MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Entering an NCAA qualifying meet as the No. 3 seed on Friday night, Stanford managed a season-best 413.855 to finish first in the session and punch a ticket to Saturday night's national championship meet from Maturi Pavilion.
Michigan (411.455) and Minnesota (404.623) also earned spots in the final after finishing second and third in the session, respectively. The three teams will be joined by Nebraska (408.623), Oklahoma (406.190) and Illinois (400.721) out of the first session.
In addition to the season-best team score, the Cardinal also secured its top scores on floor (70.797), still rings (69.965) and high bar (67.465).
The nation's top vault squad also hit for a 73.065 to finish just off its high-water mark this season. The Cardinal nabbed four of the top seven spots in the event, with sophomore Zach Martin taking second with a score of 14.733. Brody Malone followed in third (14.700) before Curran Phillips earned a share of fourth with a score of 14.633. Brandon Briones rounded out the top scores for the Cardinal, posting a 14.566 to share sixth.
Briones would also post a third-place finish on floor (14.733) and take fourth on high bar with a score of 13.933.
Sophomore Riley Loos managed three top-seven finishes, taking third on rings (14.233), fourth on floor (14.366) and seventh on high bar (13.566).
Malone, the reigning all-around national champion from 2019, competed in all but one event on Friday night, taking third on rings (14.233) and matching Blake Sun's 14.066 on parallel bars to earn a fifth-place finish.
Junior Ian Gunther managed a pair of sixth-place finishes, posting scores of 14.133 on rings and 13.700 on high bar.
Stanford, the defending NCAA champion, will look to capture the program's seventh NCAA national championship on Saturday at 5 p.m. PT in a meet that will be televised on Big Ten Network. Should Stanford take home the 2021 crown, it would mark the second set of back-to-back championships in program history (1992-93).
