The University of Denver gymnastics team had a record season that started at Magness Arena in Denver and ended at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas with a bid to the National Tournament. 

“Our goal this season was to show everybody who Denver Gymnastics is and how hard we have been working and what we are capable of,” said graduate student captain Alexandria Ruiz (Lake Mary, Florida). “It was definitely a record-breaking season, there were so many records that were broken this year. I think we really showed everyone what we are capable of and what we have been doing in the gym every single day and we were able to transfer that from practice to the competition floor.” 

The girls started the season ranked 13th in the country. Their season began on Jan. 8 with a home meet vs. Penn State and Texas. They ended the meet with a win, finishing with the second-highest opening score in program history with 196.925. 

Denver then traveled to the University of Michigan, whom they would go on to compete against multiple times throughout the season. They placed second in this meet, below Michigan but above Fisk University with a score of 197.200. 

After the meet, two members of the squad, junior Rosie Casali (Weddington, N.C.) and freshman Mila Brusch (Cincinnati, Ohio) received Big 12 Weekly Awards. Casali received Big 12 Gymnast of the Week while Brusch received Big 12 Newcomer of the Week.

 DU then traveled north to Corvallis, Oregon where they would again meet with another season-long foe, Oregon State. Along with Brown and Sacramento State, they competed and placed second with a 196.725

They then competed back home with the largest-ever home attendance. 6,473 fans showed up to watch them compete against Big 12 rival, Oklahoma. They got 197.425 and placed second against Oklahoma, who they would see again twice later this season. 

Freshman Kiley Rorich (Charlotte, North Carolina) received the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week award after starting her collegiate gymnastics career with a 9.900 on bars against Oklahoma. 

The first 10.0 for the girls came at home vs. Pittsburgh, George Washington and Air Force. Junior Jessica Hutchinson (Gilbertsville, Penn.) recorded a perfect 10.0 score on floor while honoring her mother’s Olympics routine. 

“We switched the music a little bit and kept some of her more iconic parts and made the rest more of my own,” Hutchinson said. “Seeing I could actually do it and could make it my own and be my own person while also doing something so special was a super fun time and she loved it.” 

Denver also placed first at this meet thanks to the perfect 10 with a final score of 197.500.

The Crimson and Gold were at home again the following week versus West Virginia, another Big 12 foe. They won the meet with a 197.125 before traveling down 1-25 to the Air Force Academy to secure another win of 197.650.

Sophomore Momoko Iwai (Dallas, Texas) received the Big 12 Event Specialist of the Week following a 9.875 score on beam. 

Junior Riley Mundell (Parker, Colorado) received Big 12 Conference Gymnast of the Week after winning the all-around at Air Force with a score of 39.600.

DU then traveled to Iowa State for a fourth consecutive win and the last away meet of the regular season. This win came with a score of 197.275.

The team was finally in Magness for the last time of the regular season for the Senior Meet vs. Towson. This was a big meet for other reasons besides the honoring of the seniors and fifth years, Lynnzee Brown (Raytown, Missouri), Victoria Fitts (Fort Collins, Colorado), Callie Schlottman (Savage, Minnesota) and Ruiz. 

There were two perfect 10.0 scores in events this meet, one on bars from Hutchinson (her second of the season) and Brown on floor. They also registered a program record score of 198.150 which is the first 198+ in program history. 

“It was really cool because we started on vault and it was kind of a rough rotation for us and then just the way we were able to turn the whole meet around was so exciting,” said Hutchinson regarding the record-breaking team score. 

The girls swept the Big 12 awards following this meet with Brown being named the Big 12 Gymnast of the Week, Ruiz earning Big 12 Event Specialist of the Week and Brusch collecting the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week award for the second time this season.

They then traveled back to Morgantown, West Virginia for the coveted Big 12 Championships. They placed second once again to Oklahoma with another 198 score, higher than the last one with a 198.400. 

Hutchinson earned regular-season All-American honors for the first time in her career and landed on the Big 12 second team. She finished the regular season ranked No. 16 in the country in the all-around with a final NQS of 39.575.

Denver qualified as a host of the NCAA regionals and competed against Michigan, Minnesota and Arizona. They placed second with a 197.200 and got just enough to move on to compete in the next round. 

Round two was eventful to say the least and DU competed against Michigan once again alongside LSU and Oregon State. The girls needed to place in the top two to qualify for Nationals in Fort Worth, Texas. They delivered, winning the Regional championship with a score of 197.875. 

DU then traveled down south for the last competition of the season, NCAA Nationals. The girls needed to place once again in the top two of the National semifinal to qualify for the National final against tough opponents, LSU, Florida and California. They unfortunately placed fourth with a 196.5000, and their season concluded. 

“Nationals was kind of just our reward for all the hard work we’ve put in since the summer, even. So going out there, we just wanted to have a lot of fun and enjoy the moment, enjoy the opportunity and the experience,” said Ruiz. 

They finished a very successful season with a number eight ranking, improving by five spots throughout the season. 

Four athletes, Brown, Hutchinson, Rorich and Casali were named Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA) All-Americans for their performance in the NCAA National Tournament. 

Brown earned recognition in the all-around (39.6625) and individually on vault (9.9250) and floor (9.9500) at the NCAA National Championships. 

Hutchinson added three more All-America honors for the 2023 season, joining her regular-season nod in the all-around. She earned first-team status in the all-around (39.5625) and on floor (9.9500). She also added second-team recognition on beam with a 9.9250.

Rorich placed fifth on bars with a career-high 9.9125 during Thursday’s semifinal, earning second-team honors. Casali also earned the first All-American award of her career after scoring a 9.9000 on bars at the tournament. 

Hutchinson was named Big 12 Gymnast of the Year for the second year in a row. She was the only gymnast in the conference to score a 10.0 on multiple events this season. She holds the eighth-highest all-around score in the country at 39.535.

Mundell and Hutchinson were named to the 2023 All-Big 12 Gymnastics Team, Mundell on bars and Hutchinson for her all-around performance. 

To top off all of the team and individual success, nine of DU’s 11 eligible student-athletes earned the recognition of Academic All-Big 12 Team honors, eight on the first team and one on the second team. First-team honors consist of student-athletes with GPAs of at least 3.20 while second-team members hold GPAs between 3.00-3.19.

The girls have high hopes when looking forward to next season. Hutchinson says she has three goals for next season.

“Definitely, I want to be back at Nationals again. I think finishing out my college career at Big 12s like the way we started my freshman year, we won against Oklahoma and so that was like one of the biggest upsets. That was such a fun day that I love to relive that again,” said Hutchinson. “I’ve been talking to my coaches but since I got the tens on beam and floor we are really talking about now I have to get 10s on vault and bars to even it out, so that’s another goal for next year.”