April 17, 2010
Stanford, Calif. - A night after finishing agonizingly close to the NCAA team title, the Cardinal were back in action for the event finals. Whatever disappointment from Friday night that may have existed, did not carry over into the routines as every Stanford athlete to compete was named All-American. In addition, Ryan Lieberman and Eddie Penev won individual national titles.
Penev performed like a veteran in his first NCAA meet, winning the vault competition with a score of 16.45. The national title was the first for Stanford on vault since David Sender in 2007. Penev's night began on the floor exercise where he fell just short of the individual national title. Penev placed second to earn the first of his two All-America honors. His score of 16.0 was just off Steven Legendre of Oklahoma who took the title with a score of 16.1.
Lieberman captured his national title on the parallel bars, finishing with a score of 15.1. It was the first national title for Stanford on the parallel bars dating all the way back to 1996 when Jamie Ellis won the title. Lieberman earned his second career All-America honor after also earning the award on parallel bars last season.
During the first session, the athletes went to rings where returning All-Americans, Tim Gentry and Nicholas Noone competed. Gentry earned the third All-America honor of his career after placing third, one spot better than his fourth-place finish last year. Noone also earned the third All-America honor of his career after placing fifth with a score of 15.05.
Noone also competed on the parallel bars later in the evening and placed fourth with a score of 14.875. It was the second All-America honor of the night for Noone and the fourth of his career.
Gentry was also not done as he went to the vault and placed fourth. His score of 15.95 earned him the second All-America honor of his night and the fourth of his career. Josh Dixon also competed in the vault and placed third with a score of 16.05. The results gave Dixon his fourth All-America honor of his career and first since 2008.
Stanford also had a trio of All-Americans on the horizontal bar. Alex Buscaglia led the way, placing fifth with a score of 14.425. Abhinav Ramani was not far behind in seventh with a score of 14.3. The results gave Ramani the first All-America honor of his career. Finally, Dixon took the last All-America honor of the event, placing eighth with a score of 13.625. It was his second All-America honor of the night and the fifth of his career.
Buscaglia also competed on the floor and finished fifth with a score of 15.6. It gave him four All-America honors for his career and his first on the floor.
Finally, was the pommel horse where John Martin was the only Stanford gymnast to compete. Martin placed sixth with a score of 14.075 to earn the first All-America honor of his career.
In all, eight Stanford athletes earned 13 All-America honors during the event finals. The Cardinal also captured its first two individual national titles since 2007.