No. 2 Stanford men’s gymnastics defeated No. 18 Washington and No. 20 SC United on Saturday at the Stanford Open, adding another tally to the team’s undefeated resume. Stanford dominated with a team total of 435.000, completely outmatching Washington’s 398.050 and SC United’s 355.100.
As part of a remarkably well-rounded effort, Stanford did not score below 70.000 as a team on any of the events during the meet, while neither Washington nor SC United scored above 70.000 as a team on any of those events, though SC United only scored five gymnasts on each event as opposed to the customary six.
Junior Gabe Flores earned two individual titles, scoring a 15.300 on floor and a 14.950 on vault. He also scored a 14.250 on rings to cap off a stellar day of competition.
Freshman Grant Breckenridge also performed extraordinarily well during the competition with a career-high score of 13.400 on floor to help push Stanford to a spectacular 72.150 team score in the event. He also scored a 14.850 on vault, a 14.850 on the high bar and a 13.850 on rings.
Junior Jordan DeClerk also aided the team in winning the rings event with a season-high 14.800. Stanford’s team score of 71.150 on the event was in a different class altogether from those of Washington (65.600) and SC United (59.250), which helped the Cardinal continue to pull away from the pack.
The most exciting victory of the night was on the parallel bars. Stanford’s team score on bars was the second-highest of its night, an astounding 73.600 that blew away Washington’s 66.900. Contributing to this were fifth-year senior Brian Knott with a season-high 15.300, senior Dennis Zaremski with a season-best 15.150 and sophomore Robert Neff with a career-high 15.050.
Stanford will next look to continue its streak of dominance to start the season when it takes on Michigan and Cal on Feb. 6 at 4 p.m. at Burnham Pavilion.
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Facing off against some of its toughest competition of the season, No. 12 Stanford women’s gymnastics (7-4, 1-2 Pac-12) came in fourth in the field of five teams at the Metroplex Challenge on Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas. Stanford finished behind No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 6 LSU and Washington, while No. 16 Missouri finished in last.
The Cardinal earned season-best scores in the bars with a 49.325 and on the beam with a 49.300. These two events helped counter the slower first two events, in which the Cardinal did not perform as well, as Stanford struggled in the beginning with a 48.900 on vault and a 48.500 on floor.
Despite the slow team start, there were many impressive individual performances. Of note, junior Rachel Daum competed for the first time this season, scoring a 9.800 on beam as the team’s anchor in the event.
Junior Haley Spector also helped the team by getting a 9.775 on floor, allowing the team to recover a bit after an overall poor performance in the event, in which Stanford only totaled a 48.550.
Sophomore Elizabeth Price was one of the leading forces on the team this weekend, winning the all-around with a 39.600 score, her season best. Price also finished in the top 10 for every event. She won bars with an outstanding 9.950, got a third place on beam with a 9.900, fourth place on vault with a 9.875 and sixth on floor with a 9.875.
Other members of the team also contributed greatly to the high team total score. Redshirt senior Ivana Hong scored a 9.925 on beam for the second week in a row, earning her a tie for first place. She also received a 9.900 on bars, qualifying for fifth place in the event.
Junior Nicolette McNair also had a great competition, shining in all three of her events. She challenged old records, setting a season-high score on beam with a 9.850, and tied her season highs with a 9.800 on vault and a 9.875 on bars. Her performance on bars was in fact one of the catalysts for the Cardinal’s turning point in the competition, leading to a second-place team finish in the event.
Stanford women’s gymnastics will next take on Arizona State at Burnham Pavilion on Feb. 8 at 6 p.m.
Contact Laura Sussman at laura111 ‘at’ stanford.edu.