Denver counted their 6th win of the season in Magness against their first Big 12 challenger, West Virginia, on January 26. They debuted a new look that literally sparkled. Unfortunately the leotards are the best story of this meet.
For all the DU diehards, it was a win! Now on to the harsh truth. The Pioneers’ gymnastics continued a downward slide, coming in at just 195.975 for their lowest score since the season opener. West Virginia came in at 194.1. Yes, DU won. But Florida hit 198.125 on Friday for the highest team score yet this year, Oklahoma has not scored below a 197.55, and the top 9 teams have averaged above Denver’s high of 196.57 over four weeks. Denver will fall to #17 in the country this week. For reference, Denver has not finished a season below #15 since 2014.
I’m going to put this in writing and then hope the Pioneers prove me wrong. Fans will need to lower their expectations this year in order to enjoy the rest of the season. Otherwise this will be too painful to watch. Keep reading for a recap.
The Good
Denver’s new leotards were a win! Photos cannot show how sparkly these were. They shined across Magness. The execution of these leotards was outstanding. They had the interlocking DU on both sleeves. The right sleeve was mesh and the left was opaque. There was a strap across the open back with block DENVER. And the pattern of the sparkles was very pretty. It looked great on our DU gymnasts! SO SPARKLY!
Juniors Mila Brusch and Kiley Rorich had meet highs of 9.9 on floor and bars respectively.
Sophomore Madison Ulrich finally stuck her front handspring, pike 1/2 off vault!
Denver improved event scores on vault, bars, and floor from last week’s loss at Arkansas.
Denver had a so-so day and still won all four individual event titles over West Virginia.
The small student section successfully started the wave and got the crowd to continue it all the way around Magness!
Did I mention the pretty leotards?
The Bad
Of course I’m biased, but the judges seemed opposed to awarding anything 9.9 or above. Denver had four vaults that looked to me to have less than 0.1 deduction, yet none of them could convince both judges to award the 9.9. The two 9.9s I mentioned above were the only two in the whole meet despite some great routines on vault, bars, and floor.
Although she warmed it up, Madison Ulrich didn’t compete her double layout on floor.
Magness was maybe a quarter full. Perhaps there were a lot of Eagles fans watching football instead. Or perhaps it was because WV isn’t a good enough program to draw a crowd. I guarantee you the place will be full when OSU with two-time Olympian, Jade Carey, is in the house.
The Ugly
Beam. Maybe it’s time to get a new one. This one’s got bad juju. Gymnasts who have been consistently solid for three or four years are wobbling. Judges are emphasizing connections this year, and Denver’s athletes had hesitation and not enough flow. This is not the DU beam squad we’re used to. Five of the six competitors scored under 9.7. I don’t remember the last time DU got only one 9.8 or higher on any event. West Virginia beat Denver by over three tenths on beam.
Moving Forward
The season is still young. Denver has time to propel themselves into the post-season. With Oklahoma out of the Big 12, Denver has a great chance of winning the conference this year.
Some routines need to be tweaked to take better advantage of the new rules put in place for this season. I think DU hasn’t gotten aligned to the new rules quite yet. These should be simple fixes.
(If you want to know more about what’s changed in 2025, visit College Gym News.)
Although Denver has had a slow start, the NQS takes effect in five weeks. So if the Pioneers start hitting high scores consistently, the low scores can be dropped from ranking calculations and be nothing but lessons learned. So if Denver can clean things up, gain confidence and consistency, they can stop the downward slide and begin climbing the rankings.
And hey, even if we don’t improve, fans can still have fun in Magness with our top notch hype guys, Tom and Taylor, who sport sparkles of their own this year (love the shoes, guys)! Has everyone checked out the improved concessions this year and the new seats? Margaritas and tacos? Yes, please! Best meal deal in Denver ($24 for 3 tacos and a margarita). Plus when it’s freezing outside, Magness is toasty warm with the ice covered up. Silver linings everywhere.
Denver’s next home meet is February 8th versus BYU at 6:45 PM. Meet me at Taco Sabe during the beam rotation! Let’s Go DU!
Good write up
I know I’m in the minority here, but I didn’t like the sparkling black uniforms. Too dark for DU. Our lovely gymnasts looked like Victoria Secret models.
Uniform design opinions are highly subjective, so these may not have been everyone’s cup of tea. However, it’s borderline offensive to compare them to Victoria Secret models. Lingerie would be inappropriate for a gymnastics meet, and these were far from that. In the early 2020s, there were many schools pushing the envelope, and going with risque uniforms, yet Denver always stayed classy. You don’t have to like the leotards, but you shouldn’t disrespect the athletes.
I am concerned with the low scores at this point.
I was hoping DU would be consistently in the 196s-197s at this point, and seeing scores in the 195s makes me think there is backsliding going on…Am I wrong?
As for the leotards, my view is they can wear whatever they want, but I’m not a fan of DU competing in black uniforms in any sport. Our school colors are Crimson and Gold and all sports teams have some white uniforms, but black feels like someone else’s color. Like Colorado College or North Dakota. Yuck.
All black leotards are a trend nowadays. I’m not usually a fan, but these were great.
Puck, I’m worried about the low scores too. I thought we’d start right where we left off last season with the lineup only being short one gymnast from last year. At this pace, Denver is already out of the National conversation.