The final meet of the year for the gymnastics squad, regular season titles for both tennis teams and another sweep of the weekend slate for women’s lacrosse.
Here’s what happened last week in University of Denver Athletics.
Women’s Gymnastics
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 with 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 scoring 196.5000 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 place in the vault event, fourth in the floor event and fourth place in all-around action, beating her previous record of sixth place. She is the first DU gymnast ever to obtain three podium finishes in a single NCAA Championships event.
Brown also was 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.
Women’s Tennis
In their final regular season matchup of the season, the No. 44 women’s tennis squad dominated the University of North Dakota and captured the Summit League regular season title. Straight-set wins from sophomore Andrea Burguete Beltran (Burriana, Spain), senior Britt Pursell (Oceanside, Calif.), freshman Louise Wikander (Helsingborg, Sweden) and freshman Claudia Martinez de Velasco (Madrid, Spain) lifted the Crimson and Gold to a 6-1 victory over the Fighting Hawks. Pursell alongside fifth-year Taylor Melville (Duluth, Ga.) swept the first doubles matchup, and Wilkander and freshman Caroline Driscoll (Brookline, Mass.) won in straight sets to win the doubles point. Denver will be the first seed in the upcoming Summit League Championships this week, and the team will travel to Tulsa, Oklahoma for a chance to capture the conference title for the eighth consecutive season.
Men’s Tennis
The men’s squad ended their regular season on a high note and defeated their two Summit League opponents, the University of Omaha-Nebraska and the University of North Dakota, to improve to 14-7 on the season, capturing Summit League regular-season title. On Friday afternoon, the team hosted Omaha in their final home match of the year, which they won 5-2. Omaha won the doubles point, but the Crimson and Gold dominated singles action, with five of the singles matches won by DU being taken in straight sets. Sophomore Daniel Sancho Arbizu (Zaragoza, Spain), junior Nicolas Herrero Cuesta (Segovia, Spain), junior Peter Sallay (Budapest, Hungary), graduate student Conner Olsen (Orono, Minn.) and junior Charlie Miller (Glasgow, Scotland) each picked up straight-set wins to lift Denver over the Mavericks. On Sunday afternoon, the team traveled up to North Dakota for their final regular season matchup and for a chance to become the Summit League regular season champions. The team won 5-2 due to straight-set wins from Olsen, Sallay, Sancho Arbizu and redshirt senior Anish Sriniketh (Katy, Texas). The men’s squad will also be in Tulsa, Oklahoma this week as the first seed in the Summit League Championships and will be looking to capture the title after a loss in last year’s championships.
Women’s Lacrosse
Another week, another two wins for the No. 3 women’s lacrosse squad who defeated the University of Stanford and Xavier University to stay undefeated on the season. On Friday night, the team hosted Stanford at Peter Barton Stadium and defeated the Cardinals 15-8 in front of the largest home crowd of the season. Sophomore attack Lauren Black (New Westminster, B.C) scored a season-high four goals in the contest and kept her six-game scoring streak going. Senior attack Julia Gilbert (Mclean, Va.), senior midfielder Ellie Curry (Lutherville, Md.) and junior attack Sloane Kipp (Dallas, Texas) all picked up hat tricks in the victory, with Kipp tallying three assists. Gilbert has scored in every game this season and now has an astounding 10 hat tricks on the season. After going up 8-3 in the third quarter, the team scored seven goals in the fourth quarter to pull away late and pick up the victory. The team then traveled to Cincinnati, Ohio to take on the Xavier Musketeers in the first matchup ever between the two teams. Denver scored the second most goals in school history in the contest, defeating Xavier by a whopping score of 23-6. Kipp and Gilbert picked up another hat trick and freshman attack Ryan Dineen (Huntingtown, Md.) registered a team-high four goals in the contest to continue her successful first year with the Crimson and Gold. Senior attack Sydney Collignon (Hinsdale, Ill.) recorded her first-ever hat trick in the contest, scoring all of her goals in the second half. DU scored 10 goals in the second quarter on their way to their fourth straight Big East victory and their 15th straight win. Their next matchup is this Saturday against Georgetown University at Peter Barton Stadium and the team will be honoring its seniors in the contest.
Men’s Lacrosse
The No. 11/12 men’s lacrosse team also picked up two wins this past week in their trip to the East Coast against Towson University and St. Johns University. On Thursday afternoon, the team defeated the non-conference opponent Towson Tigers by a score of 12-10 and senior attack JJ Sillstrop (Encinitas, Calif.) led the way securing his second five-goal effort of the season. Junior goalie Malcolm Kleban (New York, NY) was excellent inside the crease for Denver and made five saves in the fourth quarter to keep the Crimson and Gold on top. Denver was outscored 5-4 in the second half but outscored Towson 8-5 in the first half en route to the victory. The team then made its way to Queens, NY, Saturday morning and took on the St. John’s Red Storm in a Big East battle. Despite being 0-10 on the season, St. Johns put up a great fight against Denver and was up 10-7 in the middle of the third quarter. But DU would go on a run and score 5 goals over the last frame of the contest to secure their 12-10 victory. Junior midfielder Michael Lampert (Wayland, Mass.) scored three of those goals to add to his first-quarter tally and to lead the Crimson and Gold to another Big East Victory. After improving to 7-4 on the season, the team will travel back to Denver and take on the Providence Friars on Friday night, and the team will also honor its seniors on Senior Night in front of the home crowd.
Women’s Golf
The No. 37 women’s golf squad was in Provo, Utah this past week taking part in the Riverside Classic hosted by Brigham Young University. Two solid final rounds in the tournament lifted the team to a third-place finish, the team’s final score being two strokes over par. Senior Anna Zanusso (Castelfranco Veneto, Italy) had the highest finish for the Crimson and Gold, tying for 11th. Graduate student Alyson Bean (Murrieta Calif.) did not finish far behind Zanusso and was joined by sophomore Clara Gestsdottir (Kopavogur, Iceland) in the top 20 finishers in the tournament. The next tournament for Denver starts next Sunday, and the team will look to defend their conference title at the Summit League Championships in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Men’s Golf
The men’s golf squad was in California this past weekend competing in the El Macero Classic and took home a 16th-place finish out of 20 competing teams. The team scored a great first round and two golfers, graduate student Carson Griggs (Sand Springs, Okla.) and sophomore Alex Gibalevich (Studio City, Calif.), scored rounds under par. Griggs was the top DU finisher, finishing in tied for 31st place with a score of 1-over. Gibalevich finished three strokes behind Griggs in tied for 47th place. The team will travel to Provo, Utah this week to take part in the BYU Collegiate Classic which starts on Friday.
