2020 California Grand Invitational & Collegiate Challenge

Lynnzee Brown To Carry Denver Into 2020 After Historic Season

Lynnzee Brown To Carry Denver Into 2020 After Historic Season

The Denver Pioneers gymnastics team will begin the 2020 season at the California Grand Invitational & Collegiate Challenge.

Dec 20, 2019 by Amanda Wijangco
Lynnzee Brown To Carry Denver Into 2020 After Historic Season

The 2020 NCAA gymnastics season is just weeks away, and the No. 7 Denver Pioneers will open their season in a quad meet at the California Grand Invitational & Collegiate Challenge.

Collegiate challenge sessions will stream live here on FloGymnastics.

Denver Pioneers

2019 Record: 13-2
2019 Final Ranking: No. 4
2019 Preseason Ranking: No. 13
2020 Preseason Ranking: No. 7
Gymnasts lost: Grace Broadhurst, Diana Chesnok, Claire Kern, Maddie Quarles, Kaitlyn Schou
Gymnasts gained: Emma Brown, Victoria Fitts, Amoree Lockhart, Callie Schlottman, AK Subject

After a historic 2019 season and making the first Four on the Floor final, Denver has high hopes and some shoes to fill. With the graduation of Diana Chesnok, Claire Kern, and Kaitlyn Schou, the Pioneers lost eight routines. Grace Broadhurst and Maddie Quarles did not compete last season, and Quarles has transferred to Minnesota.

Chesnok mainly competed on vault but was key in Denver’s postseason bars lineup and did compete beam a few times toward the end of the regular season in 2019. Kern was a staple in the bars lineup and often competed floor, while Schou saw consistent appearances in the vault, beam, and floor lineups throughout the entire 2019 season.

So the events Denver has lost most on are the power events, vault and floor. Neither Chesnok nor Schou were the highest scoring vaulters, but they were both solid and reliable, often putting up scores in the 9.800 range. On floor, Kern wasn’t Denver’s No. 1, but her ability to hit and solid routines were valuable. Schou had a good season on floor last year, often scoring 9.800+, including three 9.900s.

Although two of Denver’s vaults from last season are gone, they shouldn’t be difficult to replace as both Chesnok and Schou competed clean and consistent Yurchenko fulls. Freshmen Emma Brown, Amoree Lockhart, and AK Subject are all capable of producing clean and consistent Yurchenko fulls, and Subject and Lockhart are also capable of vaulting a Yurchenko 1.5, so Denver needn’t worry much there, despite the losses.

As for floor, Kern didn’t always compete the event and Schou did, so technically the Pioneers are really looking to fill only one lineup spot. Subject, Brown, and Schlottman were all strong on floor during their J.O. careers, but sophomores Alexis Vasquez and Natalie Morton could contend for spots as well. 

While the Pioneers didn’t lose as much on bars and beam, there are still holes to fill. Kern competed on bars in every meet for the Pioneers, and she was consistent, typically scoring in the 9.800-9.850 range. On beam, Schou was a star. She competed on the apparatus in every meet and collected 10 scores of 9.900+ and scored below 9.800 just once, early last season.

Key returning gymnasts for Denver include junior Lynnzee Brown and senior Maddie Karr, both of whom are stellar all-around competitors. Brown is capable of scores of 9.900+ on every event but really shines on floor where she brings power and performance. She even earned a perfect 10.0 on floor against Oklahoma last season.

Karr can also earn near-perfect scores on every apparatus, making her a valuable asset to the team. Unfortunately, Karr was out of the preseason exhibition earlier this month due to knee surgery. It's unclear when she'll be back, but that means Denver will need to find four high-quality routines in the meantime until Karr returns. So it's likely the freshmen and gymnasts who weren't in lineup last year will be making appearances early this season.

Alexandria Ruiz and Mia Sundstrom are other Pioneer all-arounders returning for 2020. Their scoring potential isn't as high as Brown's or Karr's, but both Ruiz and Sundstrom can hit a routine and score in the 9.800 range on any apparatus.

In terms of event specialists, junior Emily Glynn is excellent on bars and had four consecutive scores of 9.900+ last season, and Vasquez is known for her beautiful beam work and scored in the 9.900 range 11 times last season across 15 meets.

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