DU gymnastics hosted their last home meet of the season in Magness on Monday, March 9 and posted a win over Air Force 197.075 to 195.925. While Air Force is having a record breaking season, DU’s performance level was too high for them to keep up. The team score for Denver is a new season high and hopefully a sign that the team is peaking at the right time in preparation for Big 12 conference finals and regional competition.

This meet came on the heels of a meet Air Force hosted with DU and San Jose State. In that meet, Denver beat Air Force by only three tenths, the closest Air Force has come to DU since way back in March of 1994 (which was the last time Air Force beat Denver). Back before NCAA gymnastics statistics were tracked, and when Denver was scoring nearly twenty points lower than they do today. That is just to show you how far both of these programs have come over the years.

Since my last writing, Denver also hosted Big 12 leader, Utah on March first. That meet was Denver’s only home loss of the season and a good preview for Big 12 championships coming up on March 21.

Notes and recaps:

March 1: Denver vs Utah (loss 196.1 to 197.2)

In the beginning of an upward trend, Denver hit season team high score on vault, and tied their team high score on bars. Although they struggled on beam and ended with a season low score on that event, they came away with only one fall and still hadn’t counted a miss all year. This meet illustrated the difficulty Denver has had this season with putting together a full performance good enough to make it to nationals. Every meet there are new highs, but also new lows. Denver badly needs to put together four strong rotations in post season meets.

On senior night, senior Kylie Rorich was in the floor lineup for the first time this season, and her Broadway musical themed music was fun…until it cut out after her first tumbling pass. She continued without music. However, the crowd in Magness showed their full support by clapping and cheering to urge her on without music. She matched her career high 9.9 proving that she deserved that spot in the lineup.

After Utah’s win at Denver, they cemented their place at the top of the Big 12 conference.

March 6: Denver and San Jose State at Air Force (win 196.725 to 195.725 (SJSU) to 196.425 (USAF))

Denver continued the upward trend while still avoiding counting a fall on any event, and hit a season high on vault. But it wasn’t all good news. Denver still had to count two scores in the 9.7s on bars and one on beam. While many other teams are in a rhythm of hitting 24 for 24 routines, Denver is regularly having to cover a miss in at least one rotation. In NCAA gymnastics, six athletes compete on each event and five scores are counted. So while Denver is avoiding counting a fall, other teams are able to hit six and dropping scores in the 9.7 to 9.8 range. This is the difference between where DU is at this season and where the top ten schools are.

March 9: Denver vs Airforce (win 197. 075 to 195.925)

Denver finally broke the 197 barrier in the third score improvement in a row. The team hit new season highs on vault (49.275), bars (49.350), and floor (49.6). But beam remains to be a challenge for the team. While not technically counting a fall on Monday, the team did have to count a 9.475 which the gymnastics community considers a “miss.” Although the beam score was one of the lowest of the season, their performances on the other three events were still enough to get to a season high team score.

In this meet, one of two judges awarded athletes a perfect 10 for two different DU gymnasts. On vault, freshman Shyla Bhatia received a 9.95 and a 10 for an average of a 9.975. On floor, senior Cecelia Cooley received a 9.9 and a 10 for an average of 9.95. Both of these were oh-so-close to perfection. Denver gymnastics hasn’t received a 10 outright since March 3, 2024 when Jessica Hutchinson (’24) received her third perfect 10 on floor. Across the NCAA in 2026, seven athletes have received 10s on vault, three have received 10s on bars, three have received 10s on beam, and four have achieved perfection on floor. While Denver’s got the potential, oh-so-close just isn’t that coveted 10.

Denver gymnastics is definitely in a rebuilding phase this year. If the season were to end today, Denver’s current rank of #23 would be the lowest season placement since 2012. With a roster of only 14 athletes, DU’s team has six freshmen. Every team member has competed in at least two meets this season. Meet lineups have changed week to week which has enabled opportunities to shine or crumble under pressure. Yet in recent weeks, the team score upward trend is encouraging, showing this year’s team may yet be a contender in post-season competition.

Denver closes out their regular season on March 14 at #25 Oregon state. It should be a close match up and a last away meet before the real pressure starts.

Featured image courtesy @Denver_Gymnastics.