April 2, 2009
STANFORD, Calif. - The top-ranked Stanford men's gymnastics team will begin postseason competition this Saturday, April 4, at home, when it hosts the 2009 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Men's Gymnastics Championships at Maples Pavilion.
The meet will feature some of the best men's gymnastics in the country, as the two teams trailing the Cardinal in the national rankings, No. 2 Oklahoma and No. 3 California, will be in attendance, along with No. 9 Nebraska and No. 15 Air Force.
Last year, Oklahoma ran away with the MPSF title before capturing the NCAA championship. The Sooners also claimed two individual event crowns at the conference meet, as Jonathan Horton won still rings and all-around. Stanford's David Sender captured floor exercise and vault, while Cal's Tim McNeill won pommel horse and parallel bars and his teammate Kyson Bunthuwong took horizontal bar. The only one of those gymnasts who did not graduate and will compete in the 2009 meet is Bunthuwong.
Stanford regained its' No. 1 team ranking in the Gym Info polls this week by scoring a season-high 359.7 in a dual meet win over No. 11 Illinois-Chicago after conceding the lead to Oklahoma last week. The Cardinal (7-4) remains the nation's best team in floor exercise, led by No. 1 sophomore Josh Dixon and No. 2 redshirt junior Greg Ter-Zakhariants, and also tops the chart in both still rings and horizontal bar. On rings, senior Bryant Hadden fell to No. 2 after holding the top spot for a majority of the season, while sophomore Tim Gentry is settled at the No. 4 spot. On high bar, Dixon is at No. 2, while senior Sho Nakamori and Ter-Zakhariants are tied at eighth.
The undefeated Sooners are nipping on the heels of the Cardinal to take over the top-spot and lay claim to the best team total this year, scoring a 366.85 against Penn State on March 21. Vault and parallel bars are Oklahoma's best two events, followed by strength on floor exercise and horizontal bar as they are the nation's second-best team in those two events. Like Stanford, the Sooners have two gymnasts in the top-five on floor exercise (Steven Legendre and Russell Czeschin). Legendre is also the nation's best vaulter and second only to Nakamori on parallel bars, while Chris Brooks checks in at No. 3 on vault and all-around and No.1 on horizontal bar.
California has only suffered one loss this season (9-1), to Stanford at the Pacific Coast Classic and typically scores well on pommel horse and parallel bars. The Golden Bears are the highest-rated MPSF team on horse (No. 3 nationally) and third in the nation on parallel bars. Cal has also done well on rings (ranked fourth) and horizontal bar (second). The Golden Bears are led by the Bunthuwong brothers (Kyson and Kyle) along with freshman Glen Ishino and redshirt junior Evan Roth.
Both Nebraska and Air Force have struggled with the win column this year, as the Huskers are 4-7 and the Falcons are 3-16. Both Nebraska and Air Force's best event is still rings. T.J. Schmidt is the Huskers top performer and is ranked 11th on pommel horse and 7th on parallel bars, while Jacob Schonig achieved a number one ranking on still rings for the Falcons, overtaking Stanford's Hadden this week. Schonig recently claimed his second-consecutive rings title at the USA Collegiate Championships in Williamsburg, Va.
Saturday's meet is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. PT, and tickets are still available by visiting the Stanford Ticket Office located adjacent to Stanford Stadium or online here. Tickets will also be sold at the door the day of the competition, and for fans who cannot attend, the meet will be webcast.
This will be the final home meet this season for the Cardinal. The NCAA Championships, hosted by the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers in Minneapolis, Minn. will begin on April 16.