COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Opening the season at the Rocky Mountain Open hosted by Air Force on Saturday, No. 1 Stanford finished second in a field of five programs. Oklahoma managed a score of 407.700 to best Stanford at 407.500. Nebraska followed in third with a score of 404.350, followed by Arizona State (375.900) and Air Force (323.250).
The Cardinal managed four event titles, with senior Curran Phillips winning the vault crown with a 14.700. Fifth-year captain Blake Sun continued his reputation as one of the top parallel bars competitors in the nation, winning the event with a 14.800. Junior J.R. Chou captured top honors on horizontal bar, managing a career-best 13.900, while freshman Mark Berlaga made his collegiate debut and earned a share of the still rings title with a 14.200.
Junior Riley Loos competed in a pair of events on Saturday, finishing fourth among collegiate competitors on floor with a 13.800. He also finished ninth among collegiate competitors on pommel horse with a career-high tying 13.500.
Loos was followed by Bryan Perla (13.750) and freshman Luke McFarland (13.600) on floor as Stanford's top performers.
Making his collegiate debut, freshman Khoi Young competed only on pommel horse, claiming third overall with a score of 14.050 to lead the way for Stanford.
Led by Berlaga, the Cardinal proved strong on still rings, with Thomas Lee taking third (14.150), Christopher Osgood earning a share of fifth (13.750), Brandon Nguyen claiming seventh (career-best 13.650) and Ian Lasic-Ellis taking eighth (13.600). Competing in the five up, five count format, the Cardinal managed a 69.350 to start the season on rings.
The Cardinal also impressed on parallel bars, with Sun topping all comers – including US Senior National Team member Shane Wiskus (14.600). Phillips took third overall (second among collegiate competitors) with a 14.500, with Lasic-Ellis coming in two spots later at 14.000. Lee also found a spot in the top five among collegiate participants, registering a 13.950 to finish right behind Lasic-Ellis. Stanford finished the rotation with a 70.500 team score on parallel bars.
Participating in his first collegiate meet, Lasic-Ellis managed a 79.300 in the all-around to finish fifth.
The Cardinal will return home for its second meet of the year, hosting the Stanford Open on Saturday, January 29 at 4 p.m. PT.
Stanford Athletics announced winter sports attendance policy changes due to additional COVID-19 safety precautions. Spectator attendance at all winter events taking place indoors will be temporarily reduced to a limited number of student-athlete family and guests. Spectators at outdoor events will be seated with social distancing and will be required to wear a mask.
These policy changes are effective immediately. Full spectator attendance for all events will resume as soon as appropriate, and will be communicated through Stanford Athletics' social media channels, direct emails to Season Ticket Members and on GoStanford.com/attendance.
Fans who have purchased a ticket to a Stanford Athletics event scheduled for 2022 will receive additional information about their purchase via email from athleticstickets@stanford.edu in the coming days.
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