USAFA, Colorado – The No. 23-ranked University of Denver women's gymnastics team earned its second highest score of the season with a 196.725 in a tri meet at Air Force on Friday night.
 
DU finished at the top of the team standings, ahead of host Air Force (196.425) and San Jose State (195.725).
 
SIGNIFICANT STATS

• Denver posted its highest score of year so far on vault (49.250) while also setting a new season high road score on floor (49.400).
• DU's 98.650 after the first two rotations was a new season high by more than three tenths.
• DU's 147.575 through the first three rotations was also a new season high.
• Junior Maddison Reidenbach returned to the all-around after only competing on two events in DU's last meet and posted a career-best 39.425, which also became the third highest all-around score by a Denver gymnast in 2026.
• On vault, DU posted all six scores above a 9.800, doing so for the first time in 2026.
• The beam squad once again overcame a fall early in the lineup to drop the mistake and continue its streak of not counting a fall as season long.

FLOOR RECAP
Denver kicked off the meet with its strongest rotation of the night with a 49.400 on floor with five counted scores at or above 9.875. Senior Cecilia Cooley capped the rotation with a 9.900, her sixth 9.900 or higher on the event so far. Four more DU gymnasts all earned matching 9.875s, starting with junior Ashley Gallen in the lead off to equal her career high. After an out-of-bounds in the No. 2 spot, the team responded with three consecutive 9.875s from senior Kiley Rorich, freshman Shyla Bhatia and Reidenbach.
 
VAULT RECAP
For the second time in 2026, DU started a vault rotation with three consecutive sticks, this time from junior Amanda Hargraves, freshman Sevana Kasparian and Reidenbach on their Yurchenko fulls. Sophomore Addie Hewitt matched her personal best with a 9.850 in the No. 4 spot, and senior Mila Brusch kept the scores building with a 9.875 that was just off her career high that she tied in the team's last meet in her return to the lineup. Anchoring the rotation was Bhatia with a Yurchenko 1.5 that earned a 9.825.
 
BARS RECAP
Bhatia led Denver's bars rotation for the second time this season, resetting her personal best with a 9.850 punctuated by a stuck double layout dismount. Rorich and Reidenbach also earned marks in the 9.800 range in the two routines before Bhatia with Rorich scoring a 9.825 and Reidenbach registering a 9.800 in her return to the lineup after not competing on the event in the team's last meet. Freshman Kaitlynd Kastl and Cooley each added 9.725s in the lead off and anchor positions, respectively, in what were DU's final counted scores in the rotation.
 
BEAM RECAP
Once again, Denver battled back from a fall early in its beam lineup to finish with only hit routines to ensure the fall would not count. For the first time, freshman Megan Aamold took over the role of lead off and earned a 9.725 off a 9.900 start value. Gallen got the rotation back on track in the No. 3 spot immediately following the fall, scoring a 9.825.
 
Reidenbach kept building momentum in the next routine, earning a 9.875 for a steady set finished with a stuck layout 1.5 dismount that was only a quarter tenth from her personal best. Hargraves took over the No. 5 slot and fought through her leap series to guarantee she would hit her routine. Stuck front gainer layout full dismount earned her a 9.800. As the anchor, Cooley closed out the rotation with a rock-solid set, also finishing with a stuck handspring-through-to-gainer-full dismount for a career high-tying 9.925.
 
EXHIBITION NOTES
Denver scratched its exhibitions on vault and floor but did have a gymnast compete in that spot on bars and beam. For just the second time, freshman Abby Steeley took the bars exhibition slot and scored a 9.700, an improvement of more than a tenth from her first such appearance. Hewitt then went on beam for her first appearance of any kind on the event in her career and scored a 9.700.
 
PODIUM FINISHES
Vault
Brusch: First Place (tie) – 9.875
Reidenbach: First Place (tie) – 9.875
 
Bars
Bhatia: Third Place – 9.850
 
Beam
Cooley: First Place (tie) – 9.925
 
Floor
Cooley: First Place (tie) – 9.900
 
All-Around
Reidenbach: Second Place – 39.425
 
NEXT UP:
Denver and Air Force face off again for the second time in four days when DU hosts the Falcons in Magness Arena for the final Denver home meet of the season 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.