As much emphasis as the University of Denver has put on basketball since becoming Division I across the board in 1998, ice hockey, skiing and gymnastics have been the school’s most successful sports.
And in this school year, those name-brand programs each will finish at an NCAA Tournament — something most state schools can’t regularly claim.
The icers made the 16-team national field in March, shortly after the skiers captured the national crown, and the gym giants . . . well, we’ll find out this week.
Coach Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart’s squad will appear in the 12-team nationals for the second straight year, and third in program history, when the NCAA championships begin Thursday at the Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Ga.
DU senior Paige Schuster, an uneven bars specialist from Loveland High School, said the Pioneers are now regarded outside Colorado as being as dangerous as any team in the country.
“Within the DU community, people know what an accomplishment it is,” Schuster said of advancing to nationals. “Outside the DU community, a lot of people don’t realize we’re a small private school, just another team.”
No. 12-seeded DU will compete against top-ranked Georgia, No. 4 Stanford, No. 5 Utah, No. 8 Michigan and No. 9 UCLA in Thursday’s Session II. The top three teams will advance to Friday’s Super Six.
The Pioneers have not qualified for the Super Six, but a year ago they went in as the No. 12 seed and finished No. 10.
“Finishing 10th or better this time would be nice,” Schuster said. “We want to improve on what we’ve done in the past.
“We all just want to enjoy the final meet and reality of nationals, and the fact that we actually made it two years in a row.”
Schuster is DU’s only Colorado-raised gymnast. She joined the program after sweeping the 2005 state championships, winning all four events and the all-around.
“It’s been fun, being from Colorado and kind of already having a fan base going in,” she said.
DU is led by all-arounders Jessica Lopez and Sasha Sullivan. Lopez, a junior, is a 2007 All-American who is DU’s best chance to perform for an individual crown Saturday.
Experience will be on her side, plus a handful of friendly faces.
“It’s just going to be good coming into it, knowing what to expect,” Schuster said. “Last year we competed in front of 10,000 fans in Utah. We hear that they’ll be even more fans at Georgia. Our experience will be nice.”
DANICA WINS
First female open-wheel champion.
Early Sunday in Japan, Danica Patrick became the first woman to win an elite-level, Indy-style race. She will be a hot commodity this Sunday when the Indy Racing League and the Champ Car World Series compete in a “unified race” at Kansas Speedway, which is the closest venue of its kind for Front Range auto-racing enthusiasts. Unfortunately in Japan, Patrick’s historical win wasn’t in the “unified series,” because Champ Car was competing Sunday at the Long Beach Grand Prix for the final time. IRL and Champ Car merged before the season, but only after overlapping contracts with venues were signed, and honored. At Kansas, and hopefully many times after that, Patrick will have a chance to win the unified way.
TV GAME OF THE WEEK
Second-round stretch for the Stanley Cup.
The Avalanche is beginning to capture us once again, playing like the good ol’ days of 1996 and 2001, the years Colorado brought home the Stanley Cup.
The Avalanche is still awaiting word on its opponent — Detroit or Dallas — but either way it’s going to be must-watch TV. Tickets for games at the Pepsi Center go on sale Tuesday.
The Avs could go all the way. Jose Theodore is playing great between the pipes, and the defenders in front of him are big, strong and versatile. Up front, the scoring potential from the forwards goes deeper than the third line of Ryan Smyth, Tyler Arnason and David Jones.
Overall, Colorado has the right stuff.
KOBE COMETH
Bryant and Lakers due in town.
Game 3 of the Nuggets’ first-round Western Conference series against the Los Angeles Lakers is Saturday at the Pepsi Center. The 3:30 tipoff is an unusual start time, but the game should be a dandy.
After Sunday’s Game 1 loss, the Nuggets returned to Denver to practice for a couple of days before returning to L.A. for Game 2 on Wednesday (8:30 p.m.).
FIELD OF DREAMS
Great week on tap at Coors.
The Rockies return to Coors Field today to begin a four-game homestand against two interesting opponents.
First, the Rox host the Philadelphia Phillies in a rematch of the 2007 National League division series. Then, on Wednesday and Thursday, the Chicago Cubs visit The Keg.
Only bad weather could spoil this party.
WHERE EAGLES DARE
CHL playoffs at Loveland.
The Colorado Eagles host the Texas Brahmas tonight at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland for Game 6 of their Central Hockey League playoff series. The Eagles lead the Northern Conference finals 3-2, and they will also play at home Wednesday, if necessary, in Game 7.
Colorado was oh so close to advancing to the CHL finals, but Texas pulled out a 3-2 overtime thriller in Game 5 on Saturday.
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
