On Saturday, the No. 2 Stanford women’s gymnastics team (9-0) walked away from its meet against San Jose State with its highest score of the season.
San Jose State (6-2) was unable to capture first place in any event of the day, although junior Thomasina Wallace and senior Lily Swann came close. Wallace tied Stanford junior Alyssa Brown for second place on the bars, with both earning a score of 9.850. Neither score came close to threatening Stanford junior Nicole Pechanec’s career-best score of 9.925.
Swann followed behind Stanford sophomore Ashley Morgan for the best all-around score of the meet. Swann’s 38.800 trailed the 39.325 of Morgan, whose win now marked her best all-around score of the season.
Stanford took first place in every event and ended up with a final score of 196.975, prevailing over the Spartans’ score of 193.825. The Card could not match its season highs on vault and balance beam from the Utah meet, while the uneven bars record still stands from the Pac-10 Showcase.
Stanford did manage to set one season-best on Saturday, posting a score of 49.450 on the floor exercise. Ashley Morgan took first on the floor with a score of 9.925, which tied her career best. She has successfully scored a 9.925 on the floor in the past five meets. Her teammate, freshman Shona Morgan from Melbourne, Australia, matched Ashley’s 9.925 with an equal mark of her own, grabbing a tie for first place. In total, six Stanford gymnasts—Ashley Morgan, Shona Morgan, Pechanec, freshman Kristina Vaculik, senior Shelley Alexander and sophomore Nicole Dayton—scored season bests on the floor exercise as all six scored above a 9.8.
The meet against San Jose was Shona Morgan’s first of the season, as she recovers from a knee injury. Nevertheless, she not only tied for first on the floor, but she tied for first on the beam as well, equaling Brown’s mark of 9.850. The beam was a strong event for Stanford, as Cardinal gymnasts had the top six scores.
Stanford will continue its season at the Chicago Style Invitational, a meet that will play host to No. 10 UCLA, No. 6 Oregon State and the Cardinal this Friday at 5:30 p.m. P.S.T. at Navy Pier in Chicago.