It’s a high-pressure year for Stanford men’s gymnastics. After a disappointing loss to Michigan at last year’s NCAA Championships in West Point, N.Y., the Cardinal enters the 2011 season as the top-ranked team in the nation and hopes to retain that honor through April at this year’s championship in Colorado Springs, Colo. The road starts with an intrasquad competition on Friday evening. At the same time that the Cardinal works to uphold Stanford’s program, it also works to uphold the tradition of men’s gymnastics as a whole.

Earlier this year, the UC-Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau announced that the school would be dropping five of its athletic programs at the end of the 2010-11 season; among these programs were men’s and women’s gymnastics.

Only 15 schools have men’s gymnastics programs that compete in the NCAA, and the programs at Cal and Stanford are the only ones in California. The announcement affects the futures of both Stanford and men’s gymnastics. Cal and Stanford have long had a feisty and friendly rivalry in their academic and athletic arenas–and men’s gymnastics is certainly no exception.

Each year, for example, the two schools come together for the Big Flip Off, their head-to-head competition that has been a source of great pride, competitive spirit and humor for both programs. This year’s Flip Off will be a bittersweet event for both teams as they bid farewell to their competitive intimacy.

Stanford head coach Thom Glielmi said he was both saddened and surprised by Cal’s decision to drop men’s gymnastics.

“[The Cal men] have had a tremendous impact on the sport not just in the Bay Area, but in the country,” he said. “What doesn’t make sense to me is that men’s gymnastics has been one of Cal’s most successful varsity programs both in the athletic arena and classroom.”

Furthermore, Glielmi notes that losing Cal is potentially a sign of the weakening popularity of men’s gymnastics. Both Stanford and Cal have traditionally recruited some of the nation’s most talented high school athletes and seen their gymnasts move from the collegiate arena to the national arena, earning spots on the U.S. Senior National Team, World Team and even Olympic Team.

“Beyond the Stanford-Cal rivalry, we lose a great source of gymnastics and a program that has allowed junior gymnasts to continue in their chosen sport on the collegiate level,” he said.

Reflecting on the past few months and looking towards the current season, Glielmi believes his team is hungrier for success than ever. After last year’s second-place finish–and 2009’s first-place finish–his gymnasts are extremely motivated to bring the championship back to Stanford.

His athletes certainly have the talent to win. In past years, individuals such as seniors Alex Buscaglia and Tim Gentry have been pegged as the Cardinal’s most talented because of their national rankings, but this year the entire team is ready for competition. Fans can get a glimpse of this during Friday’s intrasquad, where the Cardinal will display its dynamic, exciting and highly difficult routines in front of a crowd for the first time this season.

“There are several guys that are dynamic on the events they compete, and there is not one specific athlete that can win this championship for Stanford,” Gliemli said.

He adds, though, that his seniors–Buscaglia, Gentry, Josh Dixon, Ryan Lieberman, Abhinav Ramani and redshirt senior Nicholas Noone–have emerged as leaders, taking ownership of the training and success of their team.

Assistant coach Brett McClure agreed.

“The big players of this team are definitely the entire senior class,” he said. “They have really taken control and instilled the Stanford philosophy on work ethic and expectations.”

Senior Ryan Lieberman echoed that sentiment.

“The senior class turned into the class we knew we could be,” he said.

This Friday’s intrasquad will be held at 7 p.m. in Burnham Pavilion.