We spent some time with the University of Denver (DU) gymnastics team late last month as the team was preparing to host some of the nation's best gymnasts at NCAA regionals, where the top two teams would move on to nationals.
The talented crew had been breaking records and growing its fanbase all season.
After being ranked 13th during the regular season, DU upset No. 3 University of Michigan, No. 6 Louisiana State University (LSU) and No. 11 Oregon State University, to win the meet.
Now, DU is competing in the national semifinal in Fort Worth, Texas, where the team will face No. 2 University of Florida, No. 6 LSU and No. 7 University of California, Berkeley (based on regular season rankings). The top two teams will move on to finals on Saturday.
Thursday's semifinal meet begins at 1 p.m. MT and will be broadcast on ESPN2 with streams also available on ESPN+.
The final will be broadcast Saturday on ABC (Denver 7) at 3 p.m. MT and streams will also be available on ESPN+.
It's DU's sixth time qualifying for nationals; most recently the team placed fourth in 2019. And there's a lot to watch for this time around.
Graduate student Lynnzee Brown tends to get high scores all around, and her floor routine is a tribute to Black DU alums that came before her (and is set to Fifth Harmony and Beyoncé). Jessica Hutchinson has gotten a few perfect scores this season, and her floor routine is adapted from her mother's 1992 Olympic routine when she competed for Bulgaria.
"We knew the regular-season rankings didn't matter," said head coach Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart in a statement after regionals. "We're a strong team, and we capitalized on this opportunity. The hard work, commitment and dedication they've shown since September paid off in a big way."
