Jan. 26, 2013
Ann Arbor, Mich. - The second-ranked Stanford men's gymnastics team fell to No. 3 Michigan Saturday night, 429.350-439.750.
It marks the Cardinal's first loss of the season as the team drops to 4-1, while the Wolverines improve its undefeated record to 6-0.
It was a tough loss for a Stanford team riding high after a Stanford Open quad meet victory over three top 10 opponents just a week ago. Despite the loss, however, Stanford managed to put together a couple of individual highlight performances.
Perhaps the biggest highlight of the night for Stanford occurred on still rings - the only event the Cardinal outscored the Wolverines (73.700-73.550).
Stanford continued to be led on the event by seniors Chris Turner and freshman Dennis Zaremski also delivered solid performances, both scoring 14.600.
Fosco and Nolff have recorded the highest ring scores for Stanford and scored in the 15.000's in all three meets this season. Their one-two finish on rings was the Cardinal's only top two finishes in the meet, with Michigan claiming the top two places in the other five events.
It was a bit of a role reversal from the last time Stanford visited Ann Arbor in 2011 when the Cardinal took five of six events from the Wolverines en route to an overall team victory.
Stanford fell behind Michigan after the Cardinal's first event on pommel horse and just couldn't make up enough ground throughout the meet to catch the Wolverines.
Stanford was led on pommel horse by junior Chris Turner who scored 14.400, good for a third-place finish. Senior John Martin contributed the second highest score for the Cardinal (14.200) to finish fourth overall in the event. However, the Cardinal posted just 69.750 as a team - its lowest score on the event of the season - and found itself in a five point hole after the first event.
In its next event on floor exercise, the Cardinal received solid routines from Jonathan Deaton and Paul Hichwa, with each scoring in the 14.000's. Levy led the group with a 14.800 and was followed by Deaton (14.550) and Hichwa (14.350). Unfortunately, the three performances weren't quite enough and the Cardinal tied its season-low team score on the event with a 70.600.
Deaton continued to contribute to the comeback cause on vault delivering a new career-best of 14.800, earning a fourth-place finish in the meet. The rest of the Cardinal scored in the low-to-mid 14.000's on the event, recording its highest team-score on an event to that point (72.650).
Stanford faced some difficulties on high bar as it fought to catch Michigan in the latter part of the competition and recorded its lowest team-score of the meet with a 69.450. The Cardinal was led by seniors Cameron Foreman and Eddie Penev who scored 14.400 and 14.150, respectively.
Determined to finish strong, the Cardinal ended its meet on a high note on parallel bars - one of the team's strongest events so far this season - earning two scores in the 15.000's. Penev finished third with a new career-high score of 15.250 and Foreman finished tied for fourth with a 15.050.
Unfortunately, the late push came just a little too late and the Cardinal was unable to make up the ground it needed to catch the Wolverines.
Stanford will not compete as a team for four weeks, as six members of the Cardinal will compete in the Winter Cup Challenge - a competition hosted by USA Gymnastics to help determine the 15 men who will be selected for the U.S. Men's Senior National Team. The Winter Cup Challenge will take place in Las Vegas, Nev., on Feb. 7-9.
The team will return to action Feb. 17 at home for the Big Flip Off against rival California. The meet will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Networks.
--Stanford Athletics