March 11, 2007
Fifth ranked Stanford men's gymnastics (11-2) came from behind to defeat No. 2 Penn St. and No. 9 Iowa on Saturday night in Burnham Pavilion. The Cardinal rallied to finish with a final team score of 216.7, while Penn St. (214.8) came in second and Iowa (204.75) finished third. David Sender captured the all-around title for Stanford as he recorded a total score of 55.55.
The Cardinal began on the floor where David Sender put together a strong routine to earn the top score of the event with a 9.6. Dylan Carney also performed very well in the event, posting the second highest score of 9.35. After the first event, Stanford had a team total of 35.95.
The team moved to pommel horse where Chris Harper turned in the second highest score in the event as he posted a 9.2. Sender closed out the event by posting an 8.85 to help the Cardinal earn a score of 35.3, bringing their total to 71.25.
Next up for Stanford was the still rings and as in almost every previous meet, the Cardinal would have to step up in this event as they only sent four gymnasts up. All four came through in the clutch as Alex Schorsch led the way with a 9.65. Sender once again closed out the event with a solid performance, scoring a 9.6 to help Stanford total a 37.55. At the halfway point in the meet, the Cardinal trailed Penn St. by a score of 109.3-108.8, while Iowa was in third with a 104.85.
Stanford made their way to the vault where Greg Ter-Zakhariants stuck his landing to earn an 8.95. Not to be outdone, defending NCAA vault champion Sender twisted through the air on his way to earning a 9.2 on the event. The team, however, posted their lowest event score as they totaled a 35.2.
The parallel bars were next for the Cardinal and once again Harper came up big as he earned a score of 9.1. As usual, Sender closed out the event on a high note with another solid routine to earn a 9.05. With only one event to go, Stanford still trailed Penn St. by a score of 179.9-179.65, while Iowa remained in third with 172.9.
If there wasn't enough pressure on the Cardinal already, they would now have to compete in the final event with one less gymnast because of an injury to Ter-Zakhariants. Lucas Hughes started off a little shaky for Stanford, but like any good team he was picked up by the next guy as Andrew Mcintyre stayed strong under the pressure to earn an 8.8. With the capacity crowd roaring Bryant Hadden stepped up and nailed the routine to earn a 9.3. Next up was defending NCAA high bar champion Carney and he did not disappoint as he posted a meet high score of 9.7. With the arena buzzing, Sender sealed the victory for the Cardinal as he stuck the landing earning a 9.25 and also claiming another all-around title with a total score of 55.55. Stanford posted a score of 37.05 on the final event, while Penn St. struggled on the vault recording a 34.40.
Stanford tallied a final score of 216.70, while Penn St. totaled a 214.80 and Iowa scored a 204.75.
The Cardinal return to action on Saturday, March 31 (7:30pm) for the MPSF Championships in Berkeley, CA.