The Stanford women’s gymnastics team capped off their season with a fifth place finish at the 2024 NCAA Championships in Fort Worth, Texas this weekend. Sophomore Anna Roberts shined for the Cardinal, winning the NCAA Vault Title with a career-high score of 9.9500. 

After placing second at the NCAA Regional Finals in Berkeley earlier this month, the Cardinal landed a place in the NCAA Championship Semifinal for the first time since 2016. This championship berth came at the heel of a 3-12 season for the Cardinal. 

The unseeded Cardinal faced off against No. 12 Arkansas, No. 3 California and No. 2 LSU in the Semifinal Session I matchup, finishing third in the session and fifth overall. Scoring a total of 197.0750, the Cardinal fell 0.6375 points short of a second place finish to advance to the Championship Final. 

The semifinal showing began on bars, with Stanford earning a total team score of 49.2500. Junior Anapaula Gutierrez and sophomore Anna Roberts led the way on this first rotation, both scoring a team-high 9.8875. Beam came next, which turned out to be the Cardinal’s best rotation of the day. With a total team score of 49.3125, this went down as Stanford’s second-best NCAA Championships Semifinals beam rotation in history. Roberts earned a score of 9.900, along with senior Ira Alexeeva’s 9.8875. 

Fifth-year Chloe Widner’s 9.900 and Roberts’ 9.9900 anchored floor, helping the team to a total score of 147.8500 after three rotations. The Cardinal then finished off the day with a 49.2250 on vault behind Roberts’ national-title clinching score of 9.9500. 

Roberts’ spectacular showing across the board during the semifinal earned her fourth-best All-Round Performance with a score of 39.6375 — an average of 9.909375 per rotation. In addition to her NCAA Vault Title, Roberts also claimed first-team all-American honors in vault and all-around performance, as well as second-team all-American honors in beam.

Stanford’s collective and individual successes at this year’s National Championship show great optimism that the team will continue to improve in the years to come. With a strong core of seasoned gymnasts and the addition of Olympic-bound Levi Jung-Ruivivar next season, the Cardinal will undoubtedly look to raise the bar even higher.