Following a win against UC-Davis on Mar. 21, the Stanford women’s gymnastics team took second place at the Pac-10 Conference Championships in Tucson, Ariz. on Saturday, finishing with 196.550 points to UCLA’s 197.350.
Though the Cardinal was unable to produce the 24 solid routines it had hoped for in either meet, the team still managed to handily defeat Davis, 196.600-194.575, and finish with a solid second at the Pac-10s. No. 6 Stanford (15-3) and No. 3 UCLA (13-3) have swapped conference titles every year since 1998, and the Bruins continued the combined streak at McKale Center on Saturday.
After a shaky start through the first two rotations, however, Stanford’s second-place position was not settled until the very end, as the Card fought a three-way battle against Oregon State and Arizona.
Sophomore Nicole Pechanec rose to the occasion and scored a 9.80 on the uneven bars, following a teammate’s fall. Her performance “changed the momentum and got us back on track,” said head coach Kristen Smyth.
Similarly, in the second event on the beam, Cardinal gymnasts later in the rotation had to make up for previous teammates’ falls. Senior captain Carly Janiga, named the Pac-10 Scholar-Athlete of the Year for women’s gymnastics, delivered a 9.85 immediately after a fall, while senior Tenaya West and freshman Ashley Morgan stepped up and earned 9.80s as well.
West’s beam performance was particularly remarkable, as it was the first time West had competed on beam outside of exhibition. For the past four years, she has solely been a part of the floor rotation in actual competition. Smyth had continually reminded her to be ready for the beam if needed, and her time to shine came on Saturday.
“Our lineups are never locked in,” Smyth said. “That’s the beauty of having such great kids, knowing the spots are open to fight for, which will make them better. We do have options and we do have depth. The kids know they always have to be ready.”
Smyth was proud of her team’s ability to cover for one another, especially after a start that was “a little unsettling.”
“It was nice to see that we can respond to these situations in which we don’t start off as well as we’d like to,” Smyth said. “Our overall performance was not smooth by any means, but the later girls in the rotation definitely fought for everything and took advantage of the opportunities to cover each other and make up for previous mistakes. We did a great job of not allowing our falls to get the better of us.”
These clutch performances allowed the Card to remain in contention for the second place spot, vying with Oregon State and Arizona behind UCLA, who had clearly secured first place. But it was the team’s floor rotation that helped separate Stanford from the Beavers and Sun Devils, and its 49.425 moved the Cardinal comfortably into sole possession of second place.
The seniors, including West and Allyse Ishino, gave strong performances, and Janiga captured the Pac-10 floor title with a 9.925. Senior Blair Ryland also achieved her highest career score of 9.875.
Stanford’s final event, the vault, was solid, although not as clean as the team may have wanted.
“We ran into some bumps in the road, and the start was certainly shaky, but I’m proud of our effort to hang in there,” Smyth said.
Stanford gymnasts also tallied numerous individual honors, as Janiga and Ishino both finished in the top three for the all-around, coming in second and third place, respectively. Janiga, who claimed the all-around title last year, placed in the top five in every event for the day.
The team now sets its sights on the remaining few weeks of the season, preparing for the NCAA Regionals and striving to appear in the Super Six Finals, which has been the primary goal since the beginning of the season.