On the road this weekend, the No. 13 Pioneer women’s gymnastics team beat out West Virginia, scoring the third-best road score in program history at 196.8 on Sunday afternoon.
Denver’s opponent, No. 16 West Virginia, finished second with an overall score of 196.375, followed by George Washington with a score of 195.3 and Temple with 191.375.
The weekend’s performance held the Pioneers at No. 13 in the polls for the third-straight week.
“I was really pleased overall with the girls’ performance,” said head coach Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart. “Not only were we on the road, but it was a three-hour flight to Pittsburgh, which includes a two-hour time difference and an hour-and-a-half drive to Morgantown. In addition to that, the meet was at 2 in the afternoon instead of the evening and two hours earlier by Denver time, but the girls did well with the travel and managing themselves; they really blocked out the distracting factors.”
The team’s finish on Sunday also marked its sixth-highest overall score in program history. Denver also combined for a 49.30 in their first, third and fourth rotations, adding a 49.025 in the second.
Junior Jorie Hall also scored 9.925 on beam, tying her career high, and freshman Emily Barett scored her career high of 9.85 on the balance beam and tied her career high on uneven bars at 9.8.
Although two uneven bar regulars were unable to perform in this competition, the third rotation finished with a combined score of 49.300, which is also the sixth-highest score in Denver’s program history as well as another third-highest road score for the entire squad. Senior Simona Castro lead off with a 9.825 on the uneven bars, followed by Barett with a 9.8 in her debut performance. Junior Emily Warfield landed a 9.775 in her debut after a limiting back injury earlier in the season.
Sophomore Nina McGee and redshirt senior Brianna Springer led the Pioneers on the uneven bars with tied scores of 9.9, and junior Moriah Martin added a 9.875.
“This victory certainly does help in the ranking. It doesn’t reflect the overall ranking, but it does mean we get to drop a lower rank,” said Kutcher-Rinehart. “It’s really going to help in regionals for the overall qualifying score. However, the scores aren’t what matters; we really emphasize that the team improves and displays confidence.”
The Pioneers are now preparing to host Arizona State and Illinois State at 6 p.m. on Saturday. DU will welcome Olympic gymnast Jordyn Wieber to Hamilton Gymnasium during the event.
“We really are striving for perfection, form, execution and sticking our landings,” said Kutcher-Rinehart. “We have to be calm and aggressive.”
