Connor Scherer – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com Breaking news from the Farm since 1892 Mon, 22 Apr 2013 07:18:34 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://stanforddaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/cropped-DailyIcon-CardinalRed.png?w=32 Connor Scherer – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com 32 32 204779320 Cardinal falls short of Super Six at NCAA Championships https://stanforddaily.com/2013/04/22/cardinal-falls-short-of-super-six-at-ncaa-championships/ https://stanforddaily.com/2013/04/22/cardinal-falls-short-of-super-six-at-ncaa-championships/#respond Mon, 22 Apr 2013 07:10:10 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1076626 For the sixth time in seven years, and the 13th time overall, Stanford women’s gymnastics earned a spot in the NCAA Championship weekend. But the Cardinal couldn’t live up to its expectations, nor to last year’s fourth-place performance, as it finished sixth place out of six teams in its semifinal round on Friday afternoon. The […]

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For the sixth time in seven years, and the 13th time overall, Stanford women’s gymnastics earned a spot in the NCAA Championship weekend. But the Cardinal couldn’t live up to its expectations, nor to last year’s fourth-place performance, as it finished sixth place out of six teams in its semifinal round on Friday afternoon.

The weekend was split up into two semifinal rounds with six teams in each round; the top three teams in each group advanced to the Super Six competition on Saturday. No. 9 Stanford was matched up with No. 1 Florida, No. 4 Georgia, No. 5 LSU, No. 8 Minnesota and Illinois. Stanford needed a much higher team score than its 194.700, as Florida, LSU, and Georgia advanced to the Super Six with scores of 197.775, 197.325, and 197.150, respectively.

Senior Nicole Dayton (above)
Senior Nicole Dayton (above) led Stanford with a 9.900 on vault, but the Cardinal failed to reach the Super Six. (ROB ERICSON/Stanford Athletics)

Stanford began the meet on floor, scoring a team score of 49.025. Stanford was led by freshman Taylor Rice, whose 9.875 in her NCAA Championships debut tied her season high. Senior Ashley Morgan, who earned second-team All-American honors on floor this season, finished second for the Cardinal with a score of 9.825.  Stanford’s 49.025 was good for third place, as the Cardinal remained in contention after the first round.

The team next performed on vault, where it began to face major problems. The team scored a 48.950, its only vault score of the season below 49.000. Senior Nicole Dayton was the lone bright spot for the Cardinal, scoring a 9.900 to tie for third overall. Dayton, by finishing in the top three, earned a chance to compete on Sunday in the individual events, where she finished 14th overall with a score of 9.8583.

However, two of Stanford’s most consistent gymnasts, Morgan and sophomore Ivana Hong, each finished with a score of 9.675, which were Morgan’s second-worst vault score of the season and Hong’s worst. Even worse for the Cardinal, Hong, who had been slated to be one of Stanford’s all-around performers, injured herself on her routine and had to sit out the next two rounds. Stanford was still alive heading into the third rotation, but would need a strong performance to get back into the meet.

That strong performance was not in the cards, as things continued to go downhill on bars, where Stanford’s 48.200 score was the team’s worst event score of the season. Stanford suffered two falls to begin the event, both earning sub-9.000 scores. Sophomore Becky Wing, who has only competed in two meets all season and is coming off an ACL tear, did her best to help Stanford get back on track, filling in for Hong with a score of 9.700.

After a pair of 9.850’s by sophomores Samantha Shapiro and Kritina Vaculik, sophomore Alex Archer unleashed a career-best 9.875 to lead Stanford.

“I can’t say it was my score that made that routine my career best,” Archer said, “because it was the moment that I will remember forever. Being able to do that at a NCAA Championships meant more to me than any score the judges could’ve given me.”

Despite Archer’s performance, Stanford knew its deficit was too large heading into the final rotation. It had a team score of 146.175, but would need a score in the 197-point range to earn a top-three finish. However, the Cardinal continued to compete, earning a score of 48.525 on the beam. Rice and Junior Shona Morgan each put up a 9.850 for their last events of the season.

With the season now over, Stanford loses seniors Ashley Morgan and Dayton, two of the team’s strongest competitors for years on end.

Contact Connor Scherer at cscherer “at” stanford.edu.

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Crunch time as Women’s Gymnastics heads to NCAAs https://stanforddaily.com/2013/04/16/crunch-time-as-womens-gymnastics-heads-to-ncaas/ https://stanforddaily.com/2013/04/16/crunch-time-as-womens-gymnastics-heads-to-ncaas/#respond Wed, 17 Apr 2013 06:34:07 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1076510 This weekend, the Stanford women's gymnastics team will head to the NCAA Championships in Los Angeles as the No. 9 seed. Last season the Cardinal turned a No. 10 seeding into a top-four finish.

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The Stanford women’s gymnastics team is one of 12 competing in the NCAA Championships this weekend in Pauley Pavilion at UCLA. After earning second place at the Regional Championships on April 6 — finishing just a few tenths of a point behind Oklahoma — the Cardinal was given the No. 9 seed heading into this weekend’s competition. One advantage the Cardinal has, however, is plenty of experience heading into the Championships. This will mark the sixth time in seven years that Stanford will be hunting for the national title.

First Team All-American junior Amanda Spinner (pictured) will lead No. 9 Stanford in the NCAA Championships in Los Angeles this weekend. Joined by Second Team honorees senior Ashley Morgan and sophomore Ivana Hong, Spinner and her teammates will hope to better last year's top-four finish.
First Team All-American junior Amanda Spinner (pictured) will lead No. 9 Stanford in the NCAA Championships in Los Angeles this weekend. Joined by Second Team honorees senior Ashley Morgan and sophomore Ivana Hong, Spinner and her teammates will hope to better last year’s top-four finish. (HECTOR-GARCIA MOLINA/StanfordPhoto.com)

The team tournament is broken up into two separate days. On Friday at noon, Stanford will compete in the first of two semifinal rounds. Along with Stanford, the other teams included in its semifinal are top-seeded Florida, No. 4 Georgia, No. 5 LSU, No. 8 Minnesota and No. 12 Illinois. In the second of the semifinal rounds are No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Alabama, No. 6 UCLA, No. 7 Michigan, No. 10 Utah and No. 11 Arkansas. To advance to Saturday’s competition, the Super Six, Stanford needs to finish in the top three in its group, as three teams from each semifinal advance to the final round. While this may seem like a daunting task as a No. 9 seed, the Cardinal has shown that it can defy expectations; last year the team was ranked No. 10 and ultimately advanced to the Super Six, finishing fourth in the nation.

Of the teams in its semifinal group, this season the Cardinal has faced both Illinois, which it defeated 196.025-193.750 in a quad meet on Jan. 12, and Georgia, which beat Stanford 197.000–195.400 on a Jan. 21 contest. However, the loss to the Bulldogs was just Stanford’s third of the season, and the team has lived up to its mantra of focusing on improving since then. The team score of 195.400 was its worst score of the season, and in each of the past eight competitions heading into the Championships, the Cardinal has scored at least 196.000 points.

In order to place in the top three of its group, Stanford will need to build on its recent success and put together one of the team’s strongest performances of the season. This will take an all-around effort, but the team will look to its All-Americans to lead the way. On Sunday, three Cardinal gymnasts received All-American honors: junior Amanda Spinner received First Team honors in beam, while senior Ashley Morgan (floor) and sophomore Ivana Hong (beam) both received Second Team honors.

Hong is coming off individual titles on beam and vault in the Regional Championships, though after the meet expressed that her team’s success was more important to her than individual accolades. Heading into this weekend’s competition, she will give the Cardinal a good chance to succeed if she performs at her maximum potential.

“Qualifying for NCAAs is always exciting and we’ve got even more potential than we’ve shown, so I’m thrilled to continue this season with this amazing group of girls,” Hong said.

If the Cardinal advances to the Super Six, it will compete at 4 p.m. on Saturday for the national title. Once all team competitions are wrapped up, the top four individuals in each event from the semifinals will then compete on Sunday with hopes of earning individual honors. Last year, sophomore Sam Shapiro represented Stanford well by earning second place nationally in uneven bars. But the team has much bigger goals this weekend, as it hopes to return to the Farm with the national title.

 Contact Connor Scherer at cscherer ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Women’s gymnastics NCAA bound https://stanforddaily.com/2013/04/07/womens-gymnastics-ncaa-bound/ https://stanforddaily.com/2013/04/07/womens-gymnastics-ncaa-bound/#respond Mon, 08 Apr 2013 06:02:56 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1076236 For the sixth time in seven years, the Stanford women’s gymnastics team is going to the NCAA National Championships. In order to earn the spot, the Cardinal had to finish in the top two out of six teams at the Norman Regional Championships at the University of Oklahoma on Saturday. Oklahoma, the second-ranked team in […]

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For the sixth time in seven years, the Stanford women’s gymnastics team is going to the NCAA National Championships. In order to earn the spot, the Cardinal had to finish in the top two out of six teams at the Norman Regional Championships at the University of Oklahoma on Saturday.

[NORBERT VON DER GROEBEN/StanfordPhoto.com]
Kristina Vaculik (above) led the women’s gymnastics team on Saturday, posting a 9.850 to tie for eighth place overall. [NORBERT VON DER GROEBEN/StanfordPhoto.com]
Oklahoma, the second-ranked team in the country, advanced by winning the regional competition with a score of 197.375, while Stanford finished in second with a team score of 196.800. It beat out No. 22 Washington (195.925), No. 14 Penn State (195.875), Southern Utah (194.850) and Iowa (194.475). While the final score shows Stanford qualifying by nearly a full point, it was not until a nearly flawless final round that Stanford punched its ticket to the NCAA Championships.

Stanford started the meet on bars, where it posted a score of 48.975. The team was led by sophomore Kristina Vaculik, who posted a 9.850 to earn a tie for eighth place overall. She was supported by senior Ashley Morgan and junior Shona Morgan, each of whom scored a 9.800. Ashley has scored at least a 9.800 on bars in every competition this season, while Shona is almost as impressive, scoring a 9.800 in all but two.

Throughout the season, the beam has been Stanford’s most consistent event. Saturday’s meet was nothing different, as Stanford put together a 49.225 to move closer to the national championship.

Sophomore Ivana Hong, who shined in her second regional competition for Stanford, led the Cardinal with a score of 9.900. Hong tied for first place, giving her her fourth first-place finish in the event and Stanford its eighth overall. Shona Morgan was not far behind her, scoring a 9.875 to finish third overall. Vaculik came up big once again, scoring a 9.825 that Stanford desperately needed after a missed routine in order to stay in the hunt for the top two spots. Stanford’s 49.225 was its second-best team score on the beam this season, true to the Cardinal’s mantra of saving its best for last.

Going to floor exercises, Ashley Morgan showed everyone why she is a three-time Pac-12 floor champion. Morgan posted a 9.900 to earn her a tie for first-place overall, her fourth first-place finish on the floor this the season. Freshman Taylor Rice and sophomore Sam Shapiro were just behind their senior captain, each tying their career highs with a score of 9.875 to pace Stanford to a team score of 49.175. Shapiro, normally known for her bars routines—finished second at last year’s NCAA Championships—felt good contributing in the best way she could.

“Particularly on floor, I knew that the team needed me in that moment,” she said, “and it felt so good to be able to hit my routine for them.”

However, despite three solid team events to start out, Stanford found itself just 0.125 points ahead of third-place Penn State and need a strong round on vault to solidify its second-place finish. Not only did the Cardinal deliver a good round, it posted a season-high score of 49.425 to guarantee its spot in the National Championships.

Hong led the way once again for the Cardinal, putting together a season-best 9.950 to earn her second individual title of the day and the highest individual score of the meet. While Hong was impressed with her individual accomplishments, she knew what mattered most coming from this weekend. “

“Winning the individual titles on vault and beam was awesome, but the team’s success is what matters the most, and I’m so proud of how much fight our team showed this last weekend,” Hong said.

Last year at the national championships, Stanford earned an impressive fourth-place finish. The team hopes to achieve such an accomplishment once again, or even better.

The championship consists of 12 teams: Alabama, Florida, Oklahoma, Georgia, LSU, UCLA, Michigan, Minnesota, Utah, Arkansas, Illinois and Stanford. The championships will be held at UCLA from April 19-21, where after the first day six of the 12 teams are eliminated from the field.

While the team has a big challenge ahead of it, Shapiro thinks the Cardinal has what it takes to make a statement on the biggest stage.

“As a team, we feel extremely confident going into Nationals,” she said. “We have worked so hard and have overcome so much together that this is just the icing on the cake!”

Contact Connor Scherer at cscherer “at” stanford.edu.

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Women’s gymnastics aiming to qualify for NCAA Championships https://stanforddaily.com/2013/04/04/womens-gymnastics-aiming-to-qualify-for-ncaa-championships/ https://stanforddaily.com/2013/04/04/womens-gymnastics-aiming-to-qualify-for-ncaa-championships/#respond Thu, 04 Apr 2013 07:03:49 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1076152 The women’s gymnastics team has not competed since its fourth place finish at the Pac-12 Championships on March 23, which marked the 13th year in a row that Stanford finished fourth or better at the conference championships. At the meet, the Cardinal faced an early deficit but finished strong due to a couple of standout individual performances.

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The women’s gymnastics team has not competed since its fourth place finish at the Pac-12 Championships on March 23, which marked the 13th year in a row that Stanford finished fourth or better at the conference championships. At the meet, the Cardinal faced an early deficit but finished strong due to a couple of standout individual performances.

(ZETONG LI/The Stanford Daily)
Senior Ashley Morgan (above) was one of three Stanford gymnasts who garned Pac-12 first-team accolades. (ZETONG LI/The Stanford Daily)

Stanford looked to its proven stars to help the team salvage a poor start. Three Cardinal gymnasts received Pac-12 first-team honors: senior Ashley Morgan (all-around), junior Amanda Spinner (beam) and sophomore Ivana Hong (beam).

Spinner showed why she also won the Pac-12 Specialist of the Year for her consistent performance throughout the season on beam, as she scored a 9.925 to earn a co-title in the event. Similarly, Morgan proved once again to be one of the conference’s best floor performers, earning a share of the individual title with a 9.950 in the event, a career best. Hong also shone, scoring an all-around score of 39.575, the highest all-around score for any Stanford gymnast this year and fewer than 0.200 points behind an individual title.

Despite certain notable individual performances, Stanford as a team wasn’t at its best in its last competition but earned a respectable 196.625 team score. It will likely need to compete at a higher level if the team hopes to advance to the NCAA Championships for the fifth time in six years.

In order to make it to the final rounds in Los Angeles, the Cardinal will have to place in the top two at Saturday’s NCAA Norman Regional. Stanford earned the No. 2 seed going into the competition, but that doesn’t mean the team can relax for Saturday’s meet.

 The Cardinal, the No. 11 team in the nation, is one of just four teams ranked in the top 25 at the Regional. No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 14 Penn State and No. 22 Washington will likely be Stanford’s stiffest competition this weekend, while Iowa and Southern Utah also have a chance to stand between Stanford and a championship berth. Oklahoma is expected to give Stanford the most difficulty, as it is a team with proven talent that has spent most of the year as one of the nation’s top teams and beat the Cardinal in a March 10 tri-meet with North Carolina.

One thing Stanford has going for it is plenty of experience in important postseason meets. Last year, the Cardinal earned a trip to the National Championships by finishing second in the six-team regional field, just ahead of host Illinois, and ultimately placed fourth with a very impressive meet in the championships.

Morgan expects the Cardinal’s experience to pay dividends when the team is under pressure on Saturday.

“I think it is very helpful that a majority of our team had this experience last year, especially in helping to prepare the younger girls,” she said.

The team hopes for a similar outcome this year, as there is no turning back if the team fails to place in the top two. The team missed out on the Championships two seasons ago by finishing fourth in the regional competition, and the members of that team will be the first to tell you that is not how the team wants to end a season.

“Missing out [on the NCAA Championships] is what lit a fire for the last two years and allowed us to push harder and work harder than we ever have before,” Morgan said.

If Stanford does indeed move on to the next round, it will join five other teams in the National Championships from April 19-21.

Contact Connor Scherer at cscherer “at” stanford.edu.

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Women’s gymnastics takes second in final tri-meet of the year https://stanforddaily.com/2013/03/11/womens-gymnastics-takes-second-in-final-tri-meet-of-the-year/ https://stanforddaily.com/2013/03/11/womens-gymnastics-takes-second-in-final-tri-meet-of-the-year/#respond Tue, 12 Mar 2013 06:25:13 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1075791 In its final regular season meet, the No. 10 Stanford women’s gymnastics team fell short in its bid to upset the No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners.

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In its final regular season meet, the No. 10 Stanford women’s gymnastics team fell short in its bid to upset the No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners. The Cardinal (11-4, 5-2 Pac-12) placed second in the tri-meet with a score of 196.000, finishing ahead of the unranked North Carolina Tar Heels (195.300), but well behind the Sooners (197.525). It would have required a flawless meet for the team to compete with the Sooners—Oklahoma’s meet score was 0.225 points above Stanford’s season-high—but instead the Cardinal turned in its second-lowest score of the season.

Ashley Morgan
Stanford senior Ashley Morgan (above) won the all-around title but Stanford took second behind No. 1 Oklahoma in a tri-meet on Sunday. (NORBERT VON DER GROEBEN/stanfordphoto.com

Individually, Stanford senior Ashley Morgan captured her fifth all-around victory of the year, but it was not enough to pull the Cardinal past the Sooners.

The Cardinal had a rough first round, and found itself playing from behind the entire afternoon.

The beam is generally one of the team’s strongest events—Stanford came into Sunday’s meet ranked sixth in the nation on beam with an average score of 49.160 points, having won the event 12 of 13 opportunities coming into the meet. On Sunday, however, the Cardinal suffered a couple of unusual slip-ups, leading to a team-score of just 48.775, tied for its worst beam score of the year.

Stanford sophomore Ivana Hong’s score of 9.875 earned her third place in the event, but the Cardinal found itself  trailing the Sooners by 0.625 points and the Tar Heels by 0.375 points after the first round.

In its next event, the floor, Stanford did improve, but not by much—the team’s score of 48.875 was its worst floor score since Jan. 21. Stanford was led by senior Ashley Morgan, who scored a 9.900 in the event to rebound from a slight slip-up in the first round and tie for second place in the event.

The team’s next highest score was 9.800, recorded by both junior Shona Morgan and freshman Taylor Rice.

“Taylor had a dynamite meet,” Stanford head coach Kristen Smyth told GoStanford.com. “She’s improving each week, which is exciting to see.”

Stanford’s 48.875 score on the floor was below its average score of 49.090 points, and allowed Oklahoma to extend its lead to 1.225 points after a very strong performance on uneven bars, while North Carolina maintained a 0.125 lead over the Card going into the third round.

The Cardinal would put together a much stronger last two rounds, beginning with a 49.200 on vault. Stanford looked to senior Nicole Dayton, who has been one of Stanford’s best competitors in the event his season. Dayton didn’t disappoint, as she posted a 9.900 to lead the team and earn a tie for second place individually.

Four of her teammates also tallied at least 9.800 points, with Morgan adding a 9.850 score and Rice recording a 9.825. With that effort, Stanford managed to slide into second place with a 0.200-point lead over the Tar Heels. However, the Sooners continued to shine, as it posted a 49.275 on beam to cushion their lead going into the final round.

Stanford wrapped up the afternoon on the uneven bars looking to ensure at least a second-place finish. The Cardinal scored a 49.150 to do just that, besting the Tar Heels by 0.500 points, but falling to the Sooners by 0.225 points. Hong led the way once again for Stanford, scoring a 9.875 to tie for fourth place behind three Sooners. Morgan added support with her 9.850 score of the night.

Although Stanford has the potential to pull of an upset, on this night, it was shown how a top team like the Sooners will capitalize on its mistakes. The Cardinal next competes on March 23, as it enters the playoff season with the Pac-12 Championships.

Contact Connor Scherer at csherer ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Date with No. 2 Oklahoma looms for Cardinal https://stanforddaily.com/2013/03/07/date-with-no-2-oklahoma-looms-for-cardinal/ https://stanforddaily.com/2013/03/07/date-with-no-2-oklahoma-looms-for-cardinal/#respond Fri, 08 Mar 2013 06:30:31 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1075667 For years, Stanford women’s gymnastics has stressed the importance of improvement throughout a season. The Cardinal will have to continue improving as it heads to Norman, Okla., to face the North Carolina Tar Heels and the second-ranked Oklahoma Sooners on Sunday morning. While it is always nice to start the year strong, it is more […]

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For years, Stanford women’s gymnastics has stressed the importance of improvement throughout a season. The Cardinal will have to continue improving as it heads to Norman, Okla., to face the North Carolina Tar Heels and the second-ranked Oklahoma Sooners on Sunday morning.

While it is always nice to start the year strong, it is more significant to steadily develop as the season progresses. The Cardinal (10-3, 5-1 Pac-12) rode this strategy all the way to fourth place in the NCAA Championship last year, and this season has seen more of the same.

“We began the year with the goal of consistently getting better every weekend so we could peak at the right time,” said senior captain Ashley Morgan. “As a senior, I am extremely proud of how far our team has come, and I know we are only going to continue to improve and show our true strength as we conclude our regular season and post season begins.”

Senior Ashley Morgan
Senior Ashley Morgan and the Cardinal look to upset No. 2 Oklahoma in a big Sunday meet. (MIKE KHEIR/The Stanford Daily)

Stanford got out to a very strong 7-1 start through Jan. 26 but still had not scored above 197 points in a meet until it defeated Arizona State 197.275-195.250 on Feb. 15. Since that point, the Card has eclipsed the 197-point mark in both subsequent meets en route to a 10-3 record and the nation’s No. 9 ranking.

The Card’s biggest challenge this Sunday will be keeping up with the Sooners — a feat no team has been able to do yet this season. Oklahoma has dominated its competition, leading to a 16-0 record and multiple weeks atop the national rankings.

Oklahoma is led by senior Brie Olson, who was recently recognized as one of the six finalists for the most outstanding senior gymnast in the country. Oklahoma averages 197.317 points per meet with a season-high 198.375-point performance in a victory over sixth-ranked UCLA.

But perhaps just as impressive as Oklahoma’s season-high score is its scoring consistency. The Sooners haven’t scored below that magic 197-point mark since Jan. 12 at Arizona State. In fact, Stanford’s season-high 197.275 performance would only have tied Oklahoma’s worst performance over the last seven meets.

Factoring in the atmosphere of an always-loud Oklahoma gym, topping the Sooners is going to be a tough task.

“It is going to be a great environment with a lot of fans, and a loud home crowd,” Morgan said. “We get excited for challenges on the road, but our biggest challenge is truly just competing against ourselves. Our goal is to improve from last weekend and to continue to get even better.”

Morgan has been one of Stanford’s most consistent performers of the season, winning four individual all-around titles and earning herself a Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week award in late January. However, the team will need much more than just Morgan, looking to fellow senior Nicole Dayton, who has been one of the strongest performers on vault throughout the season, and a strong core of young players as the team tries to pull of a big upset victory.

Contact Connor Scherer at cscherer “at” stanford.edu.

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A nail-biter on Senior Night https://stanforddaily.com/2013/03/03/a-nail-biter-on-senior-night/ https://stanforddaily.com/2013/03/03/a-nail-biter-on-senior-night/#respond Mon, 04 Mar 2013 06:11:47 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1075487 Last Friday night marked the final home meet for seniors Ashley Morgan and Nicole Dayton. So, on a night dedicated to honoring the two, the No. 12 Stanford women’s gymnastics team hoped to come away with a win against No. 9 Oregon State and California. The Cardinal managed to do just that, but not without […]

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Last Friday night marked the final home meet for seniors Ashley Morgan and Nicole Dayton. So, on a night dedicated to honoring the two, the No. 12 Stanford women’s gymnastics team hoped to come away with a win against No. 9 Oregon State and California. The Cardinal managed to do just that, but not without some suspense down to the very end.

As they have done throughout the year and throughout their careers, Morgan and Dayton came up big when it mattered most to give Stanford the victory with a score of 197.200, just in front of Oregon State (197.175) and well ahead of California (195.000).

[Simon Warby/The Stanford Daily]
Friday was an exciting meet for the Card, showcasing seniors Ashley Morgan and Nicole Dayton in their final home meet. [Simon Warby/The Stanford Daily]
Trying to get an early lead in the meet, Stanford came out with a quick start, putting up a season-best 49.425 on vault. Sophomore Pauline Hanset led the way for the Card, earning a career-best 9.925, finishing tied for second overall with Oregon State’s Hailey Gaspar.

Sophomore Kristina Vaculik set a career-best for herself as well, finishing with a score of 9.900. Stanford had five competitors score at least a 9.850. While Stanford did it all it could to get out to a fast start, Oregon State did just as much, as the Beavers matched Stanford’s score with a 49.425 of their own. California would score a 49.200 in the event, giving the Bears a deficit they would be unable to make up over the next three events.

The Cardinal was nearly as impressive on uneven bars, posting a score of 49.400. Stanford was led by Ashley Morgan, who scored a 9.925 to finish second overall in the event. Vaculik posted her second 9.900 of the meet to finish fourth overall once again.

However, perhaps the most crucial moment of the event was the return of sophomore Rebecca Wing, who hadn’t performed all season due to an injury over the summer. Wing showed no signs of rust, tying her career-best with a score of 9.900 to match Vaculik.

“It felt so good to be competing again,” Wing said. “Even though it’s almost been a year, as soon as I stepped up to compete it felt exactly the same.”

Stanford’s 49.400 was another season-best score for the team, but would need more if it wanted to compete with Oregon State, who scored a 49.450 to take a .050-point lead heading into the third round.

Unfortunately for the Card, it would put together its worst performance of the meet on beam, suffering two rare mistakes to finish with a score of just 48.875. Beam has been Stanford’s strongest event this year, as it has outscored its opponent in every meet, earning the Card a fourth-place national ranking. Despite the two faults, Stanford’s other competitors came up big, led by sophomore Ivana Hong’s 9.925, which earned her first place overall in the event. Juniors Amanda Spinner and Shona Morgan would add a pair of 9.900’s, but perhaps the biggest performance came from Hanset in the sixth and final spot.

“I was extremely nervous, but I kept telling myself to do exactly what I do in practice everyday,” Hanset said.

Knowing that two of her teammates had made mistakes, Hanset understood she would have to perform well to keep her team in the match. Her 9.800 in the event made sure of that.

“It is the best feeling in the world when your team is counting on you and you rise up to the challenge,” Hanset said.

However, the Card was still trailing by 0.150 points going into the fourth and final round, needing a nearly flawless round on floor exercise to pull out the victory. Lucky for Stanford, Ashley Morgan and Dayton made sure they would do all they could to win their final home meet.

Morgan led the way for the Cardinal with a 9.925, while Dayton hit a career-best 9.875 to start off the round. Five of the six performers scored at least a 9.875, good for a team score of 49.500. Oregon State had a strong round as well, but its 49.325 would give Stanford the final margin of victory of just 0.025 points.

Stanford’s victory snapped a four-meet losing streak against Oregon State, while it improved to 38-1 against Cal since 1996. The Cardinal next competes on Saturday, when it travels to Oklahoma to take on Oklahoma and North Carolina in a tri-meet.

Contact Connor Scherer at csherer “at” stanford.edu.

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Stanford women’s gymnastics barely beat by Utah https://stanforddaily.com/2013/02/24/stanford-womens-gymnastics-barely-beat-by-utah/ https://stanforddaily.com/2013/02/24/stanford-womens-gymnastics-barely-beat-by-utah/#respond Mon, 25 Feb 2013 07:24:59 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1075257 After falling to Utah by 0.200 points last year in the regular season, the Stanford women’s gymnastics team avenged their loss when it mattered most, finishing just ahead of the Utes in the NCAA Championships to win fourth place. So when the Cardinal traveled to Utah for Saturday’s meet, both teams had motivation to try […]

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After falling to Utah by 0.200 points last year in the regular season, the Stanford women’s gymnastics team avenged their loss when it mattered most, finishing just ahead of the Utes in the NCAA Championships to win fourth place. So when the Cardinal traveled to Utah for Saturday’s meet, both teams had motivation to try to come away with a win in front of the crowd of over 13,000.

[Mike Kheir/The Stanford Daily]
Junior Amanda Spinner (above) scored a career-high of 9.950 on Saturday. [Mike Kheir/The Stanford Daily]
Heading into the meet, Stanford knew it had a difficult job ahead, as Utah has been one of the nation’s best teams over the past few years. Senior captain Ashley Morgan, coming off a career-best performance last week, was “extremely confident” in her team as long as it performed up to its potential. The team fell just short of that, posting its second-best score of the season, as Utah earned the victory 197.300-197.075. It’s the second time in two weeks that Stanford has scored in the 197s, which it hadn’t done all season before last week.

Starting off on uneven bars, the Card was led by Morgan’s 9.875, which was good enough to earn her another individual title to add to her many from this season. However, after a very unusual miss from sophomore Samantha Shapiro, who finished second in the country in last year’s NCAA Championship in uneven bars, Stanford looked to sophomore Alex Archer to help get back on track. Archer not only kept the team in the meet with her performance, but also tied her career-high in the event with a 9.825.

That was probably the most nervous I’ve ever been in my career,” said Archer. “It felt unbelievable. Being on a team of 15 strong, nothing can truly describe the feeling of having each other’s backs.”

The Cardinal came away with a 49.050 score in the event, while the Utes were nearly perfect on vault, posting a 49.500 to give them an early cushion.

Stanford had a lot of work to do to make up its deficit, and its strong vault performance would be a good first step. Stanford scored a 49.325, led by senior captain Nicole Dayton, who tied her career-high in the event with a 9.950. Her score was good to tie Utah’s Tory Wilson for the individual title in the event. Dayton was supported by Morgan and sophomore Pauline Hanset, each of whom scored a 9.875 in the event (Hanset tied her career-high in the event with that score). Stanford’s 49.325 was a season-high for the team on vault, and it helped reduce the deficit to 98.750-98.375 heading into the third round.

Junior Shona Morgan helped Stanford put together a strong floor performance, scoring a 9.900 in the event. Shona Morgan’s performance helped to solidify her as one the Card’s more consistent performers, posting a 9.800 or higher in each of her three events on the day. Ashley Morgan and freshman Taylor Rice each scored a 9.850 to round out Stanford’s score of 49.225. Stanford was now down just 0.175 points heading into the final round, trying to complete a furious comeback.

The Cardinal did just about all it could to try to finish off its unprecedented comeback, scoring a season-high 49.475 on beams. Junior Amanda Spinner scored a 9.950 to earn first in the event, followed by a pair of 9.850’s by sophomores Ivana Hong and Kristina Vaculik. Spinner and Vaculik’s scores were both career-highs for the two gymnasts.

Unfortunately, Utah was even better in its final event, posting a 49.525 to wrap up the final score. Utah’s Lia Del Priore produced a perfect performance on floor to help her team finish off the Card, scoring a 10.000. Utah’s final team score of 197.300 was a season best for the Utes, and it needed every bit of that to put away the tenacious Cardinal team.

Ashley Morgan earned another all-around title, her fourth of the season, with a score of 39.450. Vaculik, competing in her first all-around competition of the season, finished fourth with a score of 39.300. Stanford competes next on Friday, March 1, as it hosts California and Oregon State at Burnham Pavilion in the last home meet of the season for the Cardinal.

Contact Connor Scherer at cscherer@stanford.edu.

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Women’s gymnastics perfect against Arizona State https://stanforddaily.com/2013/02/20/womens-gymnastics-perfect-against-arizona-state/ https://stanforddaily.com/2013/02/20/womens-gymnastics-perfect-against-arizona-state/#respond Wed, 20 Feb 2013 08:08:19 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1075065 Lead by senior Ashley Morgan, Stanford women's gymnastics impressed against Arizona State to sweep all four events, taking not just the team victory, but having a different Cardinal athlete coming in first in each.

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Heading into last Friday’s meet against then-No. 25 Arizona State, the No. 10 Stanford women’s gymnastics team was the favorite to come out with the victory. The Cardinal did indeed leave with a win in the matchup, but few could have predicted how strong of a performance it would put together to earn its first home victory of the season.

Stanford won the meet 197.275-195.250 to improve to 8-2 on the season, while Arizona State fell to 2-5. The Cardinal won each of the four events, and its 197.275 score was a season-best for the team, which hadn’t posted a score in the 197-point range until Friday.

Stanford senior Ashley Morgan set a career-best 39.550 score in the all-around competition against Arizona State.
Stanford senior Ashley Morgan set a career-best 39.550 score in the all-around competition against Arizona State.

Stanford senior Ashley Morgan stole the show, scoring at least a 9.825 in all four events to come away with a career-best all-around score of 39.550 in front of a crowd of over 1,400 in Maples Pavilion. Her teammates were nearly as impressive in a true team victory, as there was a different individual winner from Stanford for each of the four events.

“Throughout the year there have been standout routines and highlights from individuals,” Morgan said, “but this past weekend we showed how strong a team we are.”

The night got started on vault, where Stanford took an early lead in the meet with a 49.225-48.800 win. Any worries about being rusty following a two-week break were quickly dispelled, as Stanford came out strong in the event. Coming off a career-best performance at UCLA, sophomore Ivana Hong led the way with her second consecutive 9.900 in the event to earn the individual victory. Senior Nicole Dayton finished second with a score of 9.875 and Morgan finished third in the team with 9.825, her lowest score all evening.

Stanford kept the ball rolling with a season-best of 49.375 on bars. Each Stanford competitor scored above a 9.800. No Sun Devil could match that score, so the Cardinal earned an easy victory in the event. Sophomore Kristina Vaculik tied her career-best score of 9.925 to win the individual title, while All-Americans sophomore Samantha Shapiro and Ashley Morgan earned second and third place with scores of 9.900 and 9.875, respectively.

The Cardinal’s first real challenge of the night came on balance beam, as it found itself needing three straight strong performances to keep up with the Sun Devils. Though junior Shona Morgan and Ashley Morgan got Stanford started with scores of 9.825 and 9.900, the team found itself in a small hole after a rare miss by Hong. Under pressure, junior Amanda Spinner gave the Cardinal exactly what it needed, tying her career-best in the event with 9.925 to win the individual title. Vaculik and sophomore Pauline Hanset followed with scores of 9.825 and 9.800, respectively, to round out the team score of 49.275 for another team victory.

Stanford, and Ashley Morgan in particular, saved its best for last on floor exercise, as Morgan’s 9.950 — which tied her career-best in the event — helped set up the team’s score of 49.400 to seal the victory. The Cardinal again found itself needing to pick up a teammate following Dayton’s unusual slip-up, and it did just that. All five performers scored above 9.775, with Shona Morgan earning second with 9.925 and Shapiro and freshman Taylor Rice tying for third with 9.875.

The Cardinal put together a season-best performance on Friday night, but the team will need more of the same on Saturday as it faces No. 7 Utah. Stanford hopes to avenge a close 0.200-point loss to Utah in the regular season last year, while the Utes may be motivated to win after the Cardinal finished just ahead of them in the NCAA Championships last year to earn fourth place.

“I think our team is extremely confident and should be confident,” Ashley Morgan said. “Our team chemistry and gymnastics is there, so we really just need to be ourselves and do what we do every day inside the gym, which is competing with our hearts.”

Contact Connor Scherer at csherer “at” stanford.edu.

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Women’s gymnastics drops home opener to No. 4 UCLA https://stanforddaily.com/2013/02/04/womens-gymnastics-drops-home-opener-to-no-4-ucla/ https://stanforddaily.com/2013/02/04/womens-gymnastics-drops-home-opener-to-no-4-ucla/#respond Tue, 05 Feb 2013 05:37:43 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1074613 Despite one of its better performances of the season, the No. 11 Stanford women’s gymnastics team lost its home opener in a close one against conference-rival No. 4 UCLA. Sophomore Ivana Hong was the story of the day for the Cardinal, as she posted a career-best score of 39.550 in the all-around competition. Both teams […]

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Ashley Morgan
Senior Ashley Morgan (above) set her season-high in the all-around, but it was not enough as UCLA topped Stanford. (SIMON WARBY/The Stanford Daily)

Despite one of its better performances of the season, the No. 11 Stanford women’s gymnastics team lost its home opener in a close one against conference-rival No. 4 UCLA. Sophomore Ivana Hong was the story of the day for the Cardinal, as she posted a career-best score of 39.550 in the all-around competition.

Both teams set the bar high early on, as UCLA outscored Stanford 49.300-49.200 on vault for the first event of the evening. UCLA senior Vanessa Zamarripa in the event with a 10.000, the only perfect score for any competitor in the meet.

Hong and fellow sophomore Pauline Hanset led the Cardinal with scores of 9.900 and 9.875 (a career best for Hanset), good for second and a tie for third in the event. Other notables were senior captains Ashley Morgan and Nicole Dayton, who each scored a 9.825.

“I was so impressed and proud of Ivana,” head coach Kristen Smyth told GoStanford.com. “She’s such a competitor and such a beautiful athlete on all four events, so I was just thrilled for her to get that all-around meet under her belt.”

The Bruins took advantage of a few mistakes on the Cardinal side on uneven bars to take a 98.375-97.825 lead going into the third round. Hong again led the way for the Cardinal, scoring a 9.875 to win the event while sophomore Kristina Vaculik posted a strong 9.850. However, two falls for the Cardinal’s final two competitors dropped the team score to just 48.625, Stanford’s worst team score of the evening.

But Stanford would recover with a very strong 49.325 on beam, a season-best score for the team in the event. Five of six competitors scored at least 9.825 for the Cardinal, led by Hong and Ashley Morgan’s pair of 9.900s — a career high on beam for Morgan — putting them in a three-way tie for second-place in the event.

Freshman Danusia Francis scored a 9.925 for UCLA to win the individual title. For Stanford, junior Amanda Spinner added a 9.875 while Vaculik and junior Shona Morgan each scored a 9.825.

Despite such a strong performance from the Cardinal, UCLA nearly matched it with a 49.225, giving Stanford just a 10th of a point advantage in the event. Heading into the final round down 147.600-147.150, the Cardinal would need UCLA mistakes to have a chance to earn a victory.

The Bruins did just the opposite, posting a 49.325 of their own on-floor exercise for their best team score of the entire meet. Zamarripa won her second individual title of the evening with a 9.925, and none of her teammates scored below a 9.825, which was plenty good enough to seal the victory for UCLA.

Stanford’s Hong, Morgan and Hanset all tied UCLA’s Alyssa Pritchett for second-place in the event with a score of 9.875. Stanford scored a 49.050 in the event to round out the final score of 196.200-196.925 in favor of the Bruins.

Zamarripa earned the all-around victory for the Bruins with a very impressive score of 39.675. Hong and Ashley Morgan also put together very strong scores of 39.550 and 39.425, respectively, to grab second and third place for Stanford. Hong’s score was a career high, while Morgan’s was the best of her season so far. Morgan is the reigning Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week.

Stanford drops to 7-2 on the year with the loss, while UCLA continues to prove itself as one of the country’s best teams, improving to 4-0 on the year. Stanford has a much-needed break after a stretch of five meets in four weeks, as its next meet is not until Feb. 15, when Arizona State will come to Maples Pavilion for the Cardinal’s second home meet of the season.

Contact Connor Scherer at cscherer@stanford.edu.

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Women’s Gymnastics beats Cal, earning four individual titles and season-best score https://stanforddaily.com/2013/01/29/womens-gymnastics-beats-cal-earning-four-individual-titles-and-season-best-score/ https://stanforddaily.com/2013/01/29/womens-gymnastics-beats-cal-earning-four-individual-titles-and-season-best-score/#respond Tue, 29 Jan 2013 08:35:46 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1074434 The Stanford women’s gymnastics team came into Saturday’s meet at Cal with a streak of 27 straight victories against the Golden Bears since 2000, with an overall record of 36-1 dating back 1996. Therefore, another victory might have been expected. What might not have been expected, however, was a season-best score for the Cardinal team […]

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The Stanford women’s gymnastics team came into Saturday’s meet at Cal with a streak of 27 straight victories against the Golden Bears since 2000, with an overall record of 36-1 dating back 1996. Therefore, another victory might have been expected. What might not have been expected, however, was a season-best score for the Cardinal team and four individual titles to boot.

Cal posted its highest team score since 2007, so it would take a strong performance from Stanford to earn a victory. Stanford did just that, earning the 196.450-195.775 victory one week removed from its first loss of the season against Georgia. The 196.450 score is the Cardinal’s highest score of the season, replacing the previous best score of 196.025 when they traveled to Arizona two weeks ago. The Cardinal’s win improved their record to 7-1.

Stanford got off to a strong start on vault, posting a 49.275 compared to Cal’s 48.900. Stanford was led once again by senior captain Ashley Morgan, whose 9.925 tied her career-best score on vault and was good enough to earn herself the individual victory in the event. Morgan had a strong supporting cast as well, as freshman Taylor Rice put up a career-best 9.900 while freshman Melissa Chuang and sophomore Pauline Hanset posted a pair of 9.825 scores.

The Cardinal kept the ball rolling on uneven bars, as Samantha Shapiro led the way with a 9.950. Shapiro’s score was a new career-best for the sophomore, who specializes in the uneven bars, outdoing her previous high of 9.900 set last year. Sophomore Kristina Vaculik scored a 9.900, while Ashley and junior Shona Morgan both scored 9.850’s. The Cardinal scored a 49.300 as a team, its best team score of the afternoon, increasing its lead over Cal 98.575-97.900.

Stanford posted a 48.775 on beam, increasing its lead over Cal 147.350-146.450. Sophomore Ivana Hong, after missing last week’s meet, showed how valuable of an asset she is, scoring a career-best 9.925 in the event to take home the individual title. Junior Amanda Spinner finished second with a 9.825, as Spinner and Hong now have the Cardinal’s four best scores in the event on the season.

Going into the final round with a 0.900-point lead, Stanford looked to wrap up the event with a strong finish on floor exercise. It did just that, as the team’s 49.100 score was its best floor score of the season, and was enough to seal the victory despite Cal’s strong 49.325 score. Ashley Morgan scored a 9.925 to tie for the win of the individual event, which was the highest score a Cardinal has put up in the event so far this season. Shona Morgan earned the third spot with a 9.875.

Ashley Morgan earned another all-around individual victory, her second victory in as many weeks, with another 39.225. After stressing last week the importance of fighting for and “squeezing out” every fraction of a point, she exemplified that standard this week as her teammates followed her lead.

The team next competes on Saturday, Feb. 2nd, at home against UCLA. The Bruins are undefeated so far this season, earning their No. 4 national ranking with three consecutive dual meet victories. The Cardinal hopes to put an end to that streak in Saturday’s televised event.

Contact Connor Scherer at cscherer@stanford.edu

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W. Gymnastics: Bulldogs narrowly outlast Cardinal https://stanforddaily.com/2013/01/23/w-gymnastics-bulldogs-narrowly-outlast-cardinal/ https://stanforddaily.com/2013/01/23/w-gymnastics-bulldogs-narrowly-outlast-cardinal/#respond Wed, 23 Jan 2013 10:23:52 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1074245 After two consecutive quad-meet victories and despite some impressive individual performances, the No. 10 women’s gymnastics team could not quite ride its momentum against a No. 9 Georgia team on Monday, losing 195.400-197.000.

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After two consecutive quad-meet victories and despite some impressive individual performances, the No. 10 women’s gymnastics team could not quite ride its momentum against a No. 9 Georgia team on Monday, losing 195.400-197.000. Georgia has given the Cardinal nothing but trouble over the years: Stanford hasn’t beaten the Gym Dogs since 2004, and in 20 all-time meetings between the two teams, Georgia has taken 18 of them. Their last meeting came in 2010, when the top-ranked, defending national champion Gym Dogs outlasted the Cardinal by just one-tenth of a point in Stanford’s opening contest of the season.

Senior Stanford co-captain gymnast Ashley Morgan helped her team to a win in beam, but Georgia outlasted the Cardinal to win the meet.
Senior Stanford co-captain gymnast Ashley Morgan helped her team to a win in beam, but Georgia outlasted the Cardinal to win the meet.

Before the meet even got started, the Cardinal was hit with an early setback: head coach Kristen Smyth gave sophomore Ivana Hong the meet off after noticing an issue in one of her routines. Hong was originally slated to compete in the all-around competition, leaving four slots to be filled by her teammates. Co-captain Ashley Morgan, one of just two seniors on the team this year, was impressed with her team’s ability to cope with the challenge and credited the team’s strong individual relationships.

“Throughout the meet, everyone could feel our connectivity,” Morgan said, “especially as we dealt with adversity that was thrown our way.”

Georgia got off to an early lead, putting up a 49.400 on vault compared to Stanford’s 48.850 on bars. The Bulldogs’ 49.400 would ultimately be tied for the highest team score in an event that afternoon, earning Georgia a boost that it would not relinquish. Stanford was led by a pair of 9.850 scores by Morgan and sophomore Samantha Shapiro.

While Stanford put up a strong 49.125 on vault to try to reduce the gap, the Gym Dogs put up another 49.400 on bars, increasing their lead. Senior co-captain Nicole Dayton led on the bars for the Cardinal once again with a score of 9.925, a score good enough to earn her a third individual vault title in many meets; she has established herself as one of the stronger vault competitors out there. However, her team still trailed 97.795-98.800 going into the third round.

Despite sophomore Pauline Hanset’s 9.875 and Morgan’s 9.850 on floor exercise, Stanford tallied a team score of 48.375, its lowest team score for the competition. Hanset’s score tied her career high, while freshman Melissa Chuang also put up a career high with a score of 9.825. Chuang has been one of the more consistent Cardinal competitors this season, as she scored a 9.825 on vault as well, an event she has competed in every meet so far this season.

Trailing 146.350-147.625 going into the final round, Stanford knew it would need some of its strongest performances if it were to pull off the miraculous. Junior co-captain Amanda Spinner did as much as she could, posting a 9.925 on balance beam, a career-best score and the highest beam score the Cardinal has seen all season. Morgan and sophomore Kristina Vaculik both scored 9.800, helping Stanford score a 49.050 in the event and giving it the victory in beam over Georgia 49.050-48.825. However, the Bulldogs’ 49.375 on the floor exercise would seal its 1.6-point victory over the Cardinal.

Morgan was the only competitor in the meet to compete in all four events, and she came away with a 39.925 all-around score. She noted that the team members are particularly intent on holding each other to a high standard, trying to squeeze out every tenth of a point:

“Our team already has beautiful and dynamic gymnastics,” Morgan said, “so now we will focus on just letting our hard work shine through … This truly is such a special team.”

Morgan and the Cardinal will next take on No. 21 California in Berkeley on Saturday, Jan. 26.

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Gymnastics: Women fourth, men fifth at NCAAs https://stanforddaily.com/2012/04/24/gymnastics-women-fourth-men-fifth-at-ncaas/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/04/24/gymnastics-women-fourth-men-fifth-at-ncaas/#respond Tue, 24 Apr 2012 08:45:42 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1064406 After a thrilling regional competition in which the Stanford women’s gymnastics team barely qualified for NCAAs, the Cardinal entered the national tournament ranked 10th out of 12 teams competing

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After a thrilling regional competition in which the Stanford women’s gymnastics team barely qualified for NCAAs, the Cardinal entered the national tournament ranked 10th out of 12 teams competing. Though the team faced an uphill battle, head coach Kristen Smyth knew that, if her gymnasts could successfully hit their routines, they could compete with anyone in the country. She was right.

Stanford was led by freshman Ivana Hong and sophomore captain Amanda Spinner on the balance beam and freshman Samantha Shapiro on uneven bars, all of whom scored 9.900 in their respective events to help the Cardinal to its first score above 197 in two years and its second-highest score ever at nationals. By finishing in the top four of their events, they also earned first-team All-American honors as well as the chance to compete in the individual competitions on Sunday.

The national competition is divided into two groups of six teams, with three from each group moving onto the final Super Six round. With the lowest score on the afternoon coming by way of a 196.550, Stanford had to have a top-notch performance to qualify for Saturday’s Super Six. It did just that, putting up a season-high 197.125 to advance, barely beating fourth-place Oklahoma, who was a top-three national finisher the past two years, by a mere 0.200 points. Finishing ahead of the Cardinal was UCLA (197.400) and Utah (197.200), two familiar Pac-12 opponents.

Stanford also had four competitors qualify as second-team All-Americans by finishing in the top eight in their events: senior Alyssa Brown and Hong on vault (9.900 each), sophomore Shona Morgan on bars (9.875) and senior Nicole Pechanec on floor (9.875) and all-around (39.325).

Going into Saturday’s Super Six competition, the Cardinal had already far surpassed expectations. The team was never ranked within the top 10 all season long, and the Super Six broadcast on ESPN went so far as to call the Stanford season “a true Cinderella story.” However, the Cardinal was not content with settling at sixth place, as it wanted to make an even bigger statement.

Though the team was proud of its 197.125 effort on Friday, it raised the bar even higher on Saturday by posting a score of 197.500, its best championship score ever. The mark earned the team a fourth-place finish, its fourth top-four finish since 2004. Alabama finished first (197.850), followed by Florida (197.775), UCLA (197.750), Stanford, Utah (197.375) and Arkansas (196.300) in a competition consisting of only Pac-12 and SEC teams.

The story of the day was Hong, who competed in all four events for the first time all season and didn’t disappoint. Highlighted by a 9.975 on vault (her best of the season and tied for second best in the competition behind a perfect 10 by UCLA’s Vanessa Zamarripa), Hong scored a 39.475 in the overall competition, the best all-around score for Stanford this season. In her first competition on bars of the year, she scored a 9.875.

Junior Nicole Dayton also had a career performance on Saturday, tying her career-best 9.950 on vault to help lead the team to a 49.550 score in the event, its second-best vault score in school history. In its final meet, the senior class elevated its performance. Brown received a 9.925 on vault and a 9.900 on bars, while Pechanec recorded a 9.900 on both floor and bars.

However, though their team competition was done, the Stanford gymnasts still had more to settle, as Spinner, Hong and Shapiro all had work to do in the individual’s competition. Shapiro led the way, finishing with a 9.900 on the uneven bars to earn herself second in the entire competition and becoming only the second Stanford competitor ever to finish within the top two in the event. Hong and Spinner tied for fourth on the balance beam with a 9.875 to cap off a truly incredible season for women’s gymnastics.

The Stanford men had a very similar weekend, astonishing or a team so badly marred by injuries all season long. Fielding just a 10-person team entering the final weekend, the Stanford gymnasts knew they would all have to be on their game in order to make a statement in their attempt to defend their national title.

First, however, they had to earn the opportunity to defend their crown, as they had to get through the field of six teams on Thursday in the qualifying meet.

The Cardinal posted a score of 348.500, just good enough to qualify for Friday’s competition. Thursday’s meet was highlighted by the work of junior Eddie Penev, who led the team in typical fashion. His 15.750 on floor earned him second in the event, while his 15.450 on vault gave him the individual victory. His overall score of 87.150 was good for second in the entire competition. Other notables were redshirt freshman Sean Senters on vault (15.250) and redshirt junior Cameron Foreman (15.100) on parallel bars.

On Friday, the undermanned Stanford team had the daunting task of protecting its national title, a task that the team was ultimately unable to handle. The team finished with a team score of 352.650, earning Stanford a fifth-place finish behind Illinois (358.850), Oklahoma (357.450), Penn State (354.800) and Cal (353.000). Though this is just the first time in seven years under head coach Thom Glielmi that the men’s gymnastics team has finished worse than third, his entire team will return next year to try to reclaim its throne.

Penev, however, dominated Saturday’s individual competition, as he earned the national championship in both floor and vault. These two first-place finishes gave him three total national titles in his career, as he won vault as a freshman. Foreman, Senters and redshirt sophomore Paul Hichwa also earned All-American honors to wrap up a successful season for the Cardinal.

 

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Gymnastics: Second-place finishes spur men, women to qualify for nationals https://stanforddaily.com/2012/04/12/gymnastics-second-place-finishes-spur-men-women-to-qualify-for-nationals/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/04/12/gymnastics-second-place-finishes-spur-men-women-to-qualify-for-nationals/#respond Thu, 12 Apr 2012 08:47:35 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1063076 And while the Cardinal women were securing their chance to compete for an NCAA title, the third-ranked Stanford men’s team finished second in a four-team field at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Championships

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Following a fourth-place finish in the Pac-12 Championships in which the Stanford women’s gymnastics team put up its best score of the season with a 196.825, the Cardinal was looking to make a statement at Regionals as the team tried to qualify for the NCAA championships for the fifth time in six years. Facing five other teams, including a very strong Oklahoma team, the Cardinal faced a daunting task.

The regional competition is among the most pressure-packed tournaments all year, as it determines whether or not teams will qualify for nationals. However, Stanford was able to channel this pressure into success, as it posted its second-best score of the season with a 196.675. The team finished second in the group, behind only Oklahoma (197.025) and just beating host Illinois (195.725) for the final qualifying position.

Gymnastics: Second-place finishes spur men, women to qualify for nationals
Junior Nicole Dayton (above) and the Stanford women's gymnastics team qualified for NCAAs by finishing second at Regionals. (SIMON WARBY/The Stanford Daily)

Starting on floor, the team scored a 49.075, led by freshman Pauline Hanset’s 9.875. Freshman Ivana Hong and senior Nicole Pechanec both put up 9.850s to support Hanset’s effort. While having freshman participants perform so well is not typical of most teams, it is nothing new for head coach Kristen Smyth and the Cardinal.

“From the beginning of the season, the freshman class came in and really contributed, and not just in competitions,” Smyth said.

Moving to the vault, Stanford kept up its strong performance by earning a 48.950. Senior Alyssa Brown led the effort on vault with a 9.900, earning her the individual victory in the event. It was her third individual victory of the season, but her first on vault (she won on beam twice before). Brown’s season was plagued by injuries, but she has made a comeback to be one of Stanford’s strongest competitors in most recent competitions. Smyth, however, is used to Brown’s “inspirational comebacks,” and expected nothing less of the senior. A 9.825 by Hong also helped the Cardinal stay within striking distance of Oklahoma heading into the third round.

On bars is where the Cardinal really made its statement, putting up a 49.400, tied for its season-best in the event. Stanford won this event handily, and its 49.400 was the second-best team score in any event behind Oklahoma’s 49.450 on floor. As has been the story all season, Pechanec was magnificent on bars, earning a 9.925 and the individual victory in the event. In fact, one judge gave her a perfect 10, a very rare and impressive feat for college gymnasts. Brown and freshman Sami Shapiro nearly matched Pechanec’s score, as they each scored a 9.900, a season-best score in the event for both of them.

Heading into the final round down 0.500 points to Oklahoma and up 0.675 to Illinois with two qualifying spots on the line, the Cardinal had to make sure it posted a strong final score on beam as it tried to solidify its nationals position.

When Pechanec, one of the team’s stronger competitors on beam, fell and earned just a 9.175 as the second of six competitors in the event, the pressure mounted on the four teammates behind her to pick up her slack with a spot in nationals at risk.

But when the pressure got to be its highest, the Cardinal responded, as none of Pechanec’s four teammates scored below a 9.800 to seal the team’s spot at nationals. Sophomore captain Amanda Spinner led the way with a 9.900, which earned her a four-way tie for the individual victory in the event, while sophomore Shona Morgan put up a 9.850. Freshman Becky Wing scored a 9.875 to lead off the event, an important position for such a young competitor. Wing has handled the added pressure with extreme confidence throughout the entire year.

When it was all said and done, the Card had earned a spot in nationals on April 20-22 with Oklahoma. Smyth described how proud she was of her team: “The way they fought the entire meet, stayed poised and confident throughout it all, it was very inspiring.”

Heading into nationals, Smyth gives her team a good chance of winning, as long as it reduces its errors and executes its routines.

“It’s a hitter’s meet. As long as we hit our routines, we should move on. We all know what we’re capable of.”

Smyth believes the season has followed its plan extremely well, as the squad started out slow and picked things up as the season progressed. Ranked 10th of 12 teams in nationals, Stanford will have to have a season-best performance in order to come home with the national title.

And while the Cardinal women were securing their chance to compete for an NCAA title, the third-ranked Stanford men’s team finished second in a four-team field at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Championships, with a score of 352.100, placing behind second-ranked Oklahoma (355.600) but ahead of No. 7 Cal (345.950) and No. 12 Air Force (335.950).

Starting off on floor, Stanford got out to an early lead with a score of 60.950. Junior Eddie Penev earned the individual title with a 15.850, while redshirt sophomore Paul Hichwa finished fifth overall in the event (15.100) and redshirt junior Jordan Nolff and sophomore Cale Robinson tied for eighth (15.000).

The Cardinal fell to second behind Oklahoma with a 56.750 on pommel horse, led by sophomore Chris Turner’s 14.750 and redshirt junior Gabriel Alvarado’s 14.600.

Junior James Fosco earned the Cardinal’s second individual victory of the meet with a 15.300 on still rings, while Nolff’s 14.750 and Penev’s 14.500 helped the Cardinal earn a 58.800 in the event. However, the team still trailed Oklahoma as it headed into the fourth round.

Penev scored a 15.350 on vault, good for his second individual victory of the night and Stanford’s third, while redshirt freshman Sean Senters tied for third with a 13.000. The Cardinal earned a team score of 59.450 in the event to help cut Oklahoma’s lead.

Redshirt junior Cameron Foreman got second overall on parallel bars with a 15.250, and even with four other top-10 finishers in the event, Stanford’s deficit to Oklahoma grew to 1.600 points as the sixth and final round started. Hichwa’s 14.400 on high bar helped the Cardinal earn a 58.750 in the event, but the effort was not good enough to make up Oklahoma’s lead.

Although the Sooners won the MPSF Championships, Stanford will see them again as it tries to defend its national title on April 19-21 in Oklahoma.

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Gymnastics: Men, women each take home victories https://stanforddaily.com/2012/03/14/gymnastics-men-women-each-take-home-victories/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/03/14/gymnastics-men-women-each-take-home-victories/#respond Wed, 14 Mar 2012 08:53:28 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1061465 The Stanford men's and women's gymnastics teams both picked up big wins over the weekend.

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The No. 4 Stanford men’s gymnastics team had a busy weekend, facing Ohio State on Friday and then wrapping up its regular season against University of Illinois-Chicago on Sunday.

 

The Cardinal had a tough test on Friday against No. 5 Ohio State, but handled the challenge with ease and beat the Buckeyes 355.800-347.400. This meet marked the third consecutive meet that the Cardinal has posted a season-high score, beating its previous high of 351.400, which it tallied last week in a loss to the No. 1 University of Oklahoma.

 

Stanford won five of the six events against Ohio State, led by Junior Eddie Penev, who won the all-around competition with a score of 87.750 and the individual floor exercise with a 15.650. Junior James Fosco won rings (15.500), sophomore Cale Robinson won vault (15.500) and junior Cameron Foreman won high bar (15.200) and parallel bars (14.750). Robinson’s vault score tied a season-best for the Cardinal, while Foreman’s high bar score set a new season-high.

In its second meet of the weekend, the Cardinal nearly eclipsed its season-high score once again, beating host University of Illinois-Chicago 355.500-337.800 in an easy win to close out the regular season.

 

Stanford won all six team events and had five individual winners: junior John Martin on pommel horse (15.700), Fosco on rings (16.000), freshman Sean Senters on vault (14.900), Foreman on parallel bars (15.200) and Penev on high bar (14.400).

 

The Cardinal next competes on April 7 at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships in Colorado. The extended break will help the team recover some of its injured competitors and allow the squad to field a more complete squad as playoffs begin.

 

In addition to the men’s team capturing a pair of wins this weekend, the No. 11 Stanford women’s gymnastics team wrapped up its regular season at Arizona State on Friday by earning its third consecutive victory. The Cardinal eclipsed the Sun Devils by a score of 196.475-194.975 and extended its winning streak over the Sun Devils to 19 matches.

 

The meet was highlighted by the Cardinal’s effort on beam, as the team posted a season-high 49.350 in the event, beating its previous best score of 49.175. Only twice has the team had a better event score than 49.350, both 49.400s on the uneven bars. Senior Alyssa Brown won the event with a score of 9.925, one of three scores of 9.9 or better in the event. Sophomore Amanda Spinner and freshman Ivana Hong both scored 9.900s on beam, as all three either set or tied their season-high scores in the event.

 

Senior Nicole Pechanec posted a career-best 9.950 in uneven bars to win the event, a score that has only been achieved once before for the Cardinal this season, as junior Ashley Morgan put up the same score on floor last week. Morgan won floor again this week, scoring a 9.850 to tie with Hong.

 

The team’s score of 196.475 was its second best of the season. The team’s win improved the Cardinal’s record to 10-3 as it goes into the Pac-12 Championships in two weeks at Utah.

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Gymnastics: Pechanec notches career-best score in final Burnham meet https://stanforddaily.com/2012/03/07/gymnastics-pechanec-notches-career-best-score-in-final-burnham-meet/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/03/07/gymnastics-pechanec-notches-career-best-score-in-final-burnham-meet/#respond Wed, 07 Mar 2012 09:43:35 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1060705 In the final regular-season meet at Burnham Pavilion of her career, senior Nicole Pechanec made sure to go out with a bang, as she won the overall competition with a career-best score of 39.450 points. She helped the No. 11 Cardinal earn its best score of the season (196.575) as well as the double victory against No. 17 Arizona (195.025) and No. 47 Cal (191.450).

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In the final regular-season meet at Burnham Pavilion of her career, senior Nicole Pechanec made sure to go out with a bang, as she won the overall competition with a career-best score of 39.450 points. She helped the No. 11 Cardinal earn its best score of the season (196.575) as well as the double victory against No. 17 Arizona (195.025) and No. 47 Cal (191.450).

Gymnastics: Pechanec notches career-best score in final Burnham meet
Senior Nicole Pechanec recorded a career-best score of 39.450 points in the final home meet of her tenure on the Farm. (SIMON WARBY/The Stanford Daily

 

It was a day of record breaking for Stanford, which ended up setting 15 season-best and eight career-best scores by the end of the afternoon to extend its streak to 34 straight victories against conference opponents at home. The team has now won 26 straight meets over Cal, which hasn’t beaten the Cardinal since 2000.

 

Starting on vault, freshman Ivana Hong’s 9.900 led Stanford to a 49.200, 0.100 points shy of its season-best score in the event. Hong’s performance accounted for one of five scores of 9.900 or above for the Cardinal. Pechanec put up a 9.825 for the Cardinal, which got out to an early 0.375-point lead over second-place Arizona.

 

Entering the meet in the top 10 nationally in uneven bars, Stanford tied its season-best score in the event with a 49.400, the same score the team put up last time it faced Cal on Feb. 12. Pechanec led the charge, posting a 9.925 in the event for only the second time all season (the last time being against Cal as well).

 

The Cardinal managed to win the beam event despite four of its six competitors scoring under 9.800 and the team finishing shy of 49.000. Sophomore Amanda Spinner won the event once again, recording a 9.850. Pechanec followed close behind with a 9.800.

 

The Cardinal sealed the victory on the floor exercise, tying its second-best score of the season with a 49.000. Junior Ashley Morgan highlighted the event, scoring a career-high 9.950, the best individual score in any event all season for Stanford. Pechanec put up her second score of 9.900 or better in the event to round out her career-best performance.

 

Seniors Jenny Peter and Alyssa Brown were also honored and helped the Cardinal improve to 9-3 on the season. The Stanford women compete next against Arizona State on Friday.

 

Though posting a season-high score for the second straight week, the No. 4 Stanford men’s gymnastics team lost to No. 1 Oklahoma for the second time this season. The Cardinal was hoping to exact revenge for a loss to Oklahoma in Berkeley earlier this season, but the Stanford effort ultimately fell short, losing to the Sooners 356.950-351.400.

 

After the first two rounds, the Cardinal had a 0.200-point lead. The early going was highlighted by junior Eddie Penev’s 15.900 in the floor exercise, which earned him second in the event. Freshman Sean Senters also put up an impressive score, but his 15.200 was not enough as the team lost the event, 60.050-59.950.

 

It was on the pommel horse where the Cardinal made up its deficit, capitalizing on a poor performance by the Sooners. Stanford turned a 0.100-point deficit into a 0.200-point lead with a 58.550 on pommel horse, led by junior John Martin, who won the event with a 15.250.

 

However, Oklahoma took advantage of the rings in the third round to regain the lead — a lead it would not surrender for the rest of the meet. Although junior James Fosco earned the victory in the event with a score of 15.600, the Sooners outscored the Cardinal 60.550 to 58.550 to hold a 1.800-point lead going into the fourth round.

 

The Sooners were able to expand their lead, as Stanford score’s dropped in the final few rounds to let Oklahoma run away with it. Penev would ultimately finish second overall with a score of 87.900.

The loss dropped the Cardinal to 4-5 on the season, but the team is improving its score each week and looks poised to make a surge with playoffs around the corner. The team has two meets this coming weekend, as it competes at Ohio State on Friday and at the University of Illinois-Chicago on Sunday.

 

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Gymnastics: Men post season high, women fall in heartbreaker https://stanforddaily.com/2012/02/29/gymnastics-men-post-season-high-women-fall-in-heartbreaker/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/02/29/gymnastics-men-post-season-high-women-fall-in-heartbreaker/#respond Wed, 29 Feb 2012 09:35:03 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1059826 For the third weekend in a row, Stanford's gymnastics teams split one win and one loss between the men’s and women’s squads — except this time, the winners and losers swapped roles

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For the third weekend in a row, Stanford’s gymnastics teams split one win and one loss between the men’s and women’s squads — except this time, the winners and losers swapped roles.

 

Having gone 0-3 in its past two meets, including two losses to rival Cal, it might appear as though the Stanford men’s gymnastics team was reeling and in serious trouble. On Sunday afternoon, however, the No. 4 Cardinal dispelled these worries by posting a season-high score in its convincing victory over the No. 8 Michigan Wolverines.

 

In its first meet of the season in which it did not face off against Cal, Stanford was ready to prove that it was a force to be reckoned with in the NCAA. The Cardinal was able to accomplish this feat, as it managed to sweep all six events en route to a 351.050-341.700 win at Burnham Pavilion.

 

The team was again led by junior Eddie Penev, who won the overall competition with a score of 87.350, including a victory in floor exercise (15.500) and counting scores in all five other events. Penev sits atop the leaderboard in the country for the best average individual all-around score — thanks in large part to the vault, which is his strongest event.

 

Penev is followed closely in the vault by freshman Sean Senters, who is second in the country in the event. On Sunday afternoon, however, it was sophomore Cale Robinson who won the vault with a 15.400 score, his best score in any event on the season. The Cardinal is ranked first nationally on vault and put up a season-high 59.700 in the event to pull away from the Wolverines.

 

Redshirt junior Cameron Foreman also had quite the afternoon, winning both the parallel bars (15.000) and high bar (14.650). Both scores were season highs for the junior. The Cardinal put up team scores of 58.650 and 56.900 respectively in the two events.

 

The team’s total score of 351.050 was the first time all season that Stanford reached the 350-point mark, eclipsing its previous best score of 345.200 by nearly six points and its average total score by over seven points. The team improved to 4-4 against NCAA teams with Sunday’s win and hopes to carry this momentum as it travels to Oklahoma to compete against the Sooners, who beat Stanford 351.600-343.700 earlier in the season.

 

Coming off three victories in its past two meets, the No. 12 Stanford women’s gymnastics team seemed ready as ever to take on No. 5 Utah in front of 14,756 fans in Salt Lake City on Friday night. Though the meet was highlighted by many strong individual performances by the Cardinal gymnasts, the team fell just short with a 196.300-196.100 loss to the host Utes, the smallest margin of defeat of the season for Stanford.

Gymnastics: Men post season high, women fall in heartbreaker
Senior Alyssa Brown (above) and the Stanford women's gymnastics team came up just 0.2 points short against No. 5 Utah, breaking a three-match winning streak with the loss. (NICK SALAZAR/The Stanford Daily)

 

Starting on the bars, the Cardinal posted a team score of 49.000, led by a pair of 9.850’s by senior Nicole Pechanec and junior Ashley Morgan. The team trailed after the first round by 0.300 points, but managed to take the lead going into the third round thanks to a 49.175 on vault, the team’s second-best score in the event of the season. Junior Nicole Dayton led Stanford on vault with a 9.900.

 

In the third rotation, Morgan’s 9.900 on floor was good enough to give her the victory in the event, but was not enough to make up for a fall and two out-of-bounds penalties from her teammates. The team’s 48.750 in the event was tied for its worst of the season on floor, and this opened up the door for the Utes to take the lead for good.

 

Though the team’s 49.175 on beam tied its season-best score for the event and narrowed the margin of deficit, it was still 0.200 points short of tying the Utes. However, the team was able to take away a bright note from the event, as sophomore Amanda Spinner, who has battled injuries throughout her career, earned her first collegiate victory with a 9.875. Not including a fall, every Cardinal gymnast put up a score of at least 9.800 in the event.

 

The team fell to 7-3 with the loss, but remains optimistic as the season continues. Stanford hosts Arizona and Cal next week at Burnham Pavilion for its last home meet of the season.

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Gymnastics: Men, women head in opposite directions over weekend https://stanforddaily.com/2012/02/22/gymnastics/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/02/22/gymnastics/#respond Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:36:31 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1058957 The Stanford men’s and women’s gymnastics teams both took to the mats this weekend, with the men at home, squaring off against rival California and the Japanese Collegiate All-Stars, and the women in Texas, facing Brown and the University of Bridgeport.

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Gymnastics: Men, women head in opposite directions over weekend
(Stanford Daily File Photo)

The Stanford men’s and women’s gymnastics teams both took to the mats this weekend, with the men at home, squaring off against rival California and the Japanese Collegiate All-Stars, and the women in Texas, facing Brown and the University of Bridgeport. The women won their second meet in a row and recorded multiple team- and personal-best scores, while the men’s team continued to struggle, finishing third.

 

The No. 12 women’s team looked to continue its recent momentum as it traveled to Texas for its meet with the University of Bridgeport (8-4) and Brown (2-6) last Saturday. The Cardinal (7-2) ran away with the Metroplex Challenge victory, scoring a total of 196.375, the team’s second-best score of the season, followed by Bridgeport (193.600) and Brown (191.725).

 

The meet was the fourth of five straight road competitions for the Cardinal. Despite experiencing struggles away from home earlier in the season, head coach Kristen Smyth said that the team has improved with each meet and “has really come together as a group.” She explained that the team’s strategy for the season was to start slower in order to protect the athletes from injuries and to gear up for the playoffs (the Pac-12 tournament occurs in late march, and the NCAA championships are in April). Saturday’s meet, however, was far from slow, with strong individual performances in a variety of events allowing the Cardinal to coast to victory.

 

Junior Ashley Morgan won two events for the Stanford team, which won three of the four events on the afternoon. She scored a 9.875 to win the uneven bars event, but was even more impressive on the floor exercise, scoring a season-best 9.925 to earn a tie for victory in the event. Morgan struggled on the balance beam, putting up her season-worst performance with an 8.675, but still finished second in the all-around competition.

 

Matching Morgan’s floor exercise score was senior Nicole Pechanec, whose 9.925 was also a season-best. Prior to Saturday’s meet, the Cardinal had posted just two 9.925 scores on the whole season in any event–Pechanec on uneven bars against Cal and senior Alyssa Brown on beam against Oregon State–but the squad put up three 9.925s in Saturday’s competition alone.

 

Sophomores Shona Morgan, a 2008 Olympian, and Amanda Spinner also had career days. Shona Morgan tied with Pechanec and Ashley Morgan for the leading score of the day, a career-best 9.925 to win the beam event. Spinner also scored a personal best on the beam, with a 9.800 in only her second collegiate performance.

 

Saturday’s meet was a day of new benchmarks, as the Cardinal was ultimately able to rack up two career-best and five season-best scores (one of these tied a previous season best) by the end of the competition. The strong individual performances combined to help Stanford score season-best team scores on both floor exercise (49.275) and beam (49.175).

 

The Cardinal looks to extend its current win streak as the team takes on top-ranked Utah this Friday. While Utah is one of the nation’s powerhouse gymnastics teams, Smyth feels good about her team’s chances, noting that the Card “has a lot of momentum and [its] confidence is growing.” Last season, Stanford took down the then-No. 4 Utes in a thrilling meet, ending Utah’s streak of 20 straight regular-season home victories.

 

Stanford will look for a similar result this year as it faces the Utes on Feb. 24 at 6 p.m. in Salt Lake City, Utah.

 

A shorthanded Stanford men’s gymnastics team faced Cal for the fifth time in five meets to open the 2012 season. Coming into Saturday’s meet, the series was tied at 2-2, with the Golden Bears winning the first and fourth meetings and the Cardinal taking the second and third, and both squads looking to emerge with a victory in the fifth and final matchup of the season. While rival Cal was a main priority for Stanford, the team also faced the Japanese Collegiate All-Stars, the Card’s first and only international opponent of the season.

 

The Japanese All-Stars established their dominance early on in the competition, but Stanford and Cal stayed neck and neck for the entire meet. Ultimately, the last event decided the final outcome for the afternoon, with Cal outlasting Stanford 344.900-343.600, while the Japanese All-Stars put up a 354.700 to easily take first place.

 

Junior Eddie Penev, who was named NCAA Player of the Week earlier in the season, took the meet off to rest, as he had competed in every single event in each meet leading up to Saturday. The team was also missing freshman Brian Knott, who recently underwent surgery for a torn bicep. Without Penev and Knott, the team had no gymnast compete in the all-around competition. However, despite its lack of manpower, the Cardinal nearly matched its score from last week, when team-leading Penev was competing.

 

Freshman Sean Senters was crucial in making up for the team’s lost gymnasts, as he set season-high scores in both floor (14.900) and vault (15.500), with his vault result tying Penev’s for the nation’s best vault score this season.

 

The Cardinal also captured the individual title in the pommel horse, with junior John Martin finishing first with a 15.300 and junior Gabriel Alvarado taking second with a career-best 15.200.

 

The Cardinal trailed the Bears by 0.700 points going into the final round, but Cal was able to pull away on the high bar to win the event and seal the season-series victory in the teams’ last regular-season meeting.

 

Stanford next takes on Michigan at home on Sunday at 2 p.m. in Burnham Pavilion.

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Gymnastics: Men, women battle in Berkeley https://stanforddaily.com/2012/02/15/gymnastics-men-women-battle-in-berkeley/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/02/15/gymnastics-men-women-battle-in-berkeley/#respond Wed, 15 Feb 2012 09:36:54 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1058267 Last Sunday, both the men’s and women’s gymnastics squads traveled to the East Bay, seeking important victories in hostile territory.

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Gymnastics: Men, women battle in Berkeley
Freshman Pauline Hanset helped the Cardinal to an early lead in its meet against California, earning a 9.850 on the floor exercise and her first collegiate victory. The Cardinal defeated Cal 196.175-194.725. (NICK SALAZAR/The Stanford Daily)

Last Sunday, both the men’s and women’s gymnastics squads traveled to the East Bay, seeking important victories in hostile territory. While the women’s team left Cal’s Haas Pavilion with a dominant win, ending a two-meet losing streak, the men returned to the Farm disappointed, falling to Cal and top-ranked Oklahoma.

 

Coming into the meet against Cal (4-3), the Stanford women’s gymnastics team (5-2) looked to end one streak while extending another. The Cardinal had lost two consecutive meets on the road to Pac-12 opponents–first at Oregon State and the following weekend at UCLA–and faced yet another hostile environment at Berkeley. However, the Card has had impressive success against Cal in recent history, going undefeated against the Golden Bears since 2000, and 34-1 dating back to 1996.

 

Stanford achieved on both counts, as strong performances from veterans and younger gymnasts alike helped the team come away with a 196.175-194.725 decision over rival Cal.

 

The Card took an early lead on the floor exercise, earning a total team score of 48.775, good enough for a 0.150-point lead. Freshman Pauline Hanset was especially strong, earning her first collegiate victory and scoring 9.850 in the event for the third time this year.

 

“It was nice to see all of her hard work pay off this weekend,” said head coach Kristen Smyth. “She performed a beautiful floor routine and was rewarded for her efforts.”

 

The Cardinal held a 0.500-point lead going into the third round, which was extended by junior Nicole Dayton’s strong 9.875 on vault. Dayton won the event for Stanford, and the team put up a total score of 48.950 in the event.

 

Stanford excelled on the bars, putting up a season-best score of 49.400. Each of Stanford’s gymnasts scored a 9.800 or higher, highlighted by senior Nicole Pechanec, who scored a 9.925. Although Pechanec competed in just one event on Sunday rather than her usual four, the 9.925 was a personal best and a team-high in the uneven bars for the season.

 

With a commanding 1.125-point lead going into the final round, the Cardinal looked to seal up the victory with a solid round on the beam and did so with a team score of 49.050. Sophomore Shona Morgan and freshman Ivana Hong both earned impressive scores of 9.900 to win the event. The victory also marked the first collegiate win for Hong, who Smyth described as “one of the best in the country on balance beam.”

 

Junior Ashley Morgan took home her first all-around victory of the season with a score of 39.175, while sophomore captain Amanda Spinner made her official collegiate debut after being sidelined for two years by injury with a 9.750 on beam.

 

This Saturday, Stanford will compete against Brown and Bridgeport at the Metroplex Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas.

 

The No. 5 Stanford men’s gymnastics team faced a familiar opponent in No. 7 Cal (4-3), as Sunday was the fourth time the two teams have met this season. Also at the meet were the No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners (8-1), marking the first time the two teams faced each other this season.

 

Competing without freshman Brian Knott, who is out for the season due to injury, the Cardinal (4-3) faced a daunting task: squaring off against two of the nation’s premier programs with a depleted roster. After beating Cal in its last two meetings this season, Stanford (343.700) placed third in Sunday’s meet behind both the Sooners (351.600) and the Golden Bears (349.400).

 

After two rounds, the Card was in second place behind Oklahoma. However, struggles on the pommel horse prevented the Cardinal from decreasing the deficit, instead dropping the team to third place, where it would stay for the rest of the afternoon.

 

Stanford did defend its No. 1 ranking in vault with a strong team score of 58.900, led by junior Eddie Penev (15.500), redshirt freshman Sean Senters (15.100) and sophomore Cale Robinson (14.900). Both Penev and Robinson posted season-high scores in the event.

 

The Cardinal also put together its best performance on high bar for the season, posting a team score of 57.800. Redshirt sophomore Paul Hichwa led the team in the event with a 14.800, his best high bar score on the season, while Penev was close behind with a 14.700. Another highlight for the Cardinal was redshirt junior Jordan Nolff, who captured the title in rings with a 15.300.

 

As a whole, the team struggled to compete at its potential, scoring 4.700 points lower than its last meet. However, Stanford will have an opportunity to quickly reverse the trend as it faces Cal yet again, as well as the Japanese College All-Stars, at Burnham Pavilion on Saturday evening at 7 p.m.

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W. Gymnastics: Season best not enough against Bruins https://stanforddaily.com/2012/02/07/w-gymnastics-season-best-not-enough-against-bruins/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/02/07/w-gymnastics-season-best-not-enough-against-bruins/#respond Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:45:34 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1057229 Sunday’s meet against the No. 7 UCLA Bruins was full of highs and lows for the Stanford women’s gymnastics team. Despite putting up a season-high score of 196.450, the Cardinal suffered its second straight loss as UCLA put up 197.250

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Sunday’s meet against the No. 7 UCLA Bruins was full of highs and lows for the Stanford women’s gymnastics team. Despite putting up a season-high score of 196.450, the Cardinal suffered its second straight loss as UCLA put up 197.250.

 

Stanford and UCLA have long been rivals in gymnastics, as they have combined for 14 of the last 15 conference championships. Last year, Stanford controlled the season series, beating UCLA three of the four times they met (though the one loss came in the Pac-10 Championships). The Cardinal looked to get an early lead on the season series against the Bruins on Sunday, but was unable to do so.

W. Gymnastics: Season best not enough against Bruins
The Stanford women's gymnastics team scored its season high, but the team could not overcome UCLA as the Cardinal suffered its second straight defeat. (NICK SALAZAR/The Stanford Daily)

 

Stanford started on bars, posting a team score of 49.125 and led by senior Nicole Pechanec, who tied her season-high score of 9.900. Sophomore Shona Morgan and freshman Samantha Shapiro also had impressive contributions in the event, as they both posted career-high scores of 9.875. However, UCLA’s 49.475 on vault gave the Bruins an early lead that they would hold for the rest of the meet.

 

The Cardinal would then go on to put up a season-high score of 49.300 on bars, the first time the team has eclipsed the 49-point mark in this event all season. This strong performance was thanks in large part to junior Nicole Dayton, who scored a 9.900 for the second-straight week after missing a meet against Washington due to injury. Dayton was matched by freshman Ivana Hong, whose 9.900 was the best score of her young collegiate career. Stanford managed to narrow its deficit to 98.650-98.425 with its impressive vault performance, but still had work to do going into the last two rounds.

 

On the floor exercise, Pechanec scored a season-best 9.900, her second of the day, and freshman Pauline Hanset matched her career best on the floor with a 9.850. They helped contribute to the Cardinal’s 49.000 in the event, its season best on floor. However, despite such a strong performance in the event, UCLA extended its lead to 0.475 going into the final round.

 

Having had its fair share of problems on the beam last week against Oregon State (posting a season-low score of just 47.750 due to three falls), the Cardinal hoped to have a better performance than last week despite a similar pressure scenario—as was the case in last week’s meet, the team was on the road and needed a strong beam performance to narrow its deficit.

 

Unlike last week, however, the Cardinal had an impressive outing on the beam, posting a score of 49.025, its second best of the season. Shona Morgan put up her second 9.875 on the day, and junior Ashley Morgan also scored a 9.875 to improve her score by 0.650 points from last week. Unfortunately, the 49.025, despite being the Cardinal’s second-best beam score on the season, was not enough to catch the Bruins, whose 49.350 sealed the victory 197.250-196.450.

 

Impressive individual performances highlighted the day for the Cardinal, as two Stanford gymnasts posted very strong scores in Sunday’s loss. Pechanec’s two 9.900 scores helped her put up a career-best 39.325 in the all-around competition, while Ashley Morgan also posted a career-high 39.300 on the day. Unfortunately for the Cardinal, UCLA sophomore Samantha Peszek also posted the best all-around score of her career with a 39.550.

 

Stanford drops to 4-2 on the season (1-2 in the Pac-12) with the loss, while UCLA improves to 4-1 (2-1 in the Pac-12). The Cardinal next meets the Bruins at the Pac-12 Championships on March 24, where the team will look to even the season series and take the more important matchup between the two. Next up for Stanford is the team’s first meeting with archrival Cal in Berkeley, where Stanford continues its five-game road swing on Sunday.

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W. Gymnastics: Card heads to No. 7 UCLA hoping to move on from first loss https://stanforddaily.com/2012/02/03/w-gymnastics-card-heads-to-no-7-ucla-hoping-to-move-on-from-first-loss/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/02/03/w-gymnastics-card-heads-to-no-7-ucla-hoping-to-move-on-from-first-loss/#respond Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:46:33 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1056629 Coming off a 196.800-194.525 loss against Pac-12 rival Oregon State for its first defeat of the season, the No. 12 Stanford women’s gymnastics team (4-1, 1-1 Pac-12) hopes to get back to its winning ways on Sunday against No. 7 UCLA. The meet is the second of five straight road meets against Pac-12 opponents for the Cardinal.

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Coming off a 196.800-194.525 loss against Pac-12 rival Oregon State for its first defeat of the season, the No. 12 Stanford women’s gymnastics team (4-1, 1-1 Pac-12) hopes to get back to its winning ways on Sunday against No. 7 UCLA. The meet is the second of five straight road meets against Pac-12 opponents for the Cardinal.

 
UCLA (3-1, 2-1) fell to Washington, a team Stanford beat by 0.200 points in its second meet of the season, for its first loss of the season last Friday. Last season, UCLA was the defending NCAA champion and had lofty expectations heading into 2011. However, after losing to the Cardinal in its opening meet of the season, the Bruins would go on to lose to Stanford two more times before beating them in the Pac-10 Championships.

 

Stanford’s meet against Oregon State was its first road test of the season, and it looked as though not being at home may have fazed the Cardinal gymnasts, as the team posted a season-low 194.525. This score included a 47.950 on beam, the only event score below 48.000 for Stanford on the season, as senior Alyssa Brown’s career-best of 9.925 was not enough to make up for the team’s three falls on the event before her. Head coach Kristen Smyth attributed the Cardinal’s struggles in large part to the amount of pressure in the hostile atmosphere, but hoped the women would be better prepared for that in the future.

 

Sunday could potentially mark the official collegiate debut of sophomore Amanda Spinner. Despite never having competed in an official collegiate meet due to six knee surgeries throughout her career, Spinner is a captain and leader of the team. Spinner scored a 9.625 out of a possible 9.8 in an exhibition routine at Oregon State and the Cardinal hopes she can come in and contribute right away, especially due to the health problems that have plagued the team recently.

 

The Cardinal and the Bruins face off Sunday in Los Angeles at 12:30 p.m.

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Gymnastics: Women suffer first loss, men beat Cal again https://stanforddaily.com/2012/01/31/gymnastics-women-suffer-first-loss-men-beat-cal-again/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/01/31/gymnastics-women-suffer-first-loss-men-beat-cal-again/#respond Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:46:51 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1056251 Traveling for the first time this season, the Stanford women’s gymnastics team suffered its first loss against the No. 10 Oregon State Beavers on Friday

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Traveling for the first time this season, the Stanford women’s gymnastics team suffered its first loss against the No. 10 Oregon State Beavers on Friday. Oregon State, the defending Pac-10 champions, pulled out a 196.800-194.525 win over the No. 12 Cardinal, extending its winning streak over the Cardinal to three, including meets last season.

Gymnastics: Women suffer first loss, men beat Cal again
Junior Nicole Dayton returned from injury to help the Stanford women's gymnastics team, but the Cardinal still suffered its first loss of the season, a 196.800-194.525 defeat at the hands of Oregon State. (SIMON WARBY/The Stanford Daily)

 

Starting on the uneven bars, Stanford scored a 48.875, led by a pair of 9.850’s by junior Ashley Morgan and sophomore Shona Morgan. But Oregon State put up a season-high 48.975 to gain a one-tenth lead going into the second round.

 

The Cardinal put up a 48.950 on vault in the second round, highlighted by a 9.900 by junior Nicole Dayton, who was making a return from injury after missing last week’s meet against Washington.

 

“Having Nicole Dayton back in the lineup was huge. She anchors our vault and leads off on bars and floor. It was great to have her stability in the lineup,” said head coach Kristen Smyth.

 

Ashley Morgan scored an impressive 9.850 to add on, but the Beavers were still able to extend their lead to 98.225-97.825, thanks in part to a 9.875 by Leslie Mak, defending Pac-10 Gymnast of the Year, on the bars.

 

Ashley Morgan posted another 9.850 on the floor, her third 9.850 on the day, to help the Cardinal post a team score of 48.750. But, as was a common trend throughout the meet, the Beavers were just a little bit better, as they extended their lead to 0.900 going into the fourth and final round. It would take a very strong round on the beam for Stanford to overcome the deficit in the last round.

 

However, the Cardinal was unable to put together its best round on the beam, scoring just a 47.950, its worst score in an event all season. The team struggled on the beam, falling three times throughout the event.

 

“Obviously I didn’t prepare the team on the balance beam well enough. We’re going to have to have a lot more repetitions and a lot more numbers,” Smyth said. She added that “there’s no greater pressure than that type of atmosphere,” but that the team should be able to handle, and be excited for, that kind of moment.

 

Senior Alyssa Brown was able to put up Stanford’s season-high score of 9.925 on the beam. Smyth, however, was not surprised by Brown’s performance: “Alyssa, you expect that from our senior leader. That’s who she is.”

 

Stanford will continue its five-game Pac-12 road streak on Sunday at UCLA.

 

 

Men’s Gymnastics

 

Facing California for the third time in a row to start its season, the No. 6 Stanford men’s gymnastics team looked to take control of the season series Saturday night in the Stanford Open. The Cardinal lost to the Bears by 6.100 points at Berkeley to open its season, but was able to come away with a 4.750-point victory last Saturday at Burnham Pavilion to tie the season series. Thus, Saturday’s meet against No. 5 Cal, No. 9 Nebraska and Washington was an important one to establish the Cardinal as the team to fear in the Pac-12.

 

Stanford was able to do just that, as it came away with a total team score of 348.400, its highest score of the season, to beat Cal (339.000), Nebraska (332.600) and Washington (251.200) and improve its record to 4-1. The Cardinal never trailed throughout the entire match.

 

Key to Stanford’s sweep was junior Eddie Penev, who was the all-around winner of the meet for the third time in a row to open the season. While many considered his performance in last week’s meet to be the best of his career, Penev bettered that with a career-high 89.200 on Sunday, including personal-best scores in floor exercise (16.200), still rings (14.500) and parallel bars (15.000).

 

The Cardinal’s lack of depth, one of the main reasons cited by the coaching staff after the loss at Berkeley, did not appear to affect Stanford much in Saturday’s meet. Prior to the match, head coach Thom Glielmi claimed that the team was able to handle the extra pressure associated with this lack of depth, and his gymnasts agreed. While Penev mentioned that there was definitely added pressure, he went on to say that “it doesn’t change the gymnastics,” in that they all still have to go out and execute the routine just as they would anyway.

 

Freshman Brian Knott, who finished third overall for the third straight meet, mentioned that this added pressure could even help the team: “It forces you to do better; it adds some more incentive to do well.”

 

Stanford has now improved its total score for each of the first three meets and will look to continue this trend as the team next competes on Feb. 12 at Cal. This week, several individual gymnasts will take part in the Winter Cup Challenge in Las Vegas.

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Gymnastics: Men host Stanford Open, while women head to No. 4 Oregon State https://stanforddaily.com/2012/01/27/gymnastics-men-host-stanford-open-while-women-head-to-no-4-oregon-state/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/01/27/gymnastics-men-host-stanford-open-while-women-head-to-no-4-oregon-state/#respond Fri, 27 Jan 2012 09:47:26 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1055970 Coming off a win over rival California last Friday, the Stanford men’s gymnastics team looks to continue its success this Saturday in the Stanford Open at 7 p.m. in Burnham Pavilion. Despite having competed against Cal twice in its first two meets of the season with the season series tied now at one apiece, the […]

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Coming off a win over rival California last Friday, the Stanford men’s gymnastics team looks to continue its success this Saturday in the Stanford Open at 7 p.m. in Burnham Pavilion. Despite having competed against Cal twice in its first two meets of the season with the season series tied now at one apiece, the Cardinal is not done with the Bears just yet, as No. 6 Stanford will host No. 5 Cal, No. 9 Nebraska and unranked Washington in Saturday’s meet.

 

Gymnastics: Men host Stanford Open, while women head to No. 4 Oregon State
Senior Nicole Pechanec's 39.250 all-around score against Washington last week was the best at the meet, and the Cardinal need another strong performance out of her if it hopes to beat No. 4 Oregon State on the road tonight. (SIMON WARBY/The Stanford Daily)

While playing the same team three times in three meets may be repetitive for sure, Stanford head coach Thom Glielmi does not mind it too much.

 

“As long as both teams are good, they both push each other to be better,” he said. “Especially if it’s a rivalry.”

 

The only real negative to this situation, Glielmi believes, is that Stanford gets less exposure to the national media by only playing on the West Coast to start out the season.

 

What has been clear this far through the season has been the importance of competing in a team’s home gym. Stanford lost to Cal by 6.100 points in the first meet in Berkeley, yet came away with a 4.750-point victory in Burnham last week. Glielmi mentions that it is “a definite advantage” to compete at home, as most Stanford meets fill the stands and are loud and energetic.

 

The Cardinal carries fewer players on its roster than most teams do, which forces certain players to compete in more events than they normally might. While Stanford has plenty of talent in each event, it cannot always put up the six players to compete in each event, which gives the Cardinal fewer chances to maximize its score when it takes the four best scores out of six competitors for each event. However, the Cardinal remains unfazed by the lack of depth.

 

“There is definitely more pressure on each of the competitors, but the guys handle it well,” Glielmi said.

 

The men will improve to 3-1 if they come away with a first place finish in the Open.

 

With a thrilling start to its season, the Stanford women’s gymnastics team brings its 4-0 record to No. 4 Oregon State University in a Friday-night meet. Stanford won the NorCal Quad Meet in Burnham Pavilion to start the season strong, but had more difficulty putting away conference opponent Washington in its most recent come-from-behind victory last Sunday.

 

The Cardinal likely has an even bigger challenge ahead of it on Friday, however, as the team goes on the road for the first time to face a Beavers team that won the Pac-10 last year. The Beavers are highlighted by senior Leslie Mak, the Pac-10 Gymnast of the Year in 2011 who specializes in the balance beam. Last year the Cardinal split its season series with Oregon State, though the Beavers did come away with a victory in the last two meets, including the Pac-10 Championships.

 

Oregon State, like Stanford, has not lost yet this year, earning it the No. 4 ranking in the country in the process. The Beavers beat No. 13 Arizona State on the road last week by 0.450 points, led by Mak’s career-high 9.950 score on the beam.

 

Stanford, however, has its fair share of impressive performances so far this year as well. Senior Nicole Pechanec won the all-around competition against Washington last week with a 39.250 score, highlighted by her 9.875 on the floor. Junior Ashley Brown has also had a very noteworthy start to the year, posting two 9.900’s in the beam and floor in last week’s competition.

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Gymnastics: Both teams notch encouraging wins https://stanforddaily.com/2012/01/24/gymnastics-both-teams-notch-encouraging-wins/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/01/24/gymnastics-both-teams-notch-encouraging-wins/#respond Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:03:31 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1055183 Coming off a victory in the NorCal Quad Meet, the Stanford women’s gymnastics team continued its success by beating the Washington Huskies in its second meet of the season. However, unlike last week, this victory was not so comfortable

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Coming off a victory in the NorCal Quad Meet, the Stanford women’s gymnastics team continued its success by beating the Washington Huskies in its second meet of the season. However, unlike last week, this victory was not so comfortable.

 

While the Cardinal never trailed in last week’s meet and had a relatively easy time putting away its three opponents, Sunday’s meet was a nail-biter to the very end, which makes it all the more gratifying. The Cardinal, despite trailing early in the meet, ultimately pulled out a 195.925-195.725 victory over its in-conference opponents to keep its perfect record intact.

 

Starting on the vault, the Cardinal was led by junior Ashley Morgan’s 9.850 score and freshman Ivana Hong’s 9.800. Hong, coming off an ankle injury that kept her from competing in last week’s match, was making her collegiate debut on Sunday, but is certainly no stranger to pressure.

Gymnastics: Both teams notch encouraging wins
Senior Alyssa Brown scored a crucial 9.700 from the anchor position on the beam to help secure Stanford's narrow victory over Washington. (NICK SALAZAR/The Stanford Daily)

 

A member of the 2009 U.S. team that won a gold medal at the World Championships, Hong earned a bronze medal on the beam in the event. Though she competed in just the vault on Sunday, she is expected to participate in more events as the season continues and her ankle improves.

 

Through the first event, the Cardinal trailed by 0.300 points, as the Huskies put up a very strong performance on the bars with a 49.050 team score. Competing on the bars, Stanford looked to narrow the deficit as the Huskies took to the vault.

 

Stanford posted its best score on the bars, thanks to freshmen Rebecca Wing (9.900) and Sam Shapiro (9.850), as well as senior Nicole Pechanec (9.850). Wing, who made her collegiate debut last week, has also had her fair share of pressure situations, as she competed for Great Britain in the 2008 Olympics. She was the team’s first competitor in the bars, as well as on the beam and floor in the later rounds, a responsibility designated generally for the more consistent performers, but one that does not faze her.

 

“It’s definitely an honor to have the leadoff position, especially as a freshman,” Wing said. “It’s always been my favorite position though, and it’s where I feel most comfortable.” Her 9.900 score was tied for the team-high on the afternoon and helped cut Washington’s lead to just 0.175 as the third round began.

 

Wing also excelled on the beam, earning a 9.875 to improve her score by 0.300 from last week. Morgan’s 9.900 led the team in the event, as they put together a team score of 49.100 and took a 147.000-146.975 lead going into the fourth event.

 

Morgan and Pechanec helped the Cardinal seal its victory in its final event as the team scored a combined 48.925. Morgan’s 9.900 (her second 9.900 on the floor in as many weeks) gave her a score of 9.850 or above in three of the four events she competed in, while Pechanec’s 9.875 meant she was the all-around winner for the afternoon, the first all-around victory of her collegiate career.

 

The Cardinal’s victory improved its undefeated streak to 32 matches against conference opponents inside Burnham Pavilion. And it was a good day for the team to do so, as a group of former Stanford gymnasts was in attendance after being honored before the event. The Cardinal goes on the road for its next meet, as it competes against Oregon State on Friday.

 

After losing to rival California in its opening meet just last week, the No. 8 Stanford men’s gymnastics team looked to avenge the earlier defeat as it hosted the Bears on Saturday.

 

The No. 4 team in the country going into its opening meet against Cal, the Cardinal lost 340.900-334.800 to Cal and, as expected, saw a subsequent drop in the national rankings. Stanford was able to avenge its loss, earning a 345.200-340.450 victory and evening the season series with their rivals.

 

As was the case in the teams’ previous meeting, it was a close score in the first couple of rounds until one team pulled away. This time, however, it was the Cardinal’s turn to come out with the victory.

 

Starting on the floor, Stanford got off to a 58.350-57.250 lead against the Bears, in large part due to junior Eddie Penev’s 16.000, which tied his career-high score in the event and was the high score for the team on the day.

 

Cal fought back to take a 115.600-113.800 lead after the pommel horse. Junior Gabe Alvarado led the team in the pommel horse with his 14.750 score, followed by Penev (14.100) and junior John Martin (13.450). Stanford would then take control of the lead after the rings, a lead it held onto for the rest of the meet. Junior James Frosco, a rings specialist, led the team in the event, posting a 15.450 to help the Cardinal score a 58.350 as a team.

 

From there, it was just a matter of the Cardinal maintaining its lead to finish out the meet. Its performance on the vault helped it do just that, as all four Stanford competitors posted qualifying scores. The team was led by 15.300 scores from freshman Sean Senters—his second straight career-high score (topping his 15.200 from the previous meet)—and Penev to earn a 59.450 team score and extend its lead to 231.600-228.250.

 

The Cardinal went on to extend its lead to 3.600 points after the parallel bars and ultimately won by a margin of 4.850 points, a huge change from the 3.900-point loss the team suffered to start the season. Penev scored an overall 88.550 to win the all-around competition for the second meet in a row (improving his score from 84.200), while freshman Brian Knott finished in third overall again, improving his score from 80.400 to 84.000.

 

Like the women’s team, the men will be back in action this weekend as they host the Stanford Open on Saturday night from the Farm.

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Gymnastics: Men, women spring into action https://stanforddaily.com/2012/01/18/gymnastics-men-women-spring-to-action/ https://stanforddaily.com/2012/01/18/gymnastics-men-women-spring-to-action/#respond Wed, 18 Jan 2012 11:03:58 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1054533 Both Cardinal gymnastics teams kicked off their 2012 campaigns this past weekend, with the women hosting the NorCal Quad Meet and the men beginning their national title defense at California.

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Gymnastics: Men, women spring into actionGymnastics: Men, women spring into actionGymnastics: Men, women spring into action
(Stanford Daily File Photo)

Both Cardinal gymnastics teams kicked off their 2012 campaigns this past weekend, with the women hosting the NorCal Quad Meet and the men beginning their national title defense at California. The women emerged with a solid performance and a victory, while the men dropped their first test of the season.

 

Women’s gymnastics

 

On Sunday afternoon, the Stanford women’s gymnastics team opened its season at the NorCal Quad Meet, hosting UC-Davis, San Jose State and Sacramento State. The preseason No. 8 squad, the Cardinal returns eight gymnasts from last year’s team–although two were sidelined this past weekend with injuries–and brings in a strong recruiting class of five freshmen. But the team is led by upperclassmen Nicole Pechanec and Ashley Morgan, both of whom did not disappoint on Sunday.

 

Pechanec, a senior who earned All-Pac-10 Second Team honors on the floor exercise last season, participated in the uneven bars, vault and balance beam. She was one of five Cardinal gymnasts to compete in at least three events, along with Morgan, fellow junior Nicole Dayton and freshmen Pauline Hanset and Rebecca Wing. Using her own invented move, the “Pechancova,” Pechanec earned a 9.900 on the uneven bars to lead the field in that event. In addition, she and Dayton tied to win the vault with scores of 9.825.

 

Morgan also earned All-Pac-10 honors on the floor, joining the first team on the floor. She was the only Cardinal gymnast to compete in all four events on Sunday, finishing second overall behind Thomasina Wallace of San Jose State by a margin of just .075 points. Morgan’s 9.900 on the floor, her fifth consecutive 9.900 in that event, tied her with Pechanec for the best score on the afternoon.

 

The Cardinal also got a big boost from Hanset, who was making her collegiate debut. Never earning below a 9.750 on any of her three events, Hanset scored a 9.850 on the floor, second only to Morgan.

 

Stanford earned a total score of 194.900, followed by San Jose State (194.300), Sacramento State (191.575) and UC-Davis (190.775). The Cardinal won every event as a team on the afternoon aside from the floor, in which they placed second to San Jose State. However, Stanford never trailed in the meet, as its opening vault score was the highest in the first round.

 

On Sunday, the Cardinal hosts Washington at Burnham Pavilion in the second of the team’s three home meets during the 2012 season.

 

Men’s gymnastics

 

The Stanford men’s gymnastics team looked to open its defense of last year’s national championship on Friday against California. Following six consecutive top-three finishes at the NCAA team championships and a national title in two of the past three years, the team looked to continue its success this season despite losing five All-Americans from last year. However, the preseason No. 4 Cardinal suffered a tough loss to the No. 5 Bears to kick off its season.

 

The meet was a back-and-forth affair between the Cardinal and Bears until the past few events. After Cal got off to a 2.800-point lead after the first round (where the Bears put up a score of 57.500 on the floor exercise and the Cardinal scored a 54.700 on the pommel horse), Stanford narrowed the deficit with its impressive performance on the floor in the second round. Led by redshirt sophomore Paul Hichwa’s 15.000, the Cardinal posted a 58.300 to cut Cal’s lead to just .300 points.

 

After the rings and vault, Stanford took a 227.400 to 226.600 lead over Cal, due in large part to redshirt freshman Sean Senters’ 15.200 in vault, the high score among all events for the team. However, Cal came back in the final two events to ultimately win the meet 340.900 to 334.800.

 

Stanford received strong performances from junior Eddie Penev and freshman Brian Knott, who were the only two Cardinal gymnasts to compete in all six events. Penev finished first all-around and Knott finished third. The squad, which only has 13 of the 15 allowed gymnasts, may have been hurt by its depth in the meet’s later stages.

 

Stanford’s next meet will be on Saturday as it looks to get even with the Golden Bears in a rematch at Burnham Pavilion.

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