Impressive performance and outstanding results during Sunday’s regionals final gave Denver gymnastics the top spot ticket to Fort Worth, Texas, where they will be facing the best teams in the nation for the national title. 

Denver’s journey seemed complicated from the start of the weekend, knowing they would face extremely tough opponents, including  No. 3 Michigan and No. 6 LSU, alongside other impressive teams inside the top 20 rankings, such as Oregon State, Minnesota, and Georgia. 

No. 13 Denver had a problematic Friday late session making some mistakes during the vault and beam events. However, they managed to get back on their feet and finished with a solid performance to score 197.450 under a stronger side Michigan, achieving an even more impressive 198.025 to advance to the regional finals.

Magness Arena would welcome the strongest four teams of the weekend on Sunday for the regional finals. Unsurprisingly, Denver would face three other sides ranked higher than them, and they needed to perform exceptionally well to secure one of two tickets that would take them to Fort Worth and keep the dream alive. 

After the first two rotations (floor and vault), Denver was last on the table. The Crimson and Gold needed excellent scores with every performance to qualify, and the opposing sides did not want to give an inch. During the next rotation, Denver would gain an advantage and move up to third, looking to finish strong with their last rotation in the balance beam. 

The atmosphere at Magness Arena was incredible, and the fan’s support made this moment even more special. Denver provided an impressive performance once again during their last rotation, with an exceptional 9.975 from junior Bella Mabanta (Frisco, Texas) and an overall team total of 49.625 on this rotation, lifting Denver to the top spot and the ticket to Fort Worth, Texas. 

Graduate student Lynnzee Brown (Raytown, Mo.) scored an outstanding All Around score of 39.800, the highest all weekend, scoring 9.950 in every discipline to help DU beat some of the best teams in the nation in front of a home crowd. 

LSU managed to get second place and will travel to Fort Worth to compete in the semi-finals with DU. It came in the midst of the drama, as after the last rotation, Michigan and LSU were tied. But after tiebreaker calculations, LSU was deemed second place and advanced to the national semifinals. 

The NCAA National Semifinals are on April 13-15 in Fort Worth, Texas, and DU will have to place in the top two of the semifinals to move on to the NCAA Championships.