No. 17 Denver will host Iowa State in its Big 12 home opener at Magness Arena on Sunday, February 1, at 2:45 p.m. MT. The meet will be broadcast live on ESPN2.
The event marks Denver’s annual “My Ribbon, My Reason” meet, where gymnasts wear colored hair ribbons to represent causes important to them. The university has coordinated with campus and local organizations that align with these causes, and fans are encouraged to arrive early to engage with the organizations present on the concourse.
Denver is coming off a win in its Big 12 Conference opener against West Virginia on January 24, finishing with a score of 196.000-193.375. The team improved its performance through each rotation and posted its strongest beam rotation of the season in the final event with a score of 49.250.
Junior Maddison Reidenbach achieved a career-high score of 9.900 on beam, earning her first title in that event. Senior Cecilia Cooley also won her first career all-around title.
Denver currently holds the No. 17 spot in the Road to Nationals Week 4 rankings and is ranked within the top 20 for floor (No. 12), beam (No. 15), and vault (No. 20). The team is just outside the top 25 on bars. For three consecutive weeks, Cooley has been tied for No. 5 nationally on floor with an average score of 9.917.
All fourteen gymnasts on Denver’s roster have competed in at least one full lineup this season, including senior Kiley Rorich making her season debut and freshman Abby Steeley returning from injury to compete on beam after previously performing in exhibition.
On beam, different freshmen have anchored the lineup across three meets: Sevana Kasparian against Stanford, Shyla Bhatia at Texas Woman’s University, and Steeley at West Virginia last weekend. Freshman Terra Rutter has served as leadoff performer on beam in two meets.
Following their last competition, Denver experienced travel delays due to winter weather and spent additional time in Pittsburgh before returning home.
Iowa State enters Sunday’s meet after competing against Utah in its own Big 12 opener televised by ESPN2, where it finished second with a score of 192.300-195.725. Haylee Hardin won the floor title with a score of 9.925 and leads Iowa State’s averages on vault, beam, and floor events; Frederique Sgarbossa leads the team on bars.
Denver has an all-time record of 35-8 against Iowa State and has won ten consecutive meetings between the teams, including a victory last season at Iowa State by a margin of 196.750-195.775. In their most recent meeting in Denver on February 11, 2024, DU won by 197.775-195.800.
After this meet, Denver will continue its Big 12 schedule with an away meet at Arizona State on Saturday, February 7.
Tickets for Denver gymnastics’ home meets are available online or through the Ritchie Center Box Office by phone or in person.
“My Ribbon, My Reason” continues to be an opportunity for athletes to highlight personal causes while engaging fans and community partners during competition days.
