After a disappointing result in the Metroplex Challenge on Jan. 30, No. 13 Stanford women’s gymnastics bounced back with a win against Arizona State on Monday evening. The Cardinal scored a team total of 195.750, while the Sun Devils tallied an all-around total of 194.325.

Sophomore Elizabeth Price won the individual vault with a season-best score of 9.950. Junior Nicolette McNair also greatly contributed to the event with a 9.850, which put her in third overall, and twin sister Danielle McNair continued the trend with a 9.800. Freshman Taryn Fitzgerald represented the new class with an outstanding 9.725 on vault. These performances showed the depth that the team possesses across all of its classes.

The team continued the strong success with a team score of 48.800 on the bars event. Nicolette McNair and redshirt senior Ivana Hong were the main factors in this exceptional performance, tying for the individual win with a 9.850. Danielle McNair once again backed up these results with a 9.725, and yet another freshman, Dare Maxwell, performed strongly as well, netting a 9.725.

Individual and team wins continued in the beam event, as the team once again won 48.950 to 48.525. Danielle McNair took a big leap and stepped up to compete for the first time on the beam in the anchor position, earning a 9.700. Seniors Melissa Chuang and Taylor Rice tied for first overall, each scoring 9.850. This was Rice’s season-best. Nicolette McNair’s 9.825 secured her another third place, and Fitzgerald earned a 9.725 in another strong performance for the freshmen.

Lastly, the Cardinal competed on floor, narrowly losing 48.900 to 48.975. Despite the loss, there were many individual accomplishments. Price won the event with a season-high 9.925. Rice recorded another season-best 9.825 that placed her in third, and Chuang scored an impressive 9.775. Fitzgerald showed her talent with a 9.700. Another high score, 9.675, was brought in by senior Jenna Frowein.

“It was a real team effort tonight,” head coach Kristen Smyth declared. “We’re right on track [in] preparing to be one of the top teams at the end of the year. We’re looking to continue to get better each weekend.”

The Cardinal will take on Arizona next Saturday at 6 p.m. The competition will be available for viewing live on Pac-12 Networks.

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No. 2 Stanford men’s gymnastics (9-0, 4-0, MPSF) performed similarly well on Saturday with a home win against No. 8 Cal and No. 11 Michigan.

The Cardinal put out a season-high team score of 447.700, solidly topping Cal’s 431.550 and Michigan’s 430.900. Stanford’s all-around score is the second-highest total recorded by any team in the nation so far this season.

Stanford bested the other teams in the floor event with a 76.000 total against Cal’s 74.350 and Michigan’s 75.050. Junior Akash Modi scored an outstanding 15.700 and won the event. Meanwhile, sophomores Jacob Barrus and Ryan Sheppard both earned career-highs with a 14.800 and 15.400 respectively.

The Cardinal earned another team victory in the pommel horse event (73.900) and Modi earned another individual victory with a career-high 15.500. Fifth-year senior Brian Knott continued the streak of record-breaking contributions with a season-best 15.100.

Another rotation added yet another Cardinal victory, with the team scoring a 73.600 against the Golden Bears (69.600) and the Wolverines (70.800). Senior Dennis Zaremski’s 15.200 incurred an individual title, while Sheppard kept up his strong form with another career-best 14.700 and Modi landed a season-high score of 14.600.

The vault event was won by Michigan by a tiny margin, with the Wolverines’ score of 74.150 narrowly edging Stanford’s 74.100 and Cal’s 72.850. Stanford’s performance was impressive, however, with multiple team members setting individual records. Sophomore Robert Neff posted a career-best 14.550, followed by career-bests by Sheppard (14.750) and Modi (14.900). Junior Gabe Flores tied his career-best 14.950, earning fourth place in the event. Michigan was particularly strong in the vault event, with Anthony McCallum, Marty Strech and Mike Strathern winning the first three spots.

The Cardinal regained momentum as they dominated the parallel bars event with a season-high 76.900, versus Cal’s 71.650 and Michigan’s 71.850. Modi won the event, crushing opponents with a season-best 16.050. While only one Wolverine gymnast earned a 15 or higher in this event and none from Cal did, three of Stanford’s gymnasts besides Modi hit the mark. A 15.800 scored by Zaremski came in second, a 15.150 by Knott in third, and a 15.000 by Grant Breckenridge put him in fifth.

Stanford finished the competition strongly on the high bar, winning the event 73.200 to Cal’s 71.800 and Michigan’s 69.650. Breckenridge, Neff and Sheppard had a three-way tie for first, netting a 15.150 each.

Stanford men’s gymnastics will next compete against No. 3 Minnesota and No. 7 Iowa this Saturday in Minneapolis at 5 p.m.

 

Contact Laura Sussman at laura111 ‘at’ stanford.edu.