WHO: No. 23 Denver at NCAA Second Round
WHAT: DU vs. No. 5 Alabama, No. 12 Utah, No. 25 Oregon State in afternoon session
WHERE: Gill Coliseum (Corvallis, Oregon)
WHEN: Friday, April 3, at 1 p.m. PT/2 p.m. MT
LAST TIME OUT:
Denver placed second overall at the 2026 Big 12 Gymnastics Championship on March 21, earning the program's ninth top-two finish at the championship since joining the conference as an affiliate member in 2016. DU's 196.575 final team score matched its fifth highest mark of the season overall and its third highest on the road.
Senior
Cecilia Cooley tied her career high of 9.925 on beam on her way to finishing as a co-runner-up on the event and joined fellow seniors
Mila Brusch and
Kiley Rorich in landing on the All-Big 12 Championship Team on bars.
Denver had the highest bars score of any of the six teams in either session of the meet (49.100) and tied the program's second highest floor score at a Big 12 Championship (49.450).
EYE ON THE RANKINGS:
Denver finished at No. 23 in the final NQS rankings of the season, improving its NQS with its 196.575 at the Big 12 Championship and sitting just .010 from moving up in the rankings overall. In the final team event rankings for 2026, Denver finished at No. 12 on floor – its highest final ranking on the event since 2021 – and also held No. 20 rankings on vault and bars. On beam, DU ended just barely outside the top 25, coming in at No. 26 and just .015 from holding a top-25 ranking.
Cooley finished with two individual national rankings, tying for No. 18 on floor with a 9.930 NQS that matched the 10
th highest in program history on the event. She added a tie for No. 23 on beam as well, also eclipsing the 9.900 NQS mark with a 9.910 – only .005 from ranking her in the top 10 in DU history as well.
QUICK HITS:
- This will be DU's second trip to Corvallis for NCAA Regionals, first doing so in 2019 when Denver finished atop the final team standings on its way to an eventual NCAA Championship Final appearance at NCAA Nationals and a record-shattering fourth-place finish overall.
- For the second year in a row, Denver will compete at an NCAA Regional site after traveling to the same arena during the regular season. DU competed at Oregon State on March 14 for its regular-season finale.
- Bhatia was named the Big 12 Conference Newcomer of the Year, becoming the third Denver gymnast to win the award.
- 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 NCAA REGIONALS:
Denver has now qualified for NCAA Regionals in 27 consecutive seasons in which the competition has been held (excluding the canceled 2020 postseason). In 24 of the last 25 times the NCAA championships has been held, DU has had at least one gymnast advance to NCAA Nationals – including having three do so a season ago.
SCOUTING THE CRIMSON TIDE:
Alabama placed fourth overall at the SEC Championships with a 197.475 in the evening session. Helping lead the way was Gabby Gladieux, who won a share of the floor title, an event on which she was also named a WCGA Regular-Season All-American. Gladieux was also recognized as an All-American in the all-around and is joined by teammates Azaraya Ra-Akbar (vault, bars, floor), Kylee Kvamme (beam) and Chloe LaCoursiere (bars) in earning such honors this season.
The Crimson Tide enter this weekend's competition as the No. 2 seed in the regional and ranked No. 5 nationally. At last year's NCAA Regionals, Alabama placed second overall as the host team and advanced to NCAA Nationals where it placed fourth in the first national semifinal.
View DU's complete history against Alabama.
SCOUTING THE UTES:
Utah won the Big 12 Conference Championship after scoring a 197.675 in the second session, ahead of second-place Denver. The team swept the individual titles with Avery Neff winning in the all-around and on bars and floor. Makenna Smith claimed the win on vault, and Camie Winger did so on beam. Neff and Smith also picked up WCGA Regular-Season All-American honors, as did their teammates Ella Zirbes and Ana Padarariu.
Utah is the No. 3 seed in the Corvallis Regional and is ranked No. 12 in the country. Like Alabama, Utah hosted NCAA Regionals a season ago and advanced to NCAA Nationals as the top team – doing so after DU tied for first with Utah in the NCAA Second Round. In Fort Worth, Utah placed fourth overall after advancing to the NCAA Championship Final.
View DU's complete history against Utah.
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS:
Oregon State has not competed since hosting Denver on March 14 in what was both teams' regular-season finale. OSU won that meet, 196.925-195.175 after DU was forced to count two falls in the final rotation.
The Beavers will host this weekend's competition as an unseeded team ranked No. 25 nationally. In 2025 at NCAA Regionals, Oregon State placed fourth overall in the NCAA Regional Final at Alabama. Then-senior Jade Carey advanced as the region's individual all-around specialist and placed fourth overall at NCAA Nationals.
View DU's complete history against Oregon State.
WHAT'S NEXT:
Should Denver place in the top two of Friday afternoon's meet, DU will advance to the NCAA Regional Final in Corvallis, set for Sunday, April 5, at 5 p.m. PT/6 p.m. MT.
