The No. 15 Denver gymnastics team finished in fourth place at the Tuscaloosa NCAA Regional tournament which took place on Saturday in Tuscaloosa, Ala. against Alabama, Utah, Iowa State, BYU and Kent State. The team finished with an overall score of 195.275, led by junior all-arounder Moriah Martin. Martin will be the lone DU representative at the NCAA semifinals, and extends the Pioneers’ streak of sending at least one individual to the NCAA Semifinals to 14-straight seasons.
Martin’s National rotation order and pairing will be released on Monday.
“I’m excited to get another chance to compete,” Martin said. “Tonight isn’t exactly how I wanted the season to be because I didn’t compete the way I know I can. (Competing without the team there) just takes a little bit more focus because I’m going to be by myself. I just want to work on some details in the gym over the next two weeks, and then go have fun at Nationals.”
Denver opened with a 49.175 on floor with junior Kaitlin Moorhead leading the team with a 9.900 in the fifth spot of the rotation, which helped her finish third overall at the Regionals. Junior Nina McGee tallied a 9.875 at the anchor spot. Sophomore Ellese Sakai-Hart began a string of four-consecutive routines over a 9.825 for Denver with her 9.850 on floor, which junior Jorie Hall followed up with a 9.825.
By the end of the second rotation of the meet, DU and Utah were tied in second at 49.175, following only Alabama with a 49.350.
Martin led the Pioneers on vault for the 10th time this season with a 9.875, partnered with Moorhead’s vault with a 9.825 of her own. Senior Simona Castro picked up her fourth 9.800 or better on vault in her final five meets as a Pioneer with a 9.800 vault performance, giving Denver a combined total of 48.875 on vault and surpassing Utah by .225 for second place midway through the meet.
In the third event of the evening, Denver posted a 48.950 on bars, led by McGee. McGee tallied a 9.850, Castro added a 9.725, followed by a 9.750 from junior Melodie Pulgarin Linero in her second meet back from injury. Junior bars specialist Emily Warfield inked a 9.800 and Martin scored a 9.825, accounting for the Pioneers final tally for the event.
Utah regained the tie with Denver at 147.000 heading into the final rotation for the final Nationals spot.
In the fourth and final rotation on beam, Hall led the Pioneers with a 9.825 on the apparatus, earning her fourth place at the meet on beam. Martin added a 9.725 to complete her 10th all-around performance. Sakai-Hart mounted the beam first for the Pioneers, posting a 9.700. The team combined for a 48.725 on beam to finish the 2013 season, while Utah finished its evening with a 49.400.
“It was not our best night on beam,” said head coach Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart. “It was tough knowing that we were tied going into the last rotation with Utah on vault, and the crowd noise from Alabama on floor. We didn’t do a great job of performing under that intensity tonight. We’re almost there, and I think tonight proved to our girls that we can run with anyone in the country. We just have to get the job done in the moment, something we didn’t do tonight.”
The Pioneers will suffer two losses before next season, as seniors Brianna Springer and Castro will graduate.
“We will have a very experienced group coming back,” said Kutcher-Rinehart. “Our juniors will now be seniors next year, and will be very motivated and very passionate about not letting this happen again. I’m excited about the freshman class coming in, and excited about the future of this program. Like I said earlier, we are right there.”
