The No. 2 Stanford men’s gymnastics team will be hosting talent from around the world for Senior Day as Stanford is set to host the International Collegiate Challenge on Saturday. The teams competing include Japan, Finland, Canada, South Africa and UC Berkeley.
Stanford will be riding its recent wave of success while relying on the performance of this week’s CGA Gymnast of the Week, junior Akash Modi, who won the award after earning a second-place finish at the Winter Cup in Las Vegas. It’s his third honor this season and 13th of his career, moving him further away from the rest of the pack as the all-time leading recipient of this award. His phenomenal all-around score of 175.300 also secured him a spot on the U.S. Senior National Team.
Canada comes to the Farm with three gymnasts who competed in last week’s World Challenge Cup in Azerbaijan. Morgan Lytwyn of Ontario finished fourth on rings and sixth on vault in the finals of each event. Japan is coming in hot with Kohei Uchimura, the 26-year-old who won his sixth world title this past October and brought Japan its first team world title in 40 years.
Stanford’s rival from across the bay, Cal, will be in attendance as well, lead by senior co-captains Kevin Wolting and Kyle Zemeir, who placed 12th and 20th at the Winter Cup Challenge respectively. The Stanford gymnasts will have a lot to learn from each team they compete against, with an elite level of talent from all over the world right on their campus.
It will also be Senior Night for team captain Dennis Zaremski, Jonathan Deaton and Brian Knott, three mainstays of the Stanford gymnastics team during their time on the Farm.
Zaremski, a first team All-American, is currently ranked second in the country in the rings, an event he finished fifth in at the NCAA Individuals in 2014. He also ranks third in the country on parallel bars.
Deaton, a bioengineering major, has not competed this year, but has posted career-highs of 15.200 and 14.850 for the Cardinal in floor and vault, respectively.
Finally, all-around 5th-year senior Brian Knott leaves the Farm with a distinguished resume as a three-time All-American and an NCAA Champion on parallel bars in 2015.
Not only are all three senior highly accomplished in the gym, but they are also all conference All-Academic selections.
Stanford competes at 4 p.m. at Burnham Pavilion on Saturday, Feb. 27.
Contact Taylor Duarte at taylor3 ‘at’ stanford.edu.