The University of Denver gymnastics team had two meets last week, placing second at Arkansas and defeating West Virginia at home.
In Monday’s meet at No. 17 Arkansas, Denver finished with a score of 196.325, putting them in second place behind Arkansas’s 197.000 but ahead of Texas Women’s 192.325. This was the first meet of the season in which Denver did not place first.
Denver had the best team score on the bars with a 49.100 and tied Arkansas on the beam at 49.150. Arkansas claimed the vault and floor events to give them the win.
Individually, Denver gymnasts found the podium seven times out of 12 opportunities, three of them being first-place finishes.
Junior Mila Brusch tied for first on the vault with a score of 9.900 while senior Mia Hebinck tied for first on the uneven bars with a score of 9.850. Brusch’s 9.900 was Denver’s highest vault score of the year and tied her career high.
Graduate student Bella Mabanta won outright first place on the balance beam with a score of 9.925. This was also Denver’s highest beam score of the season so far.
Sophia Hampp made her collegiate debut with an exhibition appearance on vault. She scored a 9.625.
Sunday’s meet against West Virginia was Denver’s first Big 12 meet of the year. It started with the Crimson and Gold on the vault. They posted a team score of 49.225 to win the event.
Sophomore Maddison Reidenbach, graduate student Rylie Mundell and fifth-year Rosie Casali all scored 9.875 in a three-way tie for first. They all did so with variations of the Yurchenko vault which has a 9.95 start value.
Denver’s second rotation saw them on the uneven bars, once again winning the event with a score of 49.225.
Junior Kiley Rorich took first place in the uneven bars. Her routine, scoring 9.900, was highlighted by a split leg jump from the top bar and a stretched flyaway dismount.
Casali, sophomore Madison Ulrich and junior Cecilia Cooley filled the rest of the podium with a tie for second place.
Denver took a narrow victory on the balance beam in the third rotation, edging out West Virginia 48.250 to 48.125. Graduate student Abbie Thompson tied for first place with West Virginia’s Anna Leigh. Thompson’s split mount and double pike flip finish earned her a score of 9.800.
The Crimson and Gold went on to win the floor in the fourth rotation with their highest score of the night, 49.275. Brusch was first in Denver’s rotation, displaying an impressive piked double flip and a tucked double flip in her routine. This earned her a score of 9.900 and first place in floor.
Denver won the meet with a total score of 195.975 to West Virginia’s 194.100—their third win of the season.
Mundell took first place overall in the all-around with a total score of 39.200. Ulrich followed in second place with a total score of 38.625.
Denver gymnastics action continues on Jan. 31 at the University of Arizona, streaming on ESPN+.
