Feb. 9, 2007
Media Coverage: 2007 Winter Cup Challenge
Three Stanford gymnasts are competing in Las Vegas this weekend for a chance to qualify onto the Senior National Team. Senior Dylan Carney, Junior David Sender and Sophomore Bryant Hadden have finished their first day of competition at the 2007 Winter Cup Challenge. Sender won the all-around and racked up the most points while Carney and Hadden both competed well enough to qualify to the final competition, taking place Saturday, February 10 at 7:00pm (PT). The top 30 finishers on each event receive points: gold gets a gymnast 30 points, silver gets 29 and so forth. These points will help determine who becomes a National team member.
Sender, a co-captain of the Cardinal team, and a 2006 World Championship team member, had an impressive performance. He led the pack of 82 gymnasts tonight with 135 points, and is trailed by Sasha Artemev (115 pts) and Guillermo Alvarez (112 pts). Besides a big step out of bounds on his floor routine, Sender had an excellent performance, winning both vault with a stuck two-and-a-half twisting yurchenko for a score of 16.5 and all-around with a score of 89.45. Sender also placed third on the horizontal bar with a 15.25 and seventh on the parallel bars with a 14.85
Carney, another co-captain, and Hadden had a little more trouble in Vegas, neither hitting all their routines. Carney had a botched routine on floor for a 14.15 while Hadden's routine was missing a side flip element, scoring a 13.6. Hadden fell on pommels, but had a great ring routine, placing twelfth with a 14.75. Carney held back some elements on high bar but still scored well with a 15.15 , placing second. Carney's vault was powerful, but misjudging the landing forced him to put his hands down for a 14.7. Overall, Carney and Hadden scored 40 and 36 points respectively, good for 33rd and 34th place.
The scoring at the meet is different from NCAA competitions, which continues to keep 10 as the highest score a gymnast can receive from the judges. The new rules instated by F.I.G, the international governing body for gymnastics, has now replaced the familiar 10.0 with new system that has a less rigid cap on scoring. Most gymnasts now receive scores that range between 14 to 16 points; there is no longer a "perfect score."
Out of the 82 competitors, the top 42 from the qualification round advance to the finals based on the results and the points-ranking system. All three Stanford gymnasts will compete again in the finals, as well as incoming Cardinals Ryan Liberman and Tim Gentry, and alumni David Durante. On Saturday, the scores of the two days will be averaged and points will be awarded for places 1-10. The top point finishers will qualify onto the Senior National Team.