It was one for the record books in Sunday’s meet where No. 16 Stanford women’s gymnastics earned the victory over No. 7 UCLA and No. 10 Georgia. The Cardinal produced a season-best score of 197.400 and tied or set season bests in every event. It was no surprise that sophomore Elizabeth Price again earned the all-around title, tying her own season-best score with a 39.675.
Stanford’s final score of 197.400 was its highest since they posted a 197.525 last year against Washington. The Cardinal achieved a score of 49.250 or higher in each event on Sunday, with meet-best scores on beam (49.375) and bars (49.525). Price and fifth-year senior Ivana Hong earned first and second place titles on bars, respectively.
Stanford started the meet with a strong showing on beam, even after they suffered a fall in an earlier routine. The team embraced the pressure to perform and came out with their season-best beam score. The solid performance was followed up by another season-best score of 49.250 on floor, where Price led the Cardinal with a 9.900 to tie for fourth in the event.
Price continued her momentum with an almost perfect Yurchenko double full on vault, receiving a 9.975. Hong also made her season debut on vault, posting a 9.850 in the anchor position. Stanford rounded out the meet with another strong showing on bars, where every gymnast scored a 9.850 or higher. Freshman Dare Maxwell and junior Danielle McNair assisted the Cardinal with two solid scores of 9.875.
A highlight for the Bruins was senior Danusia Francis posting a perfect ten on beam, punctuated by a stuck sideways side aerial to full-twisting layout dismount. Despite her flawless performance, UCLA had to count a fall on the event, dropping them to third place in the tri-meet.
Stanford held the lead the entire afternoon to earn the win. The Georgia Bulldogs finished second with a score of 197.025, followed by UCLA’s 196.825. The Cardinal will look to keep the momentum going to prepare for a hopefully lengthy postseason.
After Stanford’s stunning performance on Sunday against two top-10 teams, the team will be earning a well-deserved break before they head to Washington for the Pac-12 Championships on March 19.
Contact Taylor Duarte at taylor3 ‘at’ stanford.edu.