Feb. 19, 2011
Stanford, Calif. - No. 4 Stanford completed its home season at the Stanford Open by placing third overall and second among NCAA teams. A youth national team from Japan stole the show, winning the competition with a score of 362.200.
Among the NCAA teams, No. 1 Oklahoma edged No. 4 Stanford and No. 5 California. The Sooners finished with a score of 357.500, while Stanford had 352.000 and Cal had 351.700.
The Cardinal began with the vault and some of its best scores of the year. Both Alex Buscaglia and Tim Gentry had season-high scores over 16 points to lead Stanford. Buscaglia scored 16.300, while Gentry chipped in with a 16.200. The Cardinal showed off the depth in the event as Josh Dixon (15.900), Abhinav Ramani (15.600) and Jason Stevens (15.200) also scored well. Overall, Stanford scored a 64.000 to take the lead after one rotation.
Stanford then moved onto the parallel bars where it scored a 57.500. Gentry led the way, scoring a 14.700, while Ryan Lieberman scored a 14.500. The other scorers for Stanford were Buscaglia (14.300) and Dixon (14.00). Oklahoma took over the lead after the second rotation by less than a point after competing on rings and vault.
Moving onto the horizontal bar, Buscaglia continued to show why he is world class in the event. The Cardinal senior scored 15.100 as Stanford's high scorer. Also faring well in the event was Dixon with a score of 14.300. The other scorers were Gentry (13.500) and Lieberman (13.400). Oklahoma continued to build its lead after three rotations, leading by 3.500 points.
Stanford regained the lead on the floor with an impressive score of 60.600. Dixon nailed his routine with a score of 15.900 to match his season best. Buscaglia also had a big routine, scoring a season best 15.600. The other scorers were Gentry with a score of 14.600 and Lieberman with a score of 14.500
Oklahoma reclaimed the lead after the fifth rotation as the Cardinal struggled on pommel horse. Stanford scored 53.600 to fall behind both Oklahoma and California. John Martin led the way in the event, scoring 14.000. Jordan Nolff also had a solid routine with a score of 13.700. Jason Stevens (13.000) and Abhinav Ramani (12.900) rounded out the Cardinal scorers.
The Cardinal completed the night of rings with a score of 60.000 to overtake Cal and finish second among the NCAA teams. Gentry had the top score in the event of 15.700, but rings specialist James Fosco was also impressive with a score of 15.300. Dixon and Nolff rounded out the scoring with two 14.500's.
The Cardinal will be back in action next Saturday, Feb. 26, when it travels to Ann Arbor, Mich. to take on the Wolverines in a dual meet.