Stanford men’s gymnastics extended its winning streak this weekend with two victories away from home. On Friday, the Cardinal took on Air Force and the University of Illinois-Chicago in Colorado Springs, Colo. Stanford was able to pull out a 356.7-338.5-336.2 win. Air Force placed second with its highest team score of the season, while Illinois-Chicago came in third.
On Sunday, the Cardinal took its California sunshine over to the Cornhusker State, where it defeated both No. 1 Oklahoma and Nebraska. Stanford earned a 365.65 – the top score in the nation this season – while Oklahoma trailed with a 360.3 and Nebraska rounded out the meet with a 347.5.
The Cardinal had seemingly little competition at Air Force, with individuals consistently posting scores of 14.0 and above on the apparatuses. Freshman Eddie Penev stole the show on floor exercise, posting a 15.65 that put him well ahead of any other competitors. Junior Josh Dixon posted a 14.55 on pommel horse, a score that boosted the Cardinal’s confidence in its most inconsistent event.
Sophomore Jordan Nolff kept his cool on still rings, earning a 15.1. Junior Alex Buscaglia exploded off the vault, leading the Cardinal with a 16.0. Senior Nick Noone held steady on the parallel bars for a score of 15.4, while Buscaglia kept it high on the horizontal bar for a score of 15.1.
With momentum from the Air Force meet, Stanford fought to the finish in Nebraska. It won three of six events – rings, vault and horizontal bar – and tied Oklahoma for first place on parallel bars.
Vault was a standout event for the Cardinal, with five athletes putting up scores of 16.0 and above. The team total of 65.55 was the highest score posted by any collegiate team this season.
On rings, junior Tim Gentry posted the highest score for the Cardinal with a 15.4, while freshman James Fosco posted a 15.2.
“It was awesome,” Fosco said. “Working on the details [in my routine] really paid off.”
Buscaglia led the Cardinal on horizontal bar, but his fellow Stanford athletes were not far behind. Juniors Abhinav Ramani and Ryan Lieberman and sophomores John Martin and Cameron Foreman all posted scores of 14.7 and above.
Noone carried his parallel bars score from Friday into Sunday’s competition, earning another 15.4, while Penev outdid his floor exercise score to earn a 15.7 in Nebraska. On pommel horse, Martin led the Cardinal with a 14.75.
“I did what I’ve been doing in practice,” Martin said. “Finally, the countless repetition is paying off.”
According to senior Lucas Hughes, beating Oklahoma was a huge confidence booster. Oklahoma has often seemed unstoppable, winning numerous Cardinal-Sooner stand-offs, four straight Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) championships between 2004-2005 and 2007-2008 and NCAA championships in 2004-2005, 2005-2006 and 2007-2008. This time around, the Cardinal was the unstoppable one.
And with the NCAA Championship right around the corner, the Stanford men now know what to expect when they again face off against their bitter Oklahoman rivals.
“We felt their energy, we heard their yelling,” Gentry said. “We didn’t let it get to us. We wanted to go out and make a statement.”
The next meet for Stanford will be in Chicago, Ill. against Illinois-Chicago on March 26.