Stanford women’s gymnastics (6-6, 3-2 Pac-12) made a statement on the road, achieving a hard-fought 195.775-195.200 victory against Arizona State (2-7, 0-4) on Saturday afternoon.
After a loss last week to UCLA, the team was able to make a comeback as it outmaneuvered the Sun Devils in Tempe, Arizona. Despite a couple of road bumps, the Cardinal were able to surmount their challenges and pull ahead in a close meet.
The first event of the day for the Cardinal was the bars, where the team barely scraped by a win, bettering the Sun Devils with a 49.075-48.950 final score. Tying for third, senior Danielle McNair shone once again with a score of 9.825. Junior standout Elizabeth Price returned to the stage after a brief break due to injury and placed first with an almost-perfect score (9.950). These efforts were backed by outstanding performances by senior Nicolette McNair (9.775) and sophomore Dare Maxwell (9.775), allowing the team to take a definitive lead in the competition.
The bars were then followed up with vault, which the Cardinal won with a 48.950 score, outdoing Arizona State’s 48.500.
The McNair twins, Danielle and Nicolette, and freshman Ashley Tai contributed greatly to the Cardinal triumph by tying with the winning score of 9.825. Freshman all-around competitor Aleeza Yu came up with the second-highest score for the event, earning herself a 9.750.
Here Stanford reached a difficult point in the meet as the first gymnast on the floor event missed her routine, putting the team at a severe disadvantage. The Sun Devils followed this up with top-three performances by Corinne Belkoff (9.850), Katelyn Lentz (9.825) and Mekayla Jones (9.800). Although the Cardinal ultimately lost the event, notable routines were landed by freshman Kaylee Cole (9.775), Tai (9.750) and sophomore twins Nicole and Hailee Hoffman (9.725).
Last up was the beam, an event that Stanford has struggled to win thus far this season. But on Saturday, momentum reigned as the team found itself further surpassing the Sun Devils with a 49.125-48.800 victory. The McNair twins once again tied for first (9.850), this time joined by Senior Rachel Daum and Arizona State’s Beka Conrad. These performances not only led to a season-high team score on the event, but allowed the Cardinal to prevail in the all-around: A Cardinal teammate had missed her routine, and Danielle McNair and Daum had to earn particularly high scores in order to earn the ensuing victory.
The Cardinal will be back in Maples Pavilion on Friday for their last home meet of the regular season against Oregon State. This will additionally be senior night for the four women finishing up their last season on the Farm.
Contact Laura Sussman at laura111 ‘at’ stanford.edu