history on the event. She is also outside the top 25 on beam by the smallest possible margin of .005.
 
QUICK HITS:

• Cooley, junior Maddison Reidenbach and freshman Shyla Bhatia combined for seven spots on the All-Big 12 Conference Team while Bhatia landed on the All-Freshman Team.
  • This is the second year in a row and third time overall that DU has had three gymnasts earn at least one All-Big 12 Team honor in a single season.
  • Denver's seven combined honors and its eight when including Bhatia's All-Freshman Team nod are both program records for a single season.
  • DU had the second most All-Big 12 Team honors in the conference, behind only Utah.
• This will be the 10^th time for DU competing at the Big 12 Championship after joining the conference as an affiliate member in 2026. (The championship was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
  • Denver won the title in 2021 and has finished in the top three every year.
• For half of DU's roster, Saturday's meet will be their first time competing on podium.
• All 14 of Denver's gymnasts have competed in at least one full lineup for DU this season, and each of them have made a collegiate debut on at least one event.
  • Eleven of the 14 have won at least one title.

DENVER AT THE BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP:
Denver has placed in the top three at every Big 12 Championship since joining the conference as an affiliate member in 2016 – including winning the title five years ago in 2021. Last season, DU finished third overall with a 196.400.
 
In total, Denver gymnasts have combined for 18 individual Big 12 titles including current DU gymnast Mila Brusch, who won a share of the vault title in 2025.
 
SCOUTING THE UTES:
Utah finished its regular season at UCLA on March 14, placing second with a 197.400. Avery Neff helps lead the team this season, earning All-Big 12 Team honors in the all-around and on each of the four events. In total, eight Utah gymnasts earned at least one spot on the All-Big 12 Team.
 
DU and Utah have met 25 times previously including Utah's first-ever trip to Denver for the teams' regular season meeting on March 1 which saw Utah earn a 197.200-196.100 win. Denver earned its first-ever non-loss to Utah less than a year ago, tying with the Utes for first in the NCAA Second Round hosted by Utah during NCAA Regionals in early April, 2025.
 
View DU's complete history against Utah.
 
SCOUTING THE COUGARS:
BYU is coming off a season-high 197.225 at Clemson in its regular-season finale on March 13. Ava Jorgenson and Brynlee Andersen-Broekman each landed on the All-Big 12 Team, doing so on bars and beam, respectively, while Scarlett Sonnenberg added an All-Freshman Team honor.
 
The Cougars topped DU in their regular-season meet at BYU on February 20, 196.575-195.925. The teams did not compete against each other in the same session of the Big 12 Championship last year but did in the 2024 for BYU's first year in the conference when the championship was still held as a single session. Denver finished ahead of BYU overall in both 2024 and 2025.
 
View DU's complete history against BYU.
 
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS:
Arizona closed the regular season on March 13 in a home quad meet, finishing second overall with a 196.650. Abigayle Martin led the team with two All-Big 12 Team honors, doing so in the all-around and on beam. Emma Strom also earned all-conference honors, doing on floor.
 
Denver and Arizona met twice in the 2026 regular season with DU earning wins in both meetings. During Big 12 Conference competition, DU posted a 196.600-195.350 win at home on February 14 after the teams first competed against each other in a tri meet at Texas Woman's on January 16 where DU was first with a 195.850 and Arizona was third with a 193.350.
 
View DU's complete history against Arizona.
 
WHAT'S NEXT:
Denver has mathematically secured a place at NCAA Regionals and will learn to which of the four campus sites is has been selected during the NCAA Selection Show, which will air live on ESPNU on Monday, March 23, at 10 a.m. MT.