NO. 19 PIONEERS TRAVEL TO IOWA FOR NORTH CENTRAL REGION CHAMPIONSHIPS

The 19th-ranked University of Denver gymnastics team (18-5) will make its eighth consecutive in an NCAA Regional competition when it will compete in the NCAA North Central Region Championships in Ames, Iowa on Saturday, April 8 at 5 p.m. The Regional, hosted by fourth-ranked Iowa State, is the only one of six regionals featuring all six teams ranked in the top-25. Other teams competing in the Regional are No. 4 Iowa State, No. 11 Arizona State, No. 15 Arizona, No. 21 Minnesota and No. 24 Brigham Young. The top two teams and the top two all-around competitors (who are not on an advancing team) will receive an automatic berth to the national championships in Corvallis, Ore., April 20-22, hosted by Oregon State. In addition, any event winners will advance to the national championships (in that event only) if they are not part of a qualifying team or the all-around qualifiers. 

NORTH CENTRAL REGION DRAW: In a draw conducted March 27 to see which team begins on which events, the Pioneers found out they will start Saturday’s meet on uneven bars. Denver’s rotation order is as follows:

1) Uneven Bars; 2) Balance Beam; 3) Bye before Floor; 4) Floor Exercise; 5) Vault; 6) Bye before Uneven Bars.

The Pioneers and Iowa State will both know their team scores in the fifth rotation before the other four teams finish.

PIONEERS END SEASON ON HIGH NOTE: The Pioneers picked a very good time to turn in some of their best gymnastics of the season, posting a season-high home score in a win over No. 12 Arizona State on March 18 and following that up two days later with a season-best road score in a win at Air Force. Denver raised its team Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) to a season-high 195.275 with the two performances, nearly enough to gain a seeding to Regionals (top-18). Against Arizona State, the Pioneers posted season-high scores on uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise and sent off its two seniors with the highest team score of the season in a 196.475 - 196.125 win over the Sun Devils. Just two days later at Air Force, DU gymnasts won all four events and the all-around as the Pioneers closed out the regular season with their finest road performance of the season, with a season-high road score of 195.850. The Pioneers were in front of Alaska Anchorage (190.000) and Air Force (182.950).

PIONEERS FINISH REGULAR SEASON NO. 19 IN NATIONAL RANKINGS: The Pioneers finished the season ranked No. 19 in the GymInfo national rankings, one spot out of being an automatic seed for Regionals. DU finished the season ranked No. 14 on vault (49.020), No. 19 on uneven bars (48.870), No. 19 on balance beam (48.720), and No. 12 on floor exercise (49.080).

ADD RANKINGS: Three Pioneer gymnasts are ranked in the individual top-25, with Heather Huffaker leading the way on two events and the all-around. Huffaker is No. 21 in the nation in the all-around with a regional qualifying score of 39.250 and is DU’s highest ranked gymnast on vault in a tie for No. 14 (9.890). Huffaker and Sasha Sullivan are tied for No. 23 on floor exercise with an RQS of 9.875 and Casey Dobyns is DU’s other ranked gymnast in a tie for No. 16 on vault with an RQS 9.885.

PIONEERS VS. THE REGIONAL FIELD: Saturday’s North Central Region Championships will be the third meeting of the year for the Pioneers against Arizona and the second against both Minnesota and Arizona State. A complete list of Denver's all-time record against the teams in the Regional field and date and result of last competition:

Arizona - 4-13 (Arizona won, 194-.725 - 194.300 on 3/10/06)

Arizona State - 2-12 (Denver won 196.475 - 196.125 on 3/18/06)

Brigham Young - 13-17 (BYU won 194.325 - 192.325 on 1/20/01)

Iowa State - 8-3 (Iowa State won 195.675 - 194.975 on 2/5/05)

Minnesota - 4-4 (Minnesota won 192.900 - 192.325 on 1/14/06)

PIONEERS AT NCAA REGIONALS: Denver will be making its eighth consecutive appearance in an NCAA Regional competition and will compete in the North Central Region Championships for the seventh time in the last eight years. Last season, the Pioneers finished third in the Southeast Region behind Florida and Georgia. Denver's best regional finish came in 2001, when the Pioneers became the first small private school to ever qualify for NCAA Nationals when it finished second behind Utah. Denver has finished third in the Regional meet in each of the last four seasons.

ON TO NATIONALS: The Pioneers will be looking for their first appearance at NCAA Nationals since qualifying in 2001, when they finished second at the North Central Region Championships at the University of Utah. Despite qualifying as a team just one time over that span, the Pioneers have sent at least one individual qualifier to the national championships every season since 2000. Last season, Heather Huffaker became the first gymnast in DU history to qualify as an individual for Division I Nationals in back-to-back seasons after she finished fifth in the all-around and advanced by finishing as one of the top two all-arounders not on an advancing team.

A STRONG ENDING: The Pioneers have to be encouraged by their last two performances of the season, beginning with an upset win over Arizona State on March 18. In that meet, the Pioneers set season-high team scores on bars (49.150), balance beam (49.150) and floor exercise (49.300) in posting a season-high 196.475. Two days later at Air Force, the Pioneers posted a season-high road score with a 195.850 and tied its best beam score of the season with a 49.150.

HUFFAKER COMING BACK TO FORM: Heather Huffaker finished the season on a very high note in DU’s last meet at Air Force, posting her second-best all-around score of the season (39.375) and setting season-high scores on vault (9.925) and floor exercise (9.925). Since sustaining a foot injury March 10 at Arizona, Huffaker has posted a 9.875 and a 9.925 on vault and competed all-around twice. For the season, Huffaker leads the Pioneers in average on vault (9.865) and is second on beam (9.65) and floor exercise (9.825).She is tied for the team lead with nine event titles and has won the all-around seven times in 12 starts this season.

LÓPEZ CONTINUES STELLAR FIRST SEASON: One of the reasons the Pioneers are where they are has been the season-long contributions of freshman Jessica López (Caracas, Venezuela). López has competed in every meet, and in all but one has been in DU’s lineup on three events. She leads the team in average on uneven bars (9.740) and balance beam (9.702) and holds DU’s season-high scores on both events, a 9.95 on bars Feb. 18 and another 9.95 on balance beam March 18 against Arizona State.

SULLIVAN STELLAR ON FLOOR: Leading the way on floor exercise all season long has been sophomore Sasha Sullivan (Glen Allen, Va.), who is first on the Pioneers in average on the event at 9.850 and leads the team with four titles. Her last title came in DU’s final home meet of the season against Arizona State, when she won with a 9.9. Sullivan is a perfect 11-for-11 in counting routines this season, the best mark on the team, and she’s tied with Huffaker in posting DU’s best score six times this season.