The Stanford women’s gymnastics team reached new heights in this Friday’s tri-meet victory over Bay Area rivals San Jose State and California, achieving its best team score of the season: 196.800. The No. 7 Cardinal delivered six individual scores of 9.9 and above throughout the competition to defeat the Spartans (195.075) and the Bears (190.775) and improve its record to 13-2.

Stanford won every event of the competition, both individually and through its team scores. Senior captain Carly Janiga was once again a standout, as she captured the all-around victory with a score of 39.550, which matched her second-highest of the season. Her scores of 9.95 on the balance beam and 9.925 on the floor earned an individual win in both events, and her all-around included stellar performances on the uneven bars (9.85) and the vault (9.825).

Junior Shelley Alexander and senior Allyse Ishino each scored 9.90s as well, claiming individual victories on the vault and bars, respectively. But the highlight of the competition for the Cardinal was the team’s uncharacteristically high-scoring performance on the beam, which has not typically been its strong suit. Stanford counted five scores of 9.8 or higher in the event, including three in the 9.9s: Janiga’s 9.95, Alexander’s 9.925 and Ishino’s 9.9. These contributed to the Card’s 49.425 for the beam, which was its second highest total of the season.

This tremendous consistency enabled Stanford to defeat both San Jose State (8-9) and Cal (0-11) for the second time this season and prove its supremacy in the realm of Bay Area collegiate women’s gymnastics. Stanford has now extended its consecutive winning streak against Cal to 20, dating back to 2000.

Thus, Stanford proved this weekend that it is continuing to progress and gaining the necessary momentum for the approaching Pac-10 Championships on March 27. Stanford looks to achieve its preseason goal of winning the Pac-10s, but in order to do so, the team will have to upset No. 3 UCLA and No. 6 Oregon State. The Cardinal has defeated UCLA twice in dual meets this season already, but fell short to OSU in late January.

Last year, Stanford came in third at the conference championships with a score of 196.525, edged by first place UCLA (196.725) and runner-up OSU (196.55). The Cardinal had a lead going into its final rotation and achieved nine season bests during the competition, yet two falls during the floor exercise forced the team to count a 9.3 on the event and let the lead slip away. The day was full of success from an individual standpoint, as Janiga captured the all-around, head coach Kristen Smyth was awarded Coach of the Year and four out of five event victories went to Cardinal athletes. Yet these individual achievements were bittersweet because of the overall team loss, and Stanford looks to make up for it during this year’s competition.

Stanford will have only one more opportunity to compete before the conference championships, as it will head to UC-Davis for a dual meet on March 21.