Southern Utah and Utah State at Denver

Recap

The Big Storyline: It was the Lynnzee Brown show in Devner’s home finale as the senior had several near-perfect routines to lead the Pioneers to an easy victory over visiting Southern Utah and Utah State. Freshman Rylie Mundell captured the beam title to pair with Brown in the Pioneers’ sweep of the meet and posting a new season high as a team. Utah State also performed well, taking second place with a season high, while Southern Utah stumbled and finished in last place, posting its second-worst score of the season.

Implications: Denver will move up two spots in the rankings to 11th and rank second among Big 12 teams. Utah State will maintain its national standing while Southern Utah will slide down a few places.

Records: Brown’s all around total is a career high and program record for Denver. The Pioneers also set a new program record on bars with a total of 49.625.

Preview

Current Rankings: No. 15 Southern Utah vs. No. 20 Utah State at No. 13 Denver

Why You Should Make Time to Tune in: This could be one of the most exciting meets of the weekend. Southern Utah set a new record with a program high score two weeks ago against Utah State. The Thunderbirds struggled in their competition last week, but expect them to come out fired up in Denver as they search for a solid away score to boost their NQS. Hannah Nipp was absent in the last competition, but if she returns to lineups, her bars, beam and floor scores will help boost the Thunderbirds. Southern Utah’s highest score this season is just shy of three tenths higher than Denver’s, so the win is not at all out-of-reach. Denver has not hit its potential yet this season partly due to athlete contact tracing absences. However, if the Pioneers want to become a real threat to Oklahoma at the conference championship, they need to start pulling things together now. Utah State is coming off of two solid meets and should continue its campaign to break program records and qualify for regionals. 

Need More Proof? Denver’s Lynnzee Brown is having a stellar comeback season after tearing her Achilles in 2020. The senior has been just shy of perfection on vault and floor. Denver’s freshman class is one of the best in the country, and now that they have all returned from COVID-19 protocols, their routines will be key in leading the Pioneers to a win. Shylen Murakami had an uncharacteristic fall for Southern Utah last week on bars, but she has some of the best lines in the country on the apparatus. Karley McClain can put up solid-scores on all four and challenge for the all around title, and Rebecca Wells had a career best night for Utah State last week, scoring a 9.800 or better on all three of her events.