STANFORD, Calif. – After finishing finals on Friday, the Stanford women's gymnastics team begins postseason competition Saturday in the 33rd Pac-12 Championships at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah.
The No. 26 Cardinal, seeded seventh, will participate in the morning session against No. 18 Washington, No. 21 Arizona State and No. 30 Arizona at noon PT. The evening session features No. 2 UCLA, No. 6 Utah, No. 14 Oregon State and No. 16 Cal at 5 p.m. PT.
Team and individual champions will be determined by combined sessions. Both will be televised live on Pac-12 Network.
On Monday, NCAA Regional selections and sites will be announced at 2 p.m. PT. Regional competition is April 4-6.
Social Hour: Twitter @StanfordWGym Instagram @stanfordgymnastics Facebook stanfordwgym
TV: Pac-12 Network with Jim Watson (play-by-play) and Amanda Borden (analyst) on the call and Samantha Peszek serving as sideline reporter. A live stream will be available at pac-12.com or on the Pac-12 Now app.
Live scoring: GoStanford.com
Cardinal at Pac-12s: Stanford owns five conference crowns, winning in 1998, 2001, 2004, 2006 and 2008.
Clean routines: The Cardinal hit all 24 routines at the Gymquarters Mardi Gras Invitational on Feb. 15, 22-of-24 against Utah on Feb. 18, 23-of-23 against Arizona on Feb. 24, and 22-of-24 at UCLA on March 10.
Standouts against UCLA: Stanford tallied 196.275 against the Bruins, it's second-highest point total of the season. Sophomore Rachael Flam scored a career-best 9.900 in floor exercise and sophomore Kyla Bryant did the same on beam with 9.900. In addition, junior Aleeza Yu established a personal-best 9.875 on bars and freshman Wesley Stephenson matched her career-high with 9.875.
All-around force: Bryant claimed her seventh all-around title of the season at UCLA and has captured 17 overall events. She is tied for 24th nationally in all-around, posting a season high 39.475 at Cal on Jan 21. Bryant also ranks No. 25 in floor exercise.
Bar improvement: In 2018, the Cardinal had a tough time filling out its lineup card on bars due to injuries. This season, the squad has depth and has improved steadily with Bryant, sophomore Taylor Lawson, Yu, Flam, freshmen Grace Wagusepack, freshman Madi Brunette and sophomore Catherine Rogers contributing.
Youth is served: The 17-member Cardinal roster features 11 underclassmen, including five first-year student-athletes. Morgan Hoang (floor, beam), 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.
Tabitha's Takes: Stanford head coach Tabitha Yim offered the following observations heading into the Pac-12 Championships:
Turning point of the season: "Hitting all 24 routines in St. Louis. We've been much more consistent in the last half of the season. But I think it's going to take us hitting 24-of-24 routines to really make a run and capitalize at the Pac-12s. Our No. 1 goal is to be consistent and hit all our routines and maximize and build toward the end of the lineups. Also, it would be a great experience for us to be up on the podium."
Have you been building for Pac-12's? "Not really, because it's always been a meet where we go out and have fun because it's right after finals and dead week. It's more about coming together and putting everything we have out there. The biggest test for us will be at NCAA Regionals. The Pac-12's are more about bragging rights and rankings. We just want to go for it and see where we stack up."
Coming off strong showings against Arizona and UCLA, who has stood out? "The last few weeks due to sickness and other things, our team has faced a lot of adversity. We still won't have our top lineups out on the floor at Pac-12's, but people have risen up. We were nervous at UCLA at the beginning of the meet but gained momentum and got more comfortable. Not really one person has stood out, but it's been a solid team effort and there have been highlight performances. What we're looking for is everyone to put it all together."
Rankings/RQS/High
STANFORD (24) 195.685/196.525
UCLA (2) 197.885/198.325
Utah (6) 197.375/197.975
Oregon State (14) 196.575/197.450
Cal (16) 196.540/197.575
Washington (18) 196.505/196.975
Arizona State (21) 196.180/196.625
Arizona (30) 195.700/196.540
Vault
STANFORD (31) 48.850/49.150
Uneven Bars
STANFORD (32) 48.980/49.200
Balance Beam
STANFORD (27) 48.985/49.125
Floor Exercise
STANFORD (17) 49.420/49.325
Event Order and Tentative Starters
Floor Exercise
1. Kaylee Cole
2. Hailee Hoffman
3. Rachael Flam
4. Taylor Lawson
5. Morgan Hoang
6. Kyla Bryant
Vault
1. Kaylee Cole
2. Taryn Fitzgerald
3. Kyla Bryant
4. Rachael Flam
5. Aleeza Yu
6. Madison Brunette
Uneven Bars
1. Taylor Lawson
2 Grace Waguespack
3. Aleeza Yu
4. Madison Brunette
5. Kyla Bryant
6. Rachael Flam
Balance Beam
1. Taryn Fitzgerald
2. Taylor Lawson
3. Lauren Navarro
4. Kyla Bryant
5. Ashley Tai
6. Rachael Flam
