DENVER – The University of Denver gymnastics team is ranked No. 23 in the Week 12 Road to Nationals rankings, which were released on Monday.
 
Denver tied its fifth highest score of the season with a 196.575 to become the Big 12 Conference runner-up on March 21 at the Big 12 Gymnastics Championship in what was the team's final meet ahead of NCAA Regionals.
 
This is the sixth and final week that rankings are determined solely by National Qualifying Score (NQS), which has a new formula beginning this season. Teams drop their season high and low scores, then average their remaining scores, to determine their national rankings. Individual rankings are also determined by NQS but will still use the previous formula.
 
All team event and individual rankings are now final for the year. Overall team standings will include a combination of NQS and individual meet scores from round to round of the NCAA tournament.
 
Continue reading for a detailed explanation of the new NQS formula.
 
DENVER'S NQS
197.075 – Home vs Air Force
196.950 – Away at Arizona State
196.725 – Away at Air Force Tri
196.600 – Home vs. Arizona
196.575 – Away at Big 12 Championship
196.575 – Home vs. Stanford
196.525 – Home vs. Iowa State
196.100 – Home vs Utah
196.000 – Away at West Virginia
195.925 – Away at BYU
195.850 – Away at Texas Woman's Tri
195.175 – Away at Oregon State
NQS: 196.383
 
TEAM NATIONAL RANKINGS
Overall: No. 23 (196.383 NQS)
Vault: No. 20 (49.068)
Bars: No. 20 (49.073)
Floor: No. 12 (49.365)
 
With its 196.575 at the Big 12 Championship, Denver improved its NQS and moved just .010 away from improving its national ranking. DU did gain two spots in the bars rankings with its 49.100 at the Big 12 Championship, the highest score by any of the six teams across either session of the meet on the event.
 
Denver increased its NQS on floor but held steady at No. 12 for what will be its highest final national floor ranking since 2021 when the team ended the year ranked No. 9.
 
On beam, DU also saw an improvement in its NQS but narrowly missed a spot in the top 25, sitting at No. 26 by just .015.


INDIVIDUAL NATIONAL RANKINGS
Senior Cecilia Cooley
Beam: tie-No. 23 (9.910)
Floor: tie-No. 18 (9.930)
 
Cooley will end the 2026 season with two individual national rankings after returning to the beam top 25 following her career-high-tying 9.925 at the Big 12 Championship to earn her runner-up honors on the event. Her final beam NQS of 9.910 is just outside the top 10 in DU's record book by the smallest possible margin of .005.
 
On floor, an event on which she has spent the entire season ranked, she will finish with a tie for No. 18, missing out on All-America honors by the narrowest of margins, .005. Her NQS of 9.930 on floor is tied for the 10^th highest in program history.
 
With her two rankings to finish the year, Cooley becomes the first DU gymnast to hold at least one spot in the top 25 at the end of a season since Jessica Hutchinson in 2024.
 
NEW NQS DEBUTS IN 2026
The 2026 season marks the beginning of newly-adopted modifications to NQS, which determines eligibility for the NCAA Regionals field. National rankings will be determined by the new NQS formula for the remainder of the season, rather than a straight season average as was the case for the first six weeks.
 
The new NQS formula factors in a higher percentage of each team's meets in comparison to the previous formula. Beginning in 2026, NQS calculations will now include all of a team's meets – with a maximum of five home meets factored in. A team's highest score of the year and lowest score of the year are dropped, and the remaining scores are averaged.
 
Any team with more than five home meets will only be able to use their lowest five home scores of the year as part of their initial NQS calculation – before dropping the high and low scores. Denver only has five home meets in 2026 and will thus include all of its meets toward its NQS as the season continues on.
 
The new NQS formula only impacts team rankings and team postseason selections. Individual rankings and individual qualification to NCAA Regionals will still be determined using the previous NQS formula: taking the top six scores with a minimum of three at away meets, dropping the high score and averaging the remaining five scores.
 
To be eligible for NCAA Regional qualification, teams must include a minimum of nine total meets, a minimum of five away meets and a maximum of five home meets toward their NQS calculation. The meet minimums are not required when determining national rankings.
 
UP NEXT
No. 23 Denver has mathematically clinched a spot in NCAA Regionals for a 27^th consecutive time and will learn to which of the four campus sites it has been selected during the NCAA Selection Show on Monday, March 23, at 10 a.m. MT, televised live on ESPNU.