On Sunday, the University of Denver gymnastics team lost to No. 18 Iowa State in their second match-up of the season. Despite having won the teams’ previous meeting on Jan. 15, Denver scored a 195.850 to Iowa State’s 196.050 and recorded their first loss of the 2021 season.
In spite of Sunday’s loss, Denver gymnastics has started the season out strong. After their impressive performance versus the Air Force Academy last week, the team earned the No. 5 spot in the nation and boasts the No. 2 and No. 3 rankings on the beam and the bars, respectively. Most notably, junior Alexis Vasquez (Arcadia, Calif.) is currently tied for the No. 1 spot in the country on the beam.
True to their rankings, Denver won the bars in Sunday’s meets, earning their only team event win of the afternoon. The home team swept the podium in this event with senior Lynnzee Brown (Kansas City, Mo.) earning a 9.925 to take home a first-place title and senior Emily Glynn (Longmont, Colo.) scoring a 9.900 to take home second. Freshman Rylie Mundell (Parker, Colo.) and junior Alexandria Ruiz (Lake Mary, Fla.) both earned a 9.850 to tie for third with Iowa State sophomore Makayla Maxwell (Las Vegas, Nev.). Denver had an overall team score of 49.325 to beat Iowa State’s 48.850 in this event.
However, Iowa State took first place in the other three events. Most notably, the Cyclones won the beam with a team score of 49.000 to defeat Denver’s 48.825. Although Ruiz was first in this event with a 9.875 and two other Denver gymnasts tied for both second and third, the home team still fell short.
On the vault, Brown earned another podium finish with a 9.925 but was unable to beat Iowa State junior Addy de Jesus’ (Greenwich, Conn.) perfect 10.000 performance. Freshman Jessica Hutchinson (Gilbertsville, Pa.) earned a 9.850 to finish third in this event, continuing the trend of improving her score in each consecutive meet this season. Denver concluded the vault with a team score of 48.900 that was still short of the Cyclone’s 49.175.
As Denver competed on the floor, freshman Rosie Casali (Weddington, N.C.) led the home team and earned a 9.825 to tie for second overall with two Iowa State gymnasts. Hutchinson and sophomore Amoree Lockhart (Fort Worth, Texas) followed close behind with a 9.800 and a 9.775 respectively. The Cyclones still took the title in this event with a 49.025 that beat DU’s team score of 48.800.
Ruiz and Hutchinson also earned All-Around titles with Ruiz scoring a 39.175 to come in second and Hutchinson a 39.075 to place third.
Denver looks to come back strong as they host both Oklahoma and Temple on Sunday, Feb. 7. The meet begins at 2 p.m. in Hamilton Gymnasium.
