In its third face-off of the season, No. 2 Stanford crushed Bay Area rival No. 7 Cal, 337.950-238.300 at Saturday evening’s Stanford Open.
With the Winter Cup Challenge in Las Vegas, Nev. — a Who’s Who event of men’s gymnastics and gateway to US Senior National Team selection — just a week away, Stanford head coach Thom Glielmi allowed veterans to rest up or compete as individuals and rookies to shine during Saturday’s event.
“[The Stanford Open] was a great opportunity for all the guys to compete,” said assistant coach J.D. Reive.
Freshman Eddie Penev was the only Stanford gymnast to compete in all six events, earning a total score of 82.85 in his collegiate all-around debut and posting the top scores of the meet on floor exercise and vault. Meanwhile, fellow freshman James Fosco wowed the crowd with his steady still rings routine, earning a top score of 14.75.
Sophomores John Martin and Cameron Foreman were just as impressive as their younger counterparts. Martin earned the competition’s top score on parallel bars with a 14.55, while Foreman executed a nearly perfect high bar routine for a score of 14.6.
Redshirt sophomore Abhinav Ramani performed well in his first meet of the season, earning scores of 14.45 and 15.0 on floor exercise and vault, respectively. Not to be outdone, senior Eric Hergenrader, considered a veteran among his young teammates, posted an impressive 15.6 on vault.
While Hergenrader has competed in a number of meets throughout his Stanford career, he has not often been lauded for his performances. And Ramani simply has not spent much time on the competitive floor, thanks to numerous injuries. According to Reive, both are now in a situation where they have a lot of potential to contribute. In the coming weeks, both may just shake things up in the lineup.
While Stanford rose to the occasion — thanks in part to strength and talent of its youngsters — Cal seemed to lack much of its luster. Like Stanford, Cal had many of its athletes on the bench or competing as individuals during the Stanford Open, therefore sending just one or two competitors to certain apparatuses.
Still, Cal displayed its strength on pommel horse, with sophomore Glen Ishino and junior Kyle Bunthuwong posting the top two scores on the event with 15.2 and 14.1, respectively. Bunthuwong also stole the high bar show with a score of 15.05.
According to Reive, those in the gymnastics community will not rule out Cal as a gymnastics powerhouse despite its near-100-point loss this past Saturday. After two straight losses to Stanford early in January, Cal was at a psychological disadvantage coming into Saturday’s meet. Additionally, the meet was a low-key affair compared to other competitions, especially with the Winter Cup just around the corner.
However, there was something to be said for Stanford’s performance as well.
“[Us] putting up a decent team score without our main counters carries much more intimidation weight,” Reive noted.
Saturday’s showing proves that even without its top scorers, including juniors Alex Buscaglia, Tim Gentry and Ryan Lieberman, Stanford still has an incredible amount of depth.
Next up, Stanford travels to Las Vegas for the Winter Cup Challenge — Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 4 through 6.
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