No. 2 Stanford men’s gymnastics claimed its fourth-straight victory this season after defeating No. 11 Cal, No. 12 Arizona State and No. 17 Washington by sizable margins at the Pac-12 Invite in Berkeley on Sunday.
Despite resting several key contributors, the undefeated reigning champs scored their third-highest total of the season with 406.600 points, including a season-high team performance on the still rings.
Unmatched in nearly every event, Stanford swept the team scores to win the meet by a nine-point margin. Cal finished runner-up with 397.650 points, while Arizona State placed third with 389.200 and Washington fourth with 366.400.
For Stanford, the closest event came on the pommel horse. Senior Joey Ringer registered a season-high 13.800 to win the event title as Stanford totaled 64.100, edging out Cal’s team score of 64.050.
Ringer was just one of six Cardinal to win event titles on Sunday. Junior Andrew Bitner produced a career-best 81.200 in the all-around to win the event. His performance included season-highs of 13.900 on floor and 13.400 on pommel horse.
Sophomores Christopher Osgood and Curran Phillips each recorded career highs to claim their respective events. Phillips won the parallel bars with a 14.800, while Osgood won his first collegiate event title on the still rings with a 14.400. Osgood’s mark helped Stanford to a season-high 69.250 in the event.
Sophomore Blake Wilson, who also set a career high on the floor with 13.900, claimed the high bar event title with a 13.200. Senior Bailey Perez added an event title in the vault with a career-best 14.850.
The only event the Cardinal dropped on Sunday was the floor exercise; however, senior Connor Lewis finished second with a 14.100.
“For the most part the guys that had an opportunity to show what they can do — they did a good job,” said head coach Thom Glielmi after the competition. “However, I don’t think we showed our true depth tonight.”
Stanford rested its top four all-around gymnasts — freshmen Brandon Briones and Riley Loos, senior Ian Gunther and sophomore Brody Malone — with the USA Gymnastics Winter Cup, a qualifying meet for the 2020 U.S. Gymnastics Championships, coming up Feb. 20-22 in Las Vegas.
Briones and Gunther both qualified for the Winter Cup after posting 84.450 and 83.750, respectively, at the Stanford Open last Saturday. Briones’ mark stands as the second-highest all-around score in the nation.
Before heading to Las Vegas, the Cardinal will travel to Tempe, Ariz., for a date with Arizona State (ASU), Cal and Ohio State at the ASU Invite on Saturday. The meet kicks off at 1 p.m. PT from the Sun Devil Fitness Center.
Contact Alejandro Salinas at asalinas ‘at’ stanford.edu.