Currently the University of Denver gymnastics team is ranked 11th in the nation and fourth on the floor exercise.
In the latest GymInfo national poll released Monday, the Pioneers rose one spot from No. 12 to No. 11 following Saturday’s 195.475 score in finishing third at No. 6 Florida and behind No. 20 Iowa State.
Denver’s meet average is 195.404 following the first half of the season and last Friday’s meet gave the Pioneers a regional qualifying score (RQS) for the first time this season.
Denver’s highest ranking is on the floor exercise, where the Pioneers are ranked No. 4 with an average of 49.283. The Pioneers are also ranked No. 13 on vault, No. 20 on the uneven bars and No. 21 on the balance beam.
Like the team poll, the national individual rankings are based on an individual’s meet average in the all-around and the four events.
The Pioneers currently have one gymnast in the top 25 of the all-around. Junior Emily Bankhead is ranked No. 23 nationally with an average of 39.270. She is also tied for No. 15 in the nation on the floor exercise with an average of 9.90.
Senior Michelle Kasuga is Denver’s only ranked gymnast on the uneven bars; she is ranked ninth with an average of 9.892. Ashley Shible is ranked No. 13 on the vault with an average of 9.880.
When the Pioneers made the trip to Gainesville, Head Coach Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart made her first appearance at her alma mater since becoming Denver’s head coach for the 1999 season.
Kutcher-Rinehart starred at Florida from 1989-1992, helping the Gators to four straight top-12 NCAA National Championship finishes. After a season as an undergraduate assistant coach with the Gators, Kutcher-Rinehart accepted a job with the University of Michigan as an assistant coach for five seasons before coming to Denver.
Denver competed in Ann Arbor last season and Saturday will mark Denver’s second meeting with the Wolverines and first in Denver since 1985.
When asked how she felt about her team’s performance, sophomore Jessica Kennedy said “My team’s doing really well; we are way ahead of where we were last year and we hope to continue. (The Gainesville meet) was allright, we had some little things that went wrong, no major problems so that was good. But, people were tired and a lot are sick, so I feel that we did well, considering the circumstances. (We are) definitely where we want to be. We really want to make Super 6 so it helps us a lot.”
Denver’s next home meet is Feb. 22 against Michigan.
