The Cardinal women’s gymnastics team set off for a weekend of tough competition and walked away with two more wins and the best start in team history.
On Friday, No. 2 Stanford (13-0) joined No. 10 UCLA and No. 6 Oregon State in the IGI Chicago Style Invitational. As the meet progressed, it looked like the Bruins were
going to take the victory, as they placed first on the vault, bars and beam. Stanford’s 49.150 trailed behind the Bruins’ team score of 49.200 on the vault, while Oregon State picked up third with a 49.075. The pattern continued with Stanford taking second on the bars and Oregon State taking third, changing only when the Card managed to tie UCLA for first on the beam with score of 48.975.
The Bruins’ streak ended when Oregon State took its first win on the floor, with Stanford trailing behind in second and UCLA in third with a 48.850, which fell below the leading score of 49.225. The Bruins suffered three out-of-bounds deductions, which brought the team’s score down significantly. After the battle ended, Stanford ended up on top with a mark of 196.475. Oregon State took second overall with a 196.350, and UCLA, despite three event wins, took a very narrow third place with a 196.300.
Although Stanford as a team only placed first in one of the events (the beam), the team’s performance at the invitational included several individual first places. Senior Shelley Alexander placed first in the all-around with a 39.375 as well as first on the floor with a 9.900, redshirt senior Allyse Ishino tied with junior Nicole Pechanec for first on the bars—both earned scores of 9.900—and sophomore Ashley Morgan took first on the floor with a score of 9.900.
Stanford took its winning streak further as it beat both No. 8 Michigan and No. 10 Nebraska last Sunday in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Card started off the meet taking third on the vault, but continued to work its way up, event by event. Stanford finished second on bars with a 49.325, falling just below Nebraska’s 49.375, and then continued on to take first on both the beam and floor exercise, closing out its victory with a score of 196.800, the team’s third-highest overall score of the season. Michigan took second in the meet with a 196.500, while Nebraska fell to third significantly with a score of 195.400.
Compared to Friday’s meet, the individual firsts were few for Stanford. Alexander placed first on the beam with a 9.900, and Morgan again left the meet with a 9.900 and victory on the floor. Stanford junior Alyssa Brown earned her season- and career-best score of 9.900 on the bars, as well as her season best on the vault, also with a 9.900. Sophomore Nicole Dayton also walked away with a season- and career-best score, but she earned her score of 9.850 on the vault. A freshman competitor for the Card, Kristina Vaculik earned both her season and career bests on the bars with a 9.850.
Stanford will have a chance to continue its perfect start when it travels to Tucson to face Arizona on Friday at 6 p.m. PST.