Freshman standout Akash Modi received Gymnast of the Year honors from the Mount Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) conference following the conclusion of the MPSF Championships last weekend, at which he earned two conference titles as the No. 3 Cardinal turned in a second-place performance, falling short of No. 1 Oklahoma.
Modi’s MPSF titles in the all-around (89.650) and parallel bars (15.800) capped off a stellar season in which he was the only gymnast in the country to exceed the 90.000 mark in the all-around. He finished the regular season as the top-ranked gymnast in the all-around in the country. The freshman from New Jersey also led the Cardinal with 13 individual victories this season.
Fifth-year senior Paul Hichwa was the only other Cardinal gymnast to claim a conference title, as his career-high score of 15.450 on the high bar narrowly edged that of Oklahoma’s William Clement. Sophomore Dennis Zaremski finished second in rings with 16.150, while junior Michael Levy and senior Sean Senters contributed third-place finishes in the floor exercises and vaults, respectively.
Following the conclusion of the conference championships, Stanford head coach Thom Gleilmi earned his second MPSF Coach of the Year honor as he shared the recognition with Kip Simons, the head coach at Air Force.
The Cardinal will next travel to Ann Arbor, Mich. for the NCAA Championships, which will begin on April 10.