April 7, 2005
West Point, NY - Stanford traveled to West Point, NY this weekend to compete in the 2005 NCAA Championships. Stanford competed in the first of two qualifying sessions today, from which the top three teams advance to the NCAA team finals Friday night. The Cardinal men competed against Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Minnesota and William & Mary in session one, placing fourth with a team total of 218.375 points. Ohio State won session one of team competition with 220.900 points and will advance to the finals along with Michigan State (220.375) and Penn State (220.350). Stanford will not advance to the team finals, but qualified five gymnasts for the individual event finals Saturday at 7 p.m. (EST).
Stanford had four top-three finishes in the individual events en route to qualifying five athletes for the finals. In the first rotation, freshman David Sender advanced to the final of the pommel horse Saturday by placing fifth with a score of 9.200. Fellow freshman Jason Shen tied for eighth with a score of 9.100 and will join Sender in the pommel horse final.
In Stanford's second event, David Sender placed second on the still rings with a score of 9.700, just 0.025 behind event winner Nyika White of Temple. Sender will advance to the finals in the rings Saturday night.
Stanford enjoyed strong performances in the vault, qualifying three gymnasts for the event final. David Sender placed third in the vault with a score of 9.500. Sophomore Dylan Carney tied for seventh place with a score of 9.325 and freshman Sho Nakamori tied for twelfth with a score of 9.200.
In the fourth rotation, David Sender also qualified for Saturday's final in the parallel bars. Sender finished twelfth in the event with a score of 8.850.
Junior Nate Downs tied for third place in the high bar with a score of 9.600, qualifying for the event final. Downs will be joined in the high bar final by teammate Dylan Carney who placed eighth with a score of 9.300.
In Stanford's final rotation, Sho Nakamori finished third in the floor exercise with a score of 9.475. David Sender also qualified for the finals in the floor exercise by placing nineteenth and scoring 8.975.
Freshmen Sho Nakamori, David Sender, and Jason Shen, as well as sophomore Dylan Carney and junior Nate Downs will all have the opportunity to compete for an individual event title Saturday night at 7 p.m. in West Point, NY. Sender advanced to the finals in five of six individual events.
Ohio State, Michigan State and Penn State will compete against Illinois, Oklahoma and California from session two in the team championship Friday night at 7 p.m. (EST).
For complete results visit: http://www.ncaasports.com/gymnastics/mens/championship-results.