After being crowned victorious at the NCAA Regional Championship in front of a home crowd at Magness Arena, the University of Denver’s gymnastics squad traveled to Fort Worth, Texas to compete in the first semifinal matchup of the NCAA Championships. The team battled hard and set school records at the event but ultimately fell short of advancing to the Championships. 

DU competed against Louisiana State University, the University of Florida and the University of California Berkeley, all of whom were ranked much higher than the Crimson and Gold. LSU finished first, scoring 197.4750 points, and Florida finished a close second, scoring 197.4000 points, which was enough to advance to the championship competition. California finished in third with 196.9125 points, and Denver finished closely behind with 196.5000 points. 

DU set several records in the competition scoring some of the highest tallies in events in school history. The school floor record at the NCAA Championship was broken by a tenth of a point alongside the school vault record, which was broken by 0.00375 points. 

Individually, graduate student Lynnzee Brown (Raytown, Mo.) broke her own record for all-around scoring in an NCAA Championship competition, posting an impressive 39.6625 score in the final meet of her illustrious gymnastics career. Brown placed second in the vault event, fourth in the floor event and fourth in all-around action, which beat her previous record of sixth place. She is the first DU gymnast ever to finish with three podium appearances in a single NCAA Championships event. 

Brown was also awarded three first-team Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association All-American honors and is the first gymnast in school history to be awarded three first-team nods. She was awarded first-team honors for the all-around, vault and floor events. 

Big 12 Gymnast of the Year junior Jessica Hutchinson (Gilbertsville, Pa.) capped her successful season with a solid performance at the semifinal matchup with several podium finishes. Hutchinson finished fourth with Brown in the floor event and eighth in all-around action. Hutchinson was also honored as a first-team All-American in the all-around and floor events and as a second-team All-American in the beam event. 

Two other DU gymnasts, junior Rosie Casali (Weddington, N.C.) and freshman Kiley Rorich (Charlotte, N.C.) earned second-team All-American honors in the bars event. Rorich became the fourth freshman in DU history to earn All-American honors, and Casali earned the first honor of her career. 

In the first rotation of the meet, the team started things off with the vault event. Freshman Mila Brusch (Cincinnati, Ohio) and junior Bella Mabanta (Frisco, Texas) led things off — scoring 9.8500 and 9.7825, respectively — and Hutchinson followed with a 9.8375. Brown followed with a team-best 9.9250 and graduate student Alexandria Ruiz (Lake Mary, Fla.) recorded a 9.8250 in the sixth spot of the event. The team finished with a record-breaking 49.2250 score in the vault event, good for the highest in DU appearances in the NCAA Championships. 

In the second rotation, the squad moved to the bars and improved their score by 0.1375 points due to solid performances from Casali and Rorich. Rorich posted a team- and career-high 9.9125 while Casali recorded a solid 9.9000. Hutchinson and Brown followed the strong performances with a 9.8500 and 9.8750 to round out the second event of the afternoon. 

The third rotation was not the best for the Crimson and Gold, but solid anchors from Brown and Hutchinson kept Denver in the running for the competition. Brown scored a 9.9125 in the leadoff spot, and Hutchinson scored a 9.9250 to cap off beam action. Senior Callie Schlottman (Savage, Minn.) scored a 9.8375 in what was the final beam routine of her career. 

Going into the fourth rotation of the afternoon, Denver needed to score big in order to secure their advancement to the championship Saturday afternoon. Usually, the squad assigns six gymnasts to an event and the top five scores are the ones that go into the scoring, but DU opted to go with only five in the last event. 

Brown and Hutchinson delivered curtain-call-quality action with a 9.950 each. Brown was the last to go in the event, and it was an emotional moment for the team after she finished. Brown hopped off the floor and hugged each of her crying teammates who witnessed the last event of her great career. ESPN commentator Kathy Johnson Clarke summarized the Brown’s floor event best. 

“That was a gift to all of us,” Johnson Clarke said. “The power, the grace, the heart, she just put it all out there on the floor exercise for everyone to take in this moment.”

LSU and Florida advanced to the NCAA Championship competition on Saturday alongside the University of Oklahoma and the University of Utah, who both advanced in the other semifinal matchup. Fellow Big 12 opponent Oklahoma went on to win their second consecutive national championship to end the Gymnastics season.