STANFORD, Calif. - No. 1 Stanford produced a second-place finish at 411.200, highlighting Saturday's International Collegiate Open at Burnham Pavilion.
The highly-anticipated annual meet, featuring reigning World Champion Japan, along with Team Norway and No. 11 California, exceeded expectations with no shortage of dynamic performances across the board.
Japan led the way with a 417.200, while California (389.450), Norway (381.150) and Team Turn World All-Stars (177.350) rounded out the overall competition, which was held in front of a frenzied crowd of 1,284.
"The reason Japan comes here to compete is because our crowd is always so energized and this is such a unique experience for them," said head coach Thom Glielmi.
"We have some work to do but overall I was pleased with our performance, said Glielmi. "I thought we did a really good job on rings and pommel was also solid. Ian Gunther did a great job; he upgraded his pommel horse and had some success. Connor Lewis also had a strong meet."
Gunther collected three outright event titles and tied for another in the collegiate standings, winning the pommel horse (13.850), parallel bars (14.050) and high bar (13.650).
Also capturing event crowns thanks to season-best totals: Bailey Perez contributing 14.550 on the floor and Riley Loos producing a 14.700 on the vault.
Bitner, Gunther and Trevor DiGerolamo all posted a 13.800 on the rings.
Stanford returns to action on Saturday, March 7, visiting Air Force for a 1 p.m. PT dual.