Three winter sports seasons came to a close, domination from women’s lacrosse, and a ticket punched to the NCAA Gymnastics Championships.
Here’s what happened over spring break in University of Denver athletics.
Women’s Gymnastics
The women’s gymnastics team traveled to West Virginia over spring break to take part in the Big 12 Championships and brought back a second-place finish, scoring 197.175 points. Juniors Rylie Mundell (Parker, Colo.) and Jessica Hutchinson (Gilbertsville, Pa.) took home a share of individual titles in the Big 12 Championships on the vault and floor events respectively. Mundell scored a 9.950 to win the vault title, which is her second Big 12 championship event win in her career after she won the bars championship last season. Hutchinson also scored a 9.950 and captured her first-ever event championship at the Big 12 championships. Hutchinson won the all-around title last season and this season she finished second. Alongside the success came the honors for Hutchinson who won her second straight Big 12 Gymnast of the Year award. She is the sixth gymnast in Big 12 history and the first Denver gymnast to win the award multiple times. After the Big 12 Championships, the squad had a much bigger competition with the start of the NCAA Regionals, which were hosted at Magness Arena from March 31-April 2. Denver advanced to the regional finals after placing second in Session 2 of the second rounds, joining Louisiana State University, Oregon State University and the University of Michigan in the regional finals.
The second half of the four rotations was dominated by Denver, and the Crimson and Gold came back to win the Regional finals and advance to the National semifinals. After going down early in the second rotation, the Crimson and Gold had work to do in the bars and beam event to get back into the competition. Graduate student Lynzee Brown (Raytown, Mo.) led the way for the Crimson and Gold and posted a 9.950 in every event to lead DU to a 197.875 winning score. 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.
Men’s Hockey
The men’s hockey squad season is officially over after the team dropped their last two conferences in the semifinals for the NCHC Conference Championship and the NCAA Regional Semifinal. The team was first in St. Paul, Minn. on St. Patrick’s Day taking on a familiar opponent of Colorado College who the Crimson and Gold previously defeated in three separate games this season. It would be a different result for Denver as they would not be able to register a goal against CC freshman and NCHC Goaltender of the Year nominee, Kaidan Mbereko. Mbereko stopped 23 shots in the shutout while his counterpart senior goaltender and NCHC Goaltender of the Year Magnus Chrona (Stockholm, Sweden) stopped 20 of the 21 shots he faced in the 1-0 loss.
The team then moved on to the NCAA Regional Semifinal and took on Cornell in Manchester, New Hampshire. The team was announced to be the first seed in the region beforehand and the fourth overall seed in the tournament. Denver could not get any offense going again in their contest against the Big Red, and for the second game in the row were shut out in the 2-0 defeat. The team will lose several players who have signed professional contracts to minor and major league clubs. Senior defenseman Kyle Mayhew (Anaheim Hills, Calif.) signed a contract with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles who are located only 45 minutes north of DU, senior captain Justin Lee (Waskada, Manitoba) signed with the WIlkes-Barre Penguins and sophomore forward Carter Mazur (Jackson, Mich.) inked a deal with the Detroit Red Wings.
Swim and Dive
The NCAA swim and dive season is officially over after the NCAA Championships took place in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Mar 22-25. Sophomore diver Zyad Morsy (Cairo, Egypt) was one of two swim and dive athletes at the NCAA Championships and finished 32nd out of 47, scoring 309.45 points in the men’s platform competition. Morsy was also part of the three DU swim and dive athletes that were awarded postseason honors from the Summit League. Morsy won Summit League Men’s Diver of the Year alongside junior diver Olivia Gordon (Las Vegas, Nev.) who won Summit League Women’s Diver of the Year and redshirt senior Natalie Arky (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) who won Summit League Women’s Swimmer of the Year. Arky was also at the NCAA Championships in Minnesota and finished 40th in the 200-meter backstroke event, 47th in the 100-meter backstroke event and 48th in the 100-meter fly event. The team also competed in their final team competition of the year in the CSCAA National Invitational Championships on March 9-11. The men’s team finished 10th place and the women’s team closed out the season with a 13th place finish, making Denver one of seven universities to have both the men’s and women’s teams placed in the top-13.
Skiing
The skiing season is also officially over after the Denver ski team traveled to the east coast to take part in the NCAA Championships. For the third year in a row, DU Skiing finished third in the championships and took home another podium finish in the biggest skiing competition of the season. Freshman Sara Rask (Stockholm, Sweden) had the highest finish in the competition, finishing second in the Women’s Giant Slalom race and third in the Slalom Race. She was awarded first-team All-American honors for her podium finishes.
The United States Collegiate Ski Coaches Association handed out the All-American honors and handed out first-team honors to the skiers who placed 1st-5th in the event and second-team honors to the skiers who placed 6th-10th in an event. Junior Nora Brand (Munich, Germany) finished second in the Women’s Slalom Race and seventh in the Women’s Giant Slalom race earning first- and second-team All-American honors. Senior Bernhard Flaschberger (St. Veit, Pongau, Austria) ended his successful skiing career with a third-place finish in the Men’s 10k freestyle event and an eighth-place finish in the Men’s 20k classic event. He was awarded first- and second team honors for both of his top-10 finishes, and it is the third year in a row for Flaschberger to receive these honors.
Women’s Lacrosse
The No. 4 women’s lacrosse team continues to dominate the sport and remains undefeated after having three games over spring break. Their first contest was against the University of Delaware on March 13 at Peter Barton Memorial Stadium, and the Crimson and Gold downed the Blue Hens 13-6. Senior attack Julia Gilbert (Mclean, Va.) was one of the nine goalscorers in the contest and recorded her fifth hat trick of the season. Their second contest over spring break was against the formally No .4 Boston College Eagles in Jacksonville, Florida. The Crimson and Gold handled the tough test and won 13-8. Senior midfielder Ellie Curry (Lutherville, Md.) and redshirt sophomore attack Raegan Wilson (Milton, Ontario) led the way, each scoring a hat trick. Their third contest was against another ranked opponent, this time the formerly No. 21 Jacksonville University, and DU took care of business again, winning 12-7. Freshman attack Ryan Dineen (Huntingtown, Md.) recorded her second hat trick of the season en route to the victory for the Crimson and Gold.
On Saturday, the team hosted their first Big East contest against Villanova and destroyed the Wildcats by a score of 17-4. Gilbert and Wilson led the way again, scoring four goals each in the contest. Junior draw specialist Abby Jenkins (Richmond, Va.) set a score record for draw controls in a career in the contest with 227 in three years, surpassing Kiki Boone’s record of 225 that she set back in 2015. The women’s team will look to continue their undefeated season with their next contest on Wednesday afternoon against Butler University at Peter Barton Stadium.
Men’s Lacrosse
The No.13/16 men’s lacrosse squad had one contest over spring break against the No. 15/14 Ohio State University at Peter Barton Stadium and handled business in a high scoring affair, winning 17-12. Junior midfielder Stephen Avery (Nashville, Tenn.) had an impressive game against the Buckeyes, finding the back of the net seven times in the contest which was good for third all time for most goals in a game in Denver Lacrosse history. Denver’s leading scorer, senior attack JJ Sillstrop (Encinitas, Calif.) followed Avery’s impressive performance with a great performance of his own, recording five goals in the contest. Senior attack Richie Connell (Evergreen, Colo.) was the distributor in the contest and has been all season, recording five assists against the Buckeyes.
After the win against Ohio State, the team then traveled out east for their Big East opener against Georgetown University and dropped their contest against the Hoyas, 6-13 on Saturday. The Crimson and Gold could not keep up with the Hoyas in the faceoff circle, losing faceoffs 7-16. They were also outshot by a wide margin of 46-23. The squad will look to rebound with another Big East contest this Saturday against Villanova, and the team will celebrate the great career of legendary coach Bill Tierney as he coaches his last season with the University of Denver.
Women’s Tennis
The women’s tennis squad took to the road towards Texas where they competed in matches against Baylor and Southern Methodist University over spring break. Their first match against the Baylor Bears did not get the desired result, and the Crimson and Gold fell 2-5. Freshman Claudia Martinez de Velasco (Madrid, Spain) and sophomore Andrea Burguete (Burriana, Spain) won their respective singles matches in straight sets to get the two points for DU. Two days later, Denver traveled just an hour north to SMU and ultimately fell short 1-4. Martinez de Velasco was the only player to win a match in the contest, and won in straight sets for the second consecutive match. The team came back home from Texas and hosted two Summit League Matches on Saturday and Sunday against Kansas City and South Dakota and swept each match, 7-0. The squad now improves to 13-4 on the season and will take on two Tulsa, Oklahoma located teams, the University of Tulsa and Oral Roberts University in their next match.
Men’s Tennis
The men’s tennis team competed in two matches over spring break, splitting the results against the No. 37 UTSA Roadrunners and the New Mexico Lobos. Their first match was against UTSA on March 22, and the Crimson and Gold got close to upsetting the ranked Roadrunners but ultimately fell 2-5 in the contest. Junior Nicolas Herrero Cuesta (Sagovia, Spain) won his singles match in straight sets and sophomore Daniel Sancho Arbizu (Zaragova, Spain) won his singles match in a hard-fought three sets, the last set going to tiebreakers. The team rebounded with a win against New Mexico, downing the Lobos by a score of 4-2. Herrero Cuesta, Sancho Arbizu, junior Peter Sallay (Budapest, Hungary) and junior Charlier Miller (Glasgow, Scotland) each won their match in straight sets to lift the Crimson and Gold over the Lobos. The success trickled into the next match against Summit League Opponent Drake and the squad won 4-3. The next match for the men’s tennis squad is a Summit League matchup against Oral Roberts on Friday night in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Women’s Golf
The women’s golf squad was in beautiful Hawaii competing in the Avenue Spring Break Invitational last week. It was a successful tournament for the team as they finished second with a score of 11 strokes under par and was good for the fourth lowest score in program history. Graduate student Alyson Bean (Murrietas, Calif.) continues to produce great rounds for the Crimson and Gold and finished third in the tournament, shooting nine under par. Senior Anna Krekling (Lommedalen, Norway) and sophomore Clara Gestsdottir (Kopavogur, Iceland) finished not too far behind tied for 13th place with a score of one over par for the tournament. The next tournament for Denver is next Monday and Tuesday and the team will be traveling to Provo, Utah to take part in the BYU Cougar Collegiate.
Men’s Golf
The men’s golf squad kicked off their spring season with two tournaments in the month of March. The team was in San Diego, March 6-7 competing in the Lamkin San Diego Classic and in the 38th Annual Louisiana Classics on March 13-14. It was not the best competition for the Crimson and Gold in San Diego as they finished 15th out of 15 teams in the competition with 45 strokes over par. Graduate student Carson Griggs (Sand Springs, Okla.) finished tied for 56th in the tournament with eight strokes over par. The team improved a little bit in their second tournament in Louisiana, placing 14th out of 15 competing teams with a score of 65 strokes over par. Griggs and freshman Jack Dozer (Phoenix, Ariz.) had the highest placing in the tournament, each finishing tied for 30th place with a score of 14 strokes over par. The next tournament for Denver will be on April 3-4 where they will be in Phoenix, Arizona taking part in the Wyoming Cowboy Classic hosted by the University of Wyoming.
