STANFORD, Calif. – The Stanford women's gymnastics made major strides in 2019, earning a Pac-12 victory against Arizona and was competitive in almost every meet. The Cardinal finished the season ranked No. 22 in the country.
A ticketed sport for the first time in program history, the Cardinal drew 6,000 spectators to Maples Pavilion for its Jan. 27 meet against UCLA, the largest home crowd in program history.
"It has been slow and steady, but I'm really proud of the progress we made," head coach Tabitha Yim said. "We continue to take steps towards becoming the team and program we want to be."
With 11-of-17 team members underclassmen, Stanford started the season by winning the NorCal Classic and Sacramento Tri-Meet. The Cardinal pushed host Cal in its Pac-12 opener and had several near-misses going forward.
Season highlights included:
The Cardinal hit all 24 routines in the home win against the Wildcats, scoring a season-high 196.525.
Sophomore Kyla Bryant had a sensational season. She established herself as one of the top all-around performers in the country and seven of her team-best 17 event titles came in all-around. Bryant competed in all but one event.
"She didn't miss a routine all season," Yim said. "She contributed 100 percent in every meet."
Bryant recorded 10 scores of 9.900 or higher and established a career-high of 39.525 in all-around at the Pac-12 Championships.
Sophomore Rachael Flam competed on vault and floor in every meet and had a 100 percent hit rate in the latter. She tallied 9.900 on vault at the Pac-12 Championships and 9.900 on floor at UCLA.
Junior Kaylee Cole led off on vault and floor all season and contributed three scores of 9.850 in the latter.
Senior Taryn Fitzgerald was a steadying force, competing in every meet on vault and beam. She posted six scores of 9.800 or higher on beam compared to two last year and earned 9.850 at the Pac-12 Championships.
"Taryn was a rock," said Yim.
Senior Hailee Hoffman contributed in every meet on floor and produced eight scores of 9.800 or above. In her last five outings, she averaged 9.845.
Junior Aleeza Yu competed on vault and bars in every meet and received 10 scores of 9.800 or higher.
Freshman Morgan Hoang made an instant impact on floor. She contributed nine scores of 9.850 or higher and posted 9.875's in three of the last four meets while averaging 9.860 in the last six.
Sophomore Taylor Lawson led off on bars all season. She broke into the beam lineup and recorded six scores of 9.800 or higher. On floor, the fiery Lawson put up eight consecutive results of 9.850 or better, topped by a 9.900 against Arizona State.
Freshmen Grace Waguespack, Wesley Stephenson and Madison Brunette made immediate contributions. Waguespack contributed in every meet on bars and secured six scores of 9.800 or higher, earning 9.875 at Arizona State and the Pac-12 Championships.
Brunette competed on bars and vault. She recorded a season-high 9.875 on bars against Arizona and twice scored 9.750 on vault.
Stephenson missed only one meet on beam and put up 9.875's in back-to-back competitions against Arizona and UCLA.
Junior Ashely Tai rebounded from injuries and gave the squad a nice lift on beam, scoring 9.800 three times, the last at the NCAA Regionals.
