One for the BooksOne for the Books
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Men's Gymnastics

One for the Books

After finishing a close second to Oklahoma at the MPSF Championship, Stanford men's gymnastics edged the four-time defending national champions in the final rotation to capture the 2019 NCAA title – the program's sixth national championship. In addition to snapping Oklahoma's run at four team titles, Stanford's victory also ended OU's run of 121 straight victories - the third-longest winning streak in NCAA history.

Competing on still rings to finish the competition, Stanford erased a 4.40-point deficit to close the meet with a 415.222 team score, topping Oklahoma at 414.556.

Freshman Brody Malone, the College Gymnastics Association Rookie of the Year and conference Gymnast of the Year, guided the way for the Cardinal, winning individual national titles in the floor exercise, high bar and all-around to become the first Stanford gymnast to win three individual titles in one championship meet. Malone captured five All-American honors during the championship run, and the Cardinal's 15 total selections matched a program record.

CHEERS FROM CHAMPAIGNFueled by a dominant effort from freshman Brody Malone, Stanford produced a 415.222 score to capture the 2019 NCAA title and dethrone four-time defending champion Oklahoma (414.556) in a meet that was decided in the final rotation.

It looked as if Oklahoma would make it five straight NCAA titles, until the Cardinal erased a four-point deficit, producing a season-best 71.131 score on rings. Andrew Bitner and Ian Gunther turned in identical performances of 14.366, as all five gymnasts totaled 14.000 or higher. Bitner's leadoff set was good for a new career-best and sparked the comeback as the momentum continued to build throughout the rotation.

On the other side, the Sooners stumbled, managing a 66.065 on high bar, including a costly fall from Yul Moldauer - the 2019 Nissen-Emery Award winner.

"We know high bar is a very tough scoring event, and you have to be almost perfect to score in the 14s," head coach Thom Glielmi said after the meet. "We felt that if we do our job on rings, we could have mostly 14s and break out a 70+; and if they miss a routine, we can put even more pressure on them, which is what happened."
 

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The national championship was Stanford's sixth in school history and first since 2011. The Cardinal also won it all in 2009, 1995, 1993 and 1992.

Full Recap from National Championship

MALONE BURSTS ONTO SCENEFreshman Brody Malone burst onto the scene in his first season, guiding Stanford to the national championship. The native of Summerville, Ga. earned the CGA Rookie of the Year and MPSF Gymnast of the Year while capturing the all-around crown with a career-best 85.832 at the championship meet. He also claimed the national title on floor (career-high 14.800) and high bar (14.633) to become the first Cardinal in program history to win three titles in one season, and became the third freshman to win the NCAA all-around title, joining Sam Mikulak (2011) and Yul Moldauer (2016).

Malone finished the championship run with five All-American selections, capturing the honor on parallel bars (14.100) and rings (14.266) in addition to his three national titles. Malone joined Jair Lynch ('92), Dan Gill ('04) and Akash Modi ('15 & '17) as the only Cardinal gymnasts to ever record five All-American honors in one Championship meet.

When the dust settled on his inaugural campaign, Malone was a three-time CGA National Gymnast of the Week, a three-time MPSF Gymnast of the Week, and a six-time CGA National Rookie of the Week. Malone finished the season ranked first in the nation in the all-around, averaging 84.225. The freshman phenom won 16 event titles in total, including five all-arounds, five on high bar, and two apiece on parallel bars, vault and floor. In addition to the all-around, Malone ranked sixth nationally in high bar (14.100), seventh in parallel bars (14.188), eighth in vault (14.588), and top-25 in floor (18th, 14.150), rings (20th, 13.950) and pommel horse (20th, 13.563).

BRECKENRIDGE FINALIST FOR NISSEN-EMERYSenior Grant Breckenridge was named a finalist for the 2019 Nissen-Emery Award, given annually to the top senior gymnast in the nation. Recognized as the highest honor in the sport, the Nissen-Emery Award was presented at the NCAA Championship Banquet in Champaign, Ill., and went to Oklahoma's Yul Moldauer.

Stanford boasts five Nissen-Emery Award recipients, including Akash Modi (2017), Eddie Penev (2013), Dan Gill (2004), Josh Stein (1995) and Steve Hug (1974). The Cardinal has claimed 21 finalists for the award since its inception in 1966.

Joining Breckenridge and Moldauer as finalists for the award this year were Alex Diab (Illinois), Jacopo Gliozzi (William & Mary), Vitali Kan (Minnesota), Justin Karstadt (Minnesota), Anton Stephenson (Nebraska) and Alec Yoder (Ohio State).

Breckenridge wrapped up a stellar four-year career on The Farm in 2019, placing as the national runner-up in high bar for the second consecutive season. He earned All-America selections on high bar and in the all-around to finish his Stanford career with three total All-America nods. Breckenridge was named to the U.S. Senior National Team in 2017 after finishing seventh in the all-around at Winter Cup that year. A 2018 Winter Cup high bar silver medalist, he also claimed bronze in the parallel bars in 2019. The native of Libertyville, Ill. was a 2018 CGA Second Team All-America Scholar Athlete and a three-time MPSF All-Academic selection.

COACHES OF THE YEAROn the heels of capturing the 2019 national championship, head coach Thom Glielmi and assistant coaches Syque Caesar and Karl Ziehn were named CGA National Coach of the Year and CGA National Assistant Coaches of the Year, respectively.

The selection was the third of Glielmi's career after nabbing the honor in 2009 and 2011 following national championship runs. Caesar and Ziehn joined J.D. Reive (2009), David Durante (2009) and Brett McClure (2011) as Stanford assistant coaches who have won the National Assistant Coach of the Year honor. The duo was named CGA West Region Assistant Coaches of the Year prior to the national championship meet – becoming the fourth and fifth assistants in Stanford history to earn the honor. Glielmi also secured his third MPSF Coach of the Year honor in 2019, first earning it in 2009, and then again in 2014 as a Co-Coach of the Year with Kip Simons of Air Force.

Thanks to the latest title win, Glielmi became one of five active head coaches at Stanford with at least three NCAA titles, joining Lele Forood (10 – women's tennis), John Tanner (7 – women's water polo), Jeremy Gunn (3 – men's soccer) and Greg Meehan (3 – women's swimming).

The 2019 season was the 17th at the helm of the program for Glielmi, while Ziehn and Caesar completed their seventh and fourth, respectively.

ABUNDANCE OF ALL-AMERICANSProving depth in 2019, the Cardinal managed 15 All-America selections at the conclusion of the championship final meet, matching a program record set in 2008. Freshman Brody Malone led the way with five after capturing the honor on parallel bars and rings in addition to his national titles in all-around, floor and high bar. With the five, Malone joined Jair Lynch ('92), Dan Gill ('04) and Akash Modi ('15 & '17) as the only Cardinal gymnasts to record five All-America honors in one Championship meet.

Senior Grant Breckenridge joined Malone as an All-American in the all-around, finishing with a score of 81.464 to place eighth. Andrew Bitner and Ian Gunther also earned All-America honors on rings, while Blake Sun and Jacob Barrus were named All-Americans on parallel bars.

The Cardinal dominated the high bar, with Malone earning the national title, followed by Breckenridge as the runner-up and David Jessen in fourth to all capture All-America honors. The runner-up finish was the second in as many years for Breckenridge after taking second behind Robert Neff in 2018.  The Cardinal has now won the high bar title in four straight seasons, as Modi took the honor in 2016 before Neff went back-to-back in the last two.

Joining Malone with All-America honors on floor were Bailey Perez and Bryan Perla. Perla also nabbed All-America honors on vault after taking second with a career-best score of 14.933. Perla's second-place finish was one of four runner-up nods for the Cardinal in the six individual events.

EXCELLENCE IN THE CLASSROOMTeaming a national championship with excellence in the classroom, Stanford was recognized with 13 MPSF All-Academic Scholar-Athletes.

2019 MPSF All-Academic Scholar-Athletes

NameYearGPAMajor
David JessenJR3.655Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology
Bryan PerlaJR3.573Undeclared
Grant BreckenridgeSR3.514Mechanical Engineering/Ancient History
Barrett WeissSR3.512Aeronautics and Astronautics
Trevor DiGerolamoSO3.494Biomechanical Engineering
Connor LewisJR3.472Civil and Environmental Engineering
 Bailey PerezJR3.423Product Design
Josiah EngSR3.344Mechanical Engineering
Joey RingerJR3.342Management Science and Engineering
Jacob BarrusGS3.322Master's Sustainability Science and Practice
Ryan SheppardGS3.184Master's Sustainability Science and Practice
Blake SunSO3.114Undeclared
Thomas LeeSO3.103Mechanical Engineering

NO. 1 TEAM IN THE NATIONEven before capturing the 2019 national championship, Stanford was tabbed the top team in the nation on two occasions during the regular season. The Cardinal first earned the No. 1 ranking on January 14 after beginning the year with a score of 411.250 at the Cal Benefit Cup. Although Oklahoma would reclaim the top spot over the course of the next few weeks, Stanford was back on top on March 11 according to that week's RoadtoNationals.com rankings.

WELL-REPRESENTED AT PAN AMERICAN GAMESStanford men's gymnastics will be well-represented on USA Gymnastics' 2019 Pan American Games squad, as current and former Card Grant Breckenridge, Brody Malone and Robert Neff will compete for their country in Lima, Peru from July 27-31.

The team was selected as part of the U.S. Senior Men's National Team May training camp at the U.S. Olympic Training Center. USA Gymnastics also selected gymnasts for the 2019 Junior World Championships in Gyor, Hungary from June 27-30.

2019 Pan American Games Roster
Lima Peru - July 27-31
Cameron Bock, Ann Arbor, Mich./University of Michigan
Grant Breckenridge, Libertyville, Ill./Stanford University
Brody Malone, Summerville, Ga./Stanford University
Robert Neff, Brookfield, Wis./Stanford University
Genki Suzuki, North Wales, Pa./University of Oklahoma
Non-traveling alternates
Adrian de los Angeles, Long Beach, Calif./U.S. Olympic Training Center
Riley Loos, El Dorado Hills, Calif./Technique Gymnastics 

Both teams were named in accordance with the posted official selection procedures, and the Pan Am Games Team is pending approval by the United States Olympic Committee.