Sophomore gymnast Ashley Shible competed at Nationals for the second-consecutive year Thursday in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Shible finished the first round of the competition in 19th place in the all-around, missing the opportunity to capture All-American honors, a feat she accomplished last season.

The first rotation was a struggle as Shible fell on her dismount during the beam for the first time all year. With such strong competition, she was almost out of contention.

The second rotation was a disappointment, as she stepped out of bounds. She was frustrated, but was able to bounce back.

“I think I just fell out of focus a little bit because the team wasn’t there and I was not used to that,” Shible said.

The third rotation was much more indicative of the talent that led to Shible’s appearance in the NCAA Nationals. Her 9.825 was the 15th best in the first session of competition. That was the same score she achieved last year on the event en route to her All-American accolades.

“I just knew I had to relax, take some deep breaths and realize that there was nothing I could do about what had already happened. I just had to do my best on the last two events,” Shible said about her turnaround.

The final event was the uneven bars. Shible hit a 9.7, good enough for 29th in the session. She finished with a 37.875 in the all-around, placing her in 19th place for the session.

Shible is confident for the prospects of the gymnastics team next season.

“I think there isn’t much to change really except that we are going to Nationals as a team next year!”

The University of Denver returns twelve gymnasts next season. They should be favored to return to Nationals as a team. The next season begins in December.