April 23, 2008
STANFORD, Calif. - On April 17-19, the top-ranked Stanford men's gymnastics team hosted the 2008 National Collegiate Men's Gymnastics Championships. The Cardinal went into the event with only two losses on the season (19-2 overall); an early dual to No. 5 California in January in which the Cardinal were without their top two all-arounders, David Sender and Sho Nakamori, and to No. 2 Oklahoma at the MPSF Conference Championships in early April.
On Thursday evening, Stanford qualified for Friday night's team finals in convincing fashion, earning the highest score of any of the 12 teams in the qualifiers with 363.850, which also happened to be the highest recorded score by any team in the NCAA in the 2008 season. Also advancing to the finals were No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Penn State, No. 4 California, No. 5 Illinois, and No. 6 Michigan.
In the qualifying meet, Stanford racked up a number of places. On floor, Josh Dixon and Sender shared first place (15.65), while Greg Ter-Zakhariants finished in third (16.55). On rings, Sender took his second event crown of the night (15.7). At the vault, Tim Gentry took third (16.1) while Sender grabbed his third event title (16.2). On p-bars, Nakamori tied for second (15.05) with Cal's Colin Christ. In high bar, Dylan Carney took first (15.1) and Sender tied for third with teammate Nakamori (14.9).
The Cardinal looked to be in their top form heading into Friday night and knew a victory would not come easy, but also knew that if they were consistent and hit their routines they would have a very good chance of capturing the trophy in front of their home crowd.
Ultimately, things did not go as Stanford hoped. The Cardinal made some minor errors along the way that would end up being the difference between first and second place. No. 2 Oklahoma went on to win the NCAA Team Championship, edging Stanford out by only forty-five hundredths (.45) of a point. The Cardinal finished with a final score of 362.750, their second highest score of the year.
Despite losing out on the team championship, Stanford again had many gymnasts prove to be some of the top athletes at the meet. Nakamori earned third place on p-bars (15.15) and Carney again won the high bar (14.95). Dixon placed third on floor (15.7) and Bryant Hadden scored his highest still rings tally of the year (15.85) to take third.
"I think we just never got comfortable," commented Head Coach Thom Glielmi. "I think we were trying to be perfect, when all we needed was to post solid scores that we were capable of. It just goes to show that five-tenths of a point is so miniscule. It could have gone either way. Some of our guys may be saying I could have done five-tenths better on this or that, but that's the difference. That's what makes this such a great sport."
In the Individual Event Finals on Saturday night, eight gymnasts were distinguished as All-Americans by finishing in the top-8 on any of the six events. Sender capped off his stellar four-year career on the Farm by earning his eighth and ninth All-American awards on rings (15.775) and vault (16.350). His ninth award establishes a new record for most career All-American honors by any one gymnast at Stanford.
Ter-Zakhariants picked up two All-American nods on finishing fourth on floor (15.45) and eighth on pommel horse (14.325). Nakamori also was twice awarded the honor, taking third on pommel horse (14.7) and sixth on p-bars (14.625). Dixon was thrice named an All-American as he took seventh in floor (15.3) and vault (15.675), and third on high bar (14.8). Kyle Oi finished fourth on pommel horse 914.6), good for one All-American award. Alex Buscaglia, Hadden, and Carney also achieved one honor, as Buscaglia tied for eight on high bar (14.65), Hadden took fourth on rings (15.575), and Carney tied for sixth on high bar (14.7).
Stanford will lose seniors Eli Alcaraz, Chris Harper, Sender, and Carney to graduation, but will return an outstanding young squad next year that will compete for the NCAA Team Championship.
"We have a lot of guys that are good at events that were filled by other guys this season," commented Glielmi. "We will be young, talented, and ready to go for next year."