For the second week in a row, the then-No. 11 Pioneer gymnastics team exceeded the 195 mark in its overall score, posting a 195.125 against Arkansas at Barnhill Arena on Friday night.
The overall score clinched second place for the Pioneers, only narrowly missing Arkansas’ final 195.475. The team dropped to No. 13 in the national polls after the weekend’s action.
“I thought that we performed well as a team tonight,” said head coach Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart. “To go over 195 in our first two away meets of the season is a positive, but by the end of the season we hope to not have to count tonight’s away score towards our RQS (Regional Qualifying Score).”
Junior Melodie Pulgarin Linero led the Pioneers with a 39.075 in her first all-around performance so far this season, posting a 9.825 on both vault and beam, in addition to a 9.75 on bars and a 9.675 on floor.
Pulgarin Linero’s score on beam was enough to clinch the meet all-around title.
“I think we did a really good job on the road tonight,” said Pulgarin Linero. “Even though the scores weren’t as good as we wanted them to be, we showed a lot of character tonight, fighting to the end and hitting every beam routine.”
A number of Pioneers stepped up throughout the evening, including redshirt senior Brianna Springer and junior Moriah Martin, who co-led Denver in its first rotation of the evening with a pair of 9.825s to finish in a tie for second.
Junior Kaitlin Moorhead, the reigning Western Athletic Conference Event Specialist of the Week, posted her fourth-straight 9.85 or better on vault for the Pioneers, finishing in second place and only trailing Arkansas’ first-place finisher Katherine Grable by 0.025. Grable led all athletes in the all-around on Friday, tallying a 39.350.
“I was proud of each and every one of the girls tonight,” said Kutcher-Rinehart. “While the scores weren’t what we would have liked, the girls fought all the way to the end and under the pressure of a tight meet went seven-for-seven on beam.”
Sophomore Nina McGee anchored the floor lineup for Denver with a 9.875, sharing the meet title with Grable. Moorhead was close behind with a 9.8.
The Pioneers return to action when they host No. 24 North Carolina State, San Jose State and Air Force in the Burnsley Invitational at 6 p.m. in Hamilton Gymnasium on Saturday. San Jose State’s participation in the meet will mark it as Denver’s first WAC competition of the 2013 season.
North Carolina State enters the meet coming off a season-best score of 195.2 against the West Virginia Mountaineers last Friday, while Denver’s best score this season is a 196.6 from a Jan. 12 competition against Air Force.
In last week’s competition, the Wolfpack were led by junior Diahanna Ham in the all-around with a final score of 39.125. Ham also led North Carolina State on beam, posting a 9.85 to claim second at the meet.
“After two meets away, we’re really happy to get back in front of our home crowd again next week,” said Pulgarin Linero. “We’re going to keep working this week in the gym, like we do every day, to prepare for another meet next week. The main thing is to not let tonight’s scores discourage us because we know we are better than that.”
