The University Of Denver’s 21 ranked gymnastics team will make its fifth-straight appearance in a regional NCAA meet on Saturday in Salt Lake City.
The Pioneers, now 15-7, will compete in the North Central Region Championships hosted by the eighth-ranked University of Utah.
Other competing teams will include No. 6 Stanford, No. 18 California, No. 20 BYU, and No. 23 Minnesota.
In 2001 Denver had its best regional finish, when the Pioneers became the first private school in NCAA history to qualify for nationals by finishing second in the North Central Region Championships in Salt Lake City.
At that time, Denver almost became the first team in 21 years to defeat Utah on its home floor, finishing a close second to the Utes to earn their first Division 1 NCAA berth (194.075-193.900).
The North Central Region Championships is one of six regional meets held nationwide on April 12.
The top two teams in each region will advance to the NCAA National Championships to be held in Lincoln, Neb. April 15-17.
The North Central Region is also the only region with all six teams ranked in the top 25 in the country.
“What would be awesome would be qualifying to be a top-10 team and Academic All Americans,” said Assistant Coach John Figueroa.
“It would be great if a couple of our girls qualified to go to nationals, but we would also like to make it to the NCAA Nationals as a team,” said Head Coach Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart.
The Pioneers’ tri-meet against No. 19 Arizona and West Virginia had to be cancelled and moved to Champions Gymnastics Academy because of structural damage to a wall of the Ritchie Center during the recent blizzard.
“It could have been a lot worse. We won the meet, but it was definitely an experience,” said senior Michelle Kasuga.
Kasuga, along with juniors Ashley Shible and Emily Bankhead, helped the team score points toward their 195.325 score. Sophomore Jessica Kennedy was another standout competitor, when she won the first uneven bars title of her career.
Kennedy tied Amanda Halovanic of West Virginia with a career-high 9.85.
The meet was the last home meet for Denver’s three seniors, Michelle Kasuga, Jamie Martini, and Jacquelin Young, who all ended the program as three of DU’s most successful gymnasts.
“I am hoping to take a year off of school and then eventually go to grad school. I’m thinking of working in appraisals but I’m not sure yet,” said Kasuga.
Martini will graduate with a degree in human communications, and Young, graduating with a major in communications with an emphasis on broadcast journalism, aspires to one day become a sports journalist.
“We’re all very excited to go to regionals,” said Kasuga.
Coach Kutcher-Rinehart feels the same way. “What is fantastic is that the season is over now, and we all have the mental toughness to succeed. Different people now have the courage to step up and the whole team knows that it is in their hands to determine their own futures.”
