Gymnasts try to defend 2009 national title

Today, defending NCAA champion Stanford men’s gymnastics attempts to defend its national title at the 2010 NCAA Championships at the United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. The No. 4 Cardinal takes on No. 1 Illinois, No. 2 Oklahoma and No. 3 Michigan, along with Ohio State, California, Minnesota, Penn State, Illinois-Chicago, Nebraska, Iowa and Temple in a competition that will last until Saturday.

Though the Cardinal went undefeated against all collegiate teams in its regular season, it faltered at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Championships just two weeks ago. Entering the competition as the No. 1 ranked team in the nation, Stanford simply could not live up to the hype and found itself plagued by mistakes, big and small.

Oklahoma took the MPSF title in front of a home crowd in Norman, Okla., while Cal placed second and Stanford third. It was the first time all season Stanford had lost to either team.

The loss was both stunning and humbling to the Stanford men, who have since prepared themselves emotionally, mentally and physically for this week’s competition.

“We just got too comfortable,” said redshirt senior and co-captain Greg Ter-Zakhariants after MPSFs. “We’re now going to have to go back to the gym and get ourselves together.”

“[This time] is crucial for us to refine our routines and get mentally ready for championships,” added junior co-captain Abhinav Ramani.

Stanford will begin to showcase its regrouping during tonight’s first team qualifying session. In order to move on to the team final on Friday evening, Stanford must finish in the top three of six teams in its group.

Stanford gymnasts to watch include junior and co-captain Tim Gentry, freshmen James Fosco and Eddie Penev and juniors Alex Buscaglia, Josh Dixon and Ryan Lieberman.

Gentry is the team’s most valuable gymnast of 2010 and is currently ranked No. 1 on vault with an average score of 16.12. He is also ranked No. 2 on still rings.

Fosco is also a top-10 athlete on rings, ranking fifth in the nation in his first collegiate season. If he can bounce back from a torn bicep sustained during MPSFs, he could help lead Stanford to its second consecutive title — and contend for an individual title on the event.

Penev ranks second in the nation on floor exercise with an average score of 15.525. Dixon and Buscaglia join him in the top 10 with rankings of ninth and 10th, respectively.

Lieberman ranks seventh on high bar with an average score of 14.64.

Stanford also boasts a trio of athletes ranked top-20 in the nation on parallel bars: Buscaglia and sophomores John Martin and Cameron Foreman.

However, to rebound from its MPSF loss, Stanford must put in extra effort to hit its pommel horse routines. Stanford does not have any athletes in the top 10 — or top 20 — on this event, but does have athletes that are capable of completing clean routines.

Stanford arrived at West Point late Monday evening and has had two full days to familiarize itself with the arena and equipment, perfect routines and observe other competitors before competition starts today.

According to head coach Thom Glielmi, Stanford is looking good as NCAAs commence.

“To get to this point has been a complete team effort with all of the guys stepping up,” he said.