STANFORD, Calif. – The No. 26 Stanford women's gymnastics team will compete in the Midwest on Friday night in the GymQuarters Mardi Gras Invitational against No. 4 Utah, No. 5 LSU and No. 15 Missouri in St. Charles, Mo.
The meet begins at 4 p.m. PT and can be seen on FloTV.
The Cardinal (5-4) is coming off a close loss at Arizona State last Sunday, where it established season highs on bars and floor. Junior Aleeza Yu won her first title of the season on vault with a score of 9.825.
After capturing five consecutive all-around crowns, sophomore Kyla Bryant finished third against the Sun Devils.
It will be a quick turnaround for Stanford. On Monday, the Cardinal entertains Utah at 2 p.m. at Maples Pavilion.
Social Hour: Twitter @StanfordWGym Instagram @stanfordgymnastics Facebook stanfordwgym
TV:The meet will be televised by FloGymnastics.
Live scoring: GoStanford.com
Tickets: Single meet tickets for the remaining home competitions against Utah on Monday at 2 p.m. in Maples Pavilion and Arizona on Feb. 24 at 3 p.m. in Burnham Pavilion can be purchased in advance and online.
Top marks: The Cardinal set season bests against Arizona State, scoring 49.050 on the uneven bars and 49.250 in floor exercise. Bryant posted 9.900 on bars and sophomore Taylor Lawson recorded a career high 9.900 on floor.
All-around force: Bryant has won five all-around titles this the season and 13 events. She ranks No. 31 nationally in all-around with a high score of 39.475.
Big turnaround: Last year, the team had difficulty filling out the six-member bars lineup due to injuries. This season, the squad has depth and continues to improve with Bryant, Lawson, Yu, sophomore Rachael Flam and freshmen Grace Wagusepack and Madison Brunette.
Scouting report: Several of the top gymnasts in the country will compete, including MyKayla Skinner of Utah and Sara Finnegan of LSU. Both have produced season-highs of 39.700 in all-around and rank No. 4 and No. 6, respectively. Skinner is No. 2 in vault.
Youth is served: The 17-member Cardinal roster features 11 underclassmen, including five first-year student-athletes. Rookies Morgan Hoang (floor, beam), Wesley Stephenson (bars, beam), Waguespack (bars) and Brunette (bars) have competed. Hoang collected her first collegiate title in a tri-meet against Sacramento State and Seattle Pacific by scoring 9.875 in floor exercise.
Post-meet comments: Stanford head coach Tabitha Yim offered the following observations after the Arizona State meet.
On building consistency: "We continue to progress and grow. Now, we need to step it up in the big moments."
On staying positive: "The gymnastics is getting stronger, which shines through in our season highs, but our mental toughness is not where it needs to be."
Rankings/Ave/High
STANFORD (26) 195.258/196.125
LSU (5) 196.850/197.450
Missouri (15) 195.921/196.550
Utah (4) 197.196/197.375
Vault
STANFORD (27) 48.808/49.150
LSU (4) 49.188/49.400
Missouri (15) 48.988/49.275
Utah (2) 49.396/49.500
Uneven Bars
STANFORD (34) 48.625/49.050
LSU (7) 49.271/49.525
Missouri (20) 48.933/49.150
Utah (5) 49.288/49.500
Balance Beam
STANFORD (29) 48.696/49.075
LSU (4) 49.208/49.400
Missouri (18) 48.850/49.125
Utah (6) 49.129/49.275
Floor Exercise
STANFORD (12) 49.129/49.250
LSU (8) 49.183/49.350
Missouri (11) 49.150/49.275
Utah (4) 49.383/49.525
Starting Lineups (tentative)
Vault
1. Kaylee Cole
2. Taryn Fitzgerald
3. Madison Brunette
4. Rachael Flam
5. Aleeza Yu
6. Grace Garcia
Exh: Morgan Hoang
Uneven Bars
1. Taylor Lawson
2 Grace Waguespack
3. Aleeza Yu
4. Madison Brunette
5. Kyla Bryant
6. Rachael Flam
Exh: Eve Micco
Balance Beam
1. Taryn Fitzgerald
2. Wesley Stephenson
3. Taylor Lawson
4. Kaylee Cole
5. Lauren Navarro
6. Kyla Bryant
EXH: Rachael Flam
Floor Exercise
1. Kaylee Cole
2. Hailee Hoffman
3. Rachael Flam
4. Taylor Lawson
5. Morgan Hoang
6. Kyla Bryant
