The University of Denver women’s gymnastics team began its 2026 season with a close victory over Stanford at Magness Arena on Sunday. Denver, ranked No. 16 in the preseason coaches’ poll, edged out No. 13 Stanford by a tenth of a point, finishing with a score of 196.575 to Stanford’s 196.475.
Head coach Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart commented on the team’s performance: “I’m incredibly proud of the team. With so many new faces and so many opportunities for new athletes to step in to lineups, it was a complete and collective team effort. I thought they did well to not focus on the past or the future, but to instead stay present in the moment and in their own bubble. It’s a great starting point and something to build off of.
“We’ve identified different segments for the season, and our goal is to take it slow and steady and improve in each of those segments. Everyone’s going to have to step up and contribute. In time, more people will be working into lineups.”
More than half of Denver’s routines (14 out of 24) were collegiate debuts for gymnasts on their respective events, including five out of six routines on bars. Four freshmen made their overall collegiate debuts, successfully completing all seven combined routines they performed.
Sophomore Sophia Hampp competed in her first full lineup event as a last-minute substitute on bars after senior Kiley Rorich was unable to compete due to an injury during warmups.
Compared with last season’s final lineup, Denver featured significant changes with 17 out of 24 routines being different from last year’s closing meet.
Senior Cecilia Cooley and junior Maddison Reidenbach both made their collegiate all-around debuts; Cooley appeared on vault for DU for the first time while Reidenbach competed on bars for her first time as part of the main lineup. Reidenbach finished second overall in all-around scoring, just .125 points behind Olympic bronze medalist Ana Barbosu from Stanford.
Denver’s total score ranks as the sixth highest for a season opener in program history and third highest when opening at home. The floor rotation set a program record for an opening meet with a score of 49.425; this also ties as the third highest opening-meet event score across any apparatus in program history.
Cooley achieved a near-perfect 9.975 on floor—second only to Nina McGee’s perfect score from 2016—for best floor performance by a Pioneer gymnast in an opener.
Freshman Shyla Bhatia tied Denver’s freshman record for top vault debut with her score of 9.925—matching Maddie Karr’s mark from 2017—and also posted one of the top three freshman debut scores on floor with a 9.875.
On vault, Bhatia led all competitors with her routine while Brusch took third place; similar podium finishes were recorded across other events by several DU gymnasts including Brusch (bars), Cooley (beam), Rutter (beam), Cooley (floor), Bhatia (floor), Brusch (floor), Reidenbach (floor), Reidenbach (all-around), and Cooley again (all-around).
Denver will next travel to Texas Woman’s University for its first road meet against Texas Woman’s and Arizona on Friday, January 16.
Tickets for upcoming meets are available online or through the Ritchie Center Box Office.
