The DU gymnastics team competed and won in Magness Arena for the first time this season against the Arizona State Sun Devils on Sunday.
The last time the Crimson and Gold went through this matchup was in 2020, when Denver had topped ASU. The Crimson and Gold will now look forward to making this a regular competition as Arizona State will join the Big 12 in the 2025 season.
The match began with a performance from the Sun Devils on bars. Arizona’s Gracie Reeves brought the heat for the Crimson and Gold to try to beat, but sophomore Mila Brusch wasn’t afraid to show what she had, scoring a 9.800 on vault straight off the bat. Senior Bella Mabanta came out right after that with a 9.825, followed by freshman Madison Ulrich, with a 9.750.
The Denver girls on vault left everything on the floor, bringing out the heat for their first home meet of the season. The Denver vault was rounded off for a total of 49.025, where the Sun Devils had scored just over the Crimson and Gold, a 49.500, for their uneven parallel bars performance.
The tensions were rising moving into the next performances, where the Denver girls knew they had to perfect their routines on the uneven bars. Senior Rosie Casali was first up on the bars, and after her 9.850 on vault, she knew the pressure was on. This didn’t deter her at all, scoring another 9.850 on the first performance of DU bars.
Sophomore Kiley Rorich came out with an incredible start, but slipped off the bars just as her routine began. With the support of Associate Head Coach Linas Gaveika, she completed the rest of her routine on top, scoring a solid 9.025 despite the early mistake.
The Sun Devils were ahead by 0.6 points going into Ulrich’s bars performance. The Denver girls came out on top, however, scoring a total of 49.350 compared to the Sun Devil’s 49.175, scraping the Crimson and Gold ahead by 0.175 points.
The Crimson and Gold began their third rotation on the beam with junior Momoko Iwai. Her balance was flawless, and her dismount was even more spectacular, scoring a whopping 9.850.
The Sun Devils came back on floor, with an incredible routine done by Lila Purler scoring a 9.650. Bella Mabanta followed that up with ease, scoring what looked like an effortless 9.900.
Mabanta was a performance to remember, and her flawless dismount was going to be a hard act to follow for anyone. The third rotation was wrapped up with 48.850 from ASU and a total of 49.375 for the Crimson and Gold, putting Denver back in the lead 147.750 to 147.050.
The fourth rotation was going to be a difficult one, as the point deviation between the teams was so small. The Sun Devils knew the pressure was on, and Kayla Lee of the Devil’s went first on beam, with a perfectly balanced dismount and routine. DU’s Rorich was first on the floor, and she really came alive with her routine. Rorich didn’t stutter for a second, with clean landings during every part of her performance and an incredible ending that left the crowd speechless.
Iwai followed up Rorich’s floor routine with another jaw-dropping effort, scoring a 9.750 without breaking a sweat. At the same time, the Sun Devil’s vault routines were hard to look away from, where after their first three gymnasts, they were already at 29.500 for the rotation. Senior Jessica Hutchinson was up for her final performance of the afternoon on floor, and despite being a high performer in every other event, Hutchinson didn’t let this tire her out, scoring a well-deserved 9.925.
Ending with Reidenbach’s routine, the Denver Pioneers won with a 196.900 to the Sun Devil’s 196.375. Senior Rylie Mundell came out on top on bars, and Hutchinson was the all around title winner, reflecting a phenomenal start to the season.
DU Gymnastics Head Coach Melissa Kutcher-Reinhart looks forward to continuing to change up the lineup and really push the girls to their limits as she awaits the remainder of the 2024 season.
“I felt good about their ability to keep fighting and show grit all the way from the beginning to the end,” Coach Kutcher-Reinhart said. “That’s going to pay off for us later, so the girls know they can compete with freedom.”
The DU Gymnastics team will be up against UCLA, Oklahoma and Stanford in their next meet on Sunday, Jan. 21.
