WHO: No. 23 Denver at Air Force, San Jose State
WHAT: DU's first of two meets in four days
WHERE: Cadet West Gym (USAFA, Colorado)
WHEN: Friday, March 6, at 7 p.m. MT
 
FAN BASE ACCESS PASSES REQUIRED:
Fans wishing to attend Friday's meet must acquire a visitor base access pass to the U.S. Air Force Academy. Visitors must have a valid REAL ID and request their visitor pass in advance online.
 
LAST TIME OUT:
Denver finished its Big 12 Conference schedule with a 196.100 performance against Utah on March 1. The team started the meet with season highs on vault (49.175) and bars (49.150) while also overcoming falls in the first half of its bars and beam rotations to continue its streak of not counting a fall in any meet this season.
 
The meet served as Denver's Senior Day, and all three of its seniors tied a career high: Mila Brusch on vault with a 9.900 – in what was her first appearance on the event since the season opener – Cecilia Cooley on bars with a 9.925; and Kiley Rorich on floor with a 9.900 – in what was her season debut on the event.
 
EYE ON THE RANKINGS:
Denver ranks No. 23 nationally following the Utah meet and is once again ranked inside the top 25 on all four events after moving up a spot on vault to No. 25 with an NQS improvement of a quarter tenth. The bars squad also boosted its national ranking by one, moving up to No. 21.
 
Cooley did not compete in the all-around last week but maintains a spot in the Week 9 rankings, coming in tied for No. 25. An unfortunate out-of-bounds on floor kept her from increasing her NQS on the event, though she is once more nationally ranked on the event in a tie for No. 23.
 
QUICK HITS:

• Rorich was named the Big 12 Event Specialist of the Week following her career high-tying 9.900 in her season debut on floor during Denver's meet against Utah.
  • The performance was made all the more impressive when considering that her floor music cut out midway through her routine.
• Friday's meet is the first of two in four days for Denver this weekend – both against Air Force.
  • After DU makes the trip to the Air Force Academy on Friday, the Falcons will make the return trip to Denver on Monday, March 9.
  • This is the quickest turn around between meets for Denver this regular season.
• Denver finishes its regular season with three non-conference meets, beginning with this weekend's home-and-away competitions against Air Force.
• 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.

SCOUTING THE FALCONS:
Air Force is having a record-breaking season with multiple program records set so far including its all-time highest team score of 196.300 set two weeks ago at San Jose State. The Falcons most recently posted a 195.825 at Utah State on February 27, led in part by Maggie Slife's 39.425 in the all-around. Slife is building off what was a breakout season in 2025 by also breaking AFA individual records this season and is ranked in the top 10 nationally in the all-around and on bars.
 
AFA is Denver's most frequent opponent in its more than 50 year history, holding a 109-4-0 record entering this weekend. The teams last met on March 3, 2024, in Denver – a meet that also saw San Jose State compete – where DU topped AFA, 198.025-194.050. Denver's last trip to the Air Force Academy was February 17, 2023, in another DU win (197.650-195.125).
 
This weekend's meets mark the seventh time that Denver and Air Force have faced off twice in the same week and the first since March 4-6, 2016.
 
View DU's complete history against Air Force.
 
SCOUTING THE SPARTANS:
San Jose State is coming off a third-place finish in a home quad meet against Boise State, Arizona State and Sacramento State on March 1, scoring a 195.925. Sophie Patterson won the all-around and beam titles while teammates Kaviana Jurries shared the win on vault and Kaylee Larson did so on floor.
 
This will be the 10^th all-time meeting between DU and SJSU with Denver owning wins in all nine previous meetings. The teams last met on March 3, 2024 – a meet that also featured Air Force – where DU won with a 198.025 and SJSU was second with a 196.675. It was also 2024 that saw Denver and San Jose State's most recent neutral-site meeting when both teams opened the season in Las Vegas at the Super 16 Challenge. DU was first in their session (196.850) while SJSU was fourth (194.950).
 
View DU's complete history against San Jose State.
 
WHAT'S NEXT:
Denver hosts its final home meet of the 2026 season when it again competes against Air Force on Monday, March 9, at 5:45 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.
 
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