2008 Woodie Awards
No. 13 Denver still flying high, 9-2
Gymnastics performs well in front of second consecutive sell-out
Arianna Ranahosseini
Issue date: 2/12/08 Section: Sports
The no. 13 Denver gymnastics team continued to post season-high scores at home this week on the vault and floor exercises, finishing 0.225 points behind No. 8 Oklahoma in the Paige Smith Invitational quad meet in front of a sold-out crowd Saturday night.
Improving their record this season to 9-2, the Pioneers posted 195.700, just shy of Oklahoma's 195.925 but still topping Utah State's 192.275 and the United States Air Force Academy's 186.275.
"It was a fantastic night," said Head Coach Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart. "Great atmosphere, great crowd, second straight sell out, I'm very proud of that, just great energy. The team has been training so hard I think they're really showing off what they're doing ,and I also feel that although you never want to lose, two tenths behind a team that's No. 6 in the country isn't bad."
Junior All-American Jessica Lopez continued individual success receiving third place all-around, recording 39.125 points, along with senior Sasha Sullivan posting an all-around score of 38.250 in seventh place.
DU began their night on the vault, where Lopez and senior Courtney Butler shared top honors with Oklahoma's Mary Mantle, all scoring a 9.900. They were followed by sophomore Kelley Hennigan and freshman Taylor Stanford, who tied for fifth with scores of 9.8, along with junior Liz Meals in tenth place posting a 9.725, totaling to be one of the teams best performances of the season with a score of 49.125.
"Taylor Stanford had a great night in exhibition," said Kutcher-Rinehart. "The exhibition performers were scoring high and that makes me feel like we have a lot of depth and we have people in interchangeable parts. We can put different people in on different nights, and I'm really proud of that."
Next for the Pioneers were the uneven bars, where they recorded a 48.575. Butler received second place scoring 9.850, followed by junior Nikki Brown in a tie for sixth place with Stephanie LoPiccolo of Oklahoma posting a score of 9.775. Other performances included sophomore Ellen McCarthy, 9.625, senior Paige Schuster, 9.650, Lopez 9.625 and Sullivan, 8.875.
Improving their record this season to 9-2, the Pioneers posted 195.700, just shy of Oklahoma's 195.925 but still topping Utah State's 192.275 and the United States Air Force Academy's 186.275.
"It was a fantastic night," said Head Coach Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart. "Great atmosphere, great crowd, second straight sell out, I'm very proud of that, just great energy. The team has been training so hard I think they're really showing off what they're doing ,and I also feel that although you never want to lose, two tenths behind a team that's No. 6 in the country isn't bad."
Junior All-American Jessica Lopez continued individual success receiving third place all-around, recording 39.125 points, along with senior Sasha Sullivan posting an all-around score of 38.250 in seventh place.
DU began their night on the vault, where Lopez and senior Courtney Butler shared top honors with Oklahoma's Mary Mantle, all scoring a 9.900. They were followed by sophomore Kelley Hennigan and freshman Taylor Stanford, who tied for fifth with scores of 9.8, along with junior Liz Meals in tenth place posting a 9.725, totaling to be one of the teams best performances of the season with a score of 49.125.
"Taylor Stanford had a great night in exhibition," said Kutcher-Rinehart. "The exhibition performers were scoring high and that makes me feel like we have a lot of depth and we have people in interchangeable parts. We can put different people in on different nights, and I'm really proud of that."
Next for the Pioneers were the uneven bars, where they recorded a 48.575. Butler received second place scoring 9.850, followed by junior Nikki Brown in a tie for sixth place with Stephanie LoPiccolo of Oklahoma posting a score of 9.775. Other performances included sophomore Ellen McCarthy, 9.625, senior Paige Schuster, 9.650, Lopez 9.625 and Sullivan, 8.875.
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