March 4, 2011
Chicago, Ill. - No.2 Stanford earned an impressive win at a quad meet on Friday night, defeating No. 3 Illinois as well as Illinois-Chicago and Air Force. The Cardinal finished with a score of 357.800 to easily defeat the Fighting Illini who were second with 351.600.
Stanford was outstanding in every event, earning the high score on four events and tying Illinois on a fifth. It did its most damage on horizontal bar, an event that it currently ranks No. 1 in the nation. Alex Buscaglia continued to master the apparatus, scoring 15.500, while Tim Gentry came through with a 15.000.
The other event where Stanford distanced itself from the pack was on still rings with a team score of 60.600. Gentry continued to show why he is a contender for the NCAA individual title in the event, scoring a 15.700. James Fosco also showed off his specialty with a score of 15.400.
The other events that Stanford finished with the high score were pommel horse and parallel bars. Stanford scored 58.200 on pommel horse and 58.300 parallel bars, both outstanding scores on events that the Cardinal has struggled at time this season. Ryan Lieberman and Abhinav Ramani led the Cardinal on pommel horse, both scoring 14.800. On parallel bars, Lieberman showed why he is the defending NCAA event champion with a score of 15.300.
On floor, Stanford tied with Illinois with a score of 58.500, while the Cardinal scored 62.700 on vault, the only event where Illinois finished ahead. Josh Dixon had a huge showing on floor, scoring 15.500. On vault, Dixon led five Stanford athletes in the 15's with his score of 15.900.
Dixon also had one of the highest all-around scores in the nation this season with a mark of 87.400.
The meet was an impressive road effort for the Cardinal who will raise its average score on the season. Stanford is not done for the weekend, however, as it travels to face Nebraska in a dual meet on Sunday.