In its last meet of the regular season, the No. 2 Stanford men’s gymnastics team blew away the No. 11 University of Illinois-Chicago Flames with a 360.0-342.6 win in the Flames’ hometown. With that victory, the Cardinal boasts an undefeated record in all collegiate competitions this year.
While February and March were tough months both mentally and physically for the team, with five competitions in four weeks and an onslaught of midterms and finals, head coach Thom Glielmi did not notice any hesitation or weakness in his men.
“Although the guys were coming off a high-volume cycle, they still looked comfortable with their strength and quickness,” he said. “Overall, I was pleased with where they are physically and mentally.”
The Cardinal’s strength was most apparent on vault, where freshman Eddie Penev wowed fans and teammates with a score of 16.3, and junior Alex Buscaglia and junior co-captain Abhinav Ramani added scores of 15.75 each.
There was also no stopping the Cardinal on floor exercise, where Buscaglia and Penev again stole the show with scores of 15.7, contributing to Stanford’s overall apparatus score of 61.7 — its best on the event this year. Reflecting back on the competition, Ramani considered his teammates’ routines “highlights” of the meet.
On rings, junior co-captain Tim Gentry led Stanford with a score of 15.5. Freshman James Fosco, one of Stanford’s most talked-about young talents, followed with a score of 15.45.
Glielmi notes that Fosco and Penev have been outstanding in their very first year of collegiate competition.
“[They] continue to improve and had standout performances this weekend,” he said.
Meanwhile, seniors were the ones who led the way for the Flames. Senior Andrew Stover stole the all-around title with outstanding routines on vault and high bar that led to a total score of 86.5. And senior Nikolai Korepanov posted an impressive 15.0 on rings.
Still, Stanford dominated its competition. On pommel horse, perhaps the hardest event in men’s gymnastics, Dixon and senior Eric Hergenrader posted scores of 14.45 and 14.35. Junior Ryan Lieberman stole the show on parallel bars with a 15.2 for Stanford — another standout routine, according to Glielmi — while Ramani took high bar with a score of 15.0.
Next up, Stanford travels to Norman, Okla. for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships on April 3, where it will face off against Bay Area rival Cal and the 2008 MPSF and NCAA Champions and current No. 1 team Oklahoma. Also meeting the Cardinal in Norman are the Air Force Falcons and Nebraska Cornhuskers.
After that, Stanford will take on the best collegiate men’s gymnastics teams in the nation at the NCAA Championships at West Point Academy in West Point, N.Y. As the men make their way to regional and national championships, they feel confident.
“We’re feeling great,” Ramani said. “We are right on track to peaking in three weeks [at NCAAs] and I think the next few weeks will be crucial for us to refine our routines and get mentally ready for championships.”
“I think we are in great shape,” Gentry added. “Everything is coming together really well, and I am really excited for postseason.”