March 26, 2011
Berkeley, Calif. - No. 2 Stanford earned a resounding win over No. 4 California in the dual-meet finale, Friday night in Hass Pavilion. The Cardinal scored 360.950 to 354.525 for Cal to take the victory. Josh Dixon paced the Cardinal, winning the all-around with a score of 87.650.
The Cardinal began on pommel horse, scoring 57.500 and trailing the Golden Bears, who began on floor. Chris Turner had a big evening on the pommel horse with a score of 15.000 to pace Stanford. Also scoring well were John Marin (14.300), Jason Stevens (14.150) and Abhinav Ramani (14.050).
The Cardinal then rotated to floor, but still trailed by over two points after scoring 59.950. Dixon paced the Cardinal with an outstanding 15.700 in the event that he ranks third in the nation. Tim Gentry also scored over 15 with a score of 15.150, while Alex Buscaglia (14.650) and Ryan Lieberman (14.450) rounded out the scoring in the event.
The Cardinal took over the lead after the third rotation with a score of 63.700 on vault. Buscaglia nailed his vault, scoring 16.050 to lead the way. Each Cardinal scored 15 or higher on the event with Gentry's 15.950 and Dixon's 15.900 nearly reach the 16 barrier as well.
The Cardinal then moved to rings and despite Cal, moving to vault did not relinquish its lead. Stanford scored an impressive 61.300, its best total of the season and one that should move the Cardinal past Penn State as the national leader in the event. Gentry (15.700) and James Fosco (15.600) showed why they are two of the best in the nation with solid routines. Jordan Nolff also came through with a great day, scoring 15.200.
The Cardinal really began to separate from the Golden Bears when it rotated to horizontal bar, the event where Stanford is the No. 1 ranked team. Buscaglia nailed his difficult routine for a score of 16.300, easily the best in the nation this year for someone who was already the top-ranked athlete in the event. Dixon also had a solid effort, scoring 15.050, while Cameron Foreman (14.750) and Paul Hichwa (14.700) also came through.
Finally, the Cardinal scored 57.700 on parallel bars and again widened its lead as Cal struggled on the horizontal bar. Dixon led Stanford on p-bars with a score of 14.950, but Lieberman, Turner and Gentry also scored in the 14's.
The meet concludes the regular season for Stanford. It will now travel to the US Air Force Academy on April 2 to compete in the MPSF Championships.