After two canceled meets and a schedule change, Stanford women’s gymnastics will compete in its first meet of the abbreviated season against San Jose State on Feb. 27.
Stanford was originally scheduled to compete against No. 34 Arizona on Feb. 26. Although the Cardinal was prepared “to showcase individual performances,” Arizona — who competed in four team events already this season — “elected to pursue an alternate matchup,” according to an email from Stanford Athletics spokesperson Tyler Geivett.
Stanford is the last Pac-12 team to kick off its 2021 season.
The Cardinal will be led by 2021 American Athletic, Inc. Award Nominee senior Kyla Bryant. Bryant earned career-bests in the all-around with a 39.550 and the balance beam with a 9.925 against Utah in Stanford’s final meet of the 2020 season before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Seniors Lauren Navarro and Taylor Lawson and juniors Morgan Hoang and Grace Waguespack all earned career-highs across three events in the meet against Utah.
Navarro’s 9.825 on the vault propelled the Cardinal to its highest team vault score of the 2020 season, and Lawson tied her career-high of 9.850 on the uneven bars. Hoang earned her third-straight 9.775 on the balance beam, and Waguespack cracked the 9.900 barrier on the uneven bars for the first time in her career.
Bryant, Navarro and Lawson are joined by fellow seniors Rachel Flam and Grace Garcia. Along with the five seniors, the team returns four sophomores and five juniors. The Cardinal also adds five talented freshmen to the line-up with a plethora of national, international and Olympic experience.
The match will take place at 12 p.m. PT on Saturday in Burnham Pavilion and Ford Center.