No. 25 Stanford women’s gymnastics capped off Sunday’s dual meet against No. 10 Cal with what head coach Tabitha Yim described as an “electric” performance in the floor exercise. A stunning career-high 9.950 from junior Kyla Bryant highlighted the final event of the day for the Cardinal women, who came up short 197.125-196.175 to their Bay Area rivals.

Senior Kaylee Cole led off Stanford’s lineup on the floor on Sunday, registering a 9.875. Junior Taylor Lawson and freshman Chloe Widner followed with season highs of 9.875 and 9.900, respectively. 

Fifth in the lineup, Bryant produced an emphatic performance, notching the highest score of her career to win the event title. Collectively, the Cardinal totaled a season-high 49.375 to take the event. Cal, however, outscored the home team in all other events, including the all-around, to defeat the Cardinal in the fourth meeting between the two programs this season. 

Stanford also had notable performances from Lawson and junior Grace Garcia. Lawson hit a career-high 9.875 on beam to finish as Stanford’s highest scorer in the event, while Garcia’s career-best 9.900 on the uneven bars paced the Cardinal.

“Grace really stepped up on bars,” said Yim. 

Sunday marked the second meet in seven days and the fourth in a span of two weeks.

“It’s been a really tough three-week stretch and we have faced a lot of adversity,” Yim said. “I thought closing out that three-week cycle with this meet was a huge confidence booster for our team. We’re looking forward to the upcoming road stretch and continuing to build our confidence.”

The Cardinal gymnasts will be back in action on Friday with a match at No. 1 Oklahoma in the Perfect 10 Challenge. The women will then head to Arizona on Sunday for a date with No. 22 Arizona, before returning to the Farm to face Arizona State on March 2 in the final home meet of the year. 

Contact Alejandro Salinas at asalinas ‘at’ stanford.edu.