STANFORD, Calif. - Led by season-best team scores on vault, uneven bars, and floor, six 9.90-or-better routines, and a stunningly clutch performance from super senior Kyla Bryant in the anchor spot on floor, the No. 19 Cardinal earned its first dual meet win of the season Saturday in Maples Pavilion.
Stanford upset No. 16 UCLA Bruins 196.900-196.850, the team's best performance of the year by more than .5 points. Bryant went home with event titles on the floor and in the all-around competition, totaling a score of 39.575 and leading Stanford to its first win over UCLA since March 6, 2016.
Four members of the Stanford program entered the 9.90+ club, as an uneven bars routine from freshman Brenna Neault and floor routines from freshman Anapaula Gutierrez, senior Morgan Hoang, and super senior Taylor Lawson each matched or broke the elusive scoring barrier. Bryant continued her success as a previous 9.90+ club member with barrier-breaking performances on bars and floor.
The Cardinal's incredible Saturday matinee began with a season-best team score on vault. Junior Jade Chrobok and freshman Anapaula Gutierrez started the rotation with career-best scores of 9.75 and 9.85, respectively. Senior Madison Brunette followed with a 9.80 performance and Bryant anchored the rotation with a 9.85 effort to total a 48.975 team score.
After vault, the Cardinal went 49.450 on bars, a season-best total, and the program's best effort on the apparatus since April 2, 2016. Five of the Cardinal's six routines matched or topped the gymnast's previous career-best score, led by Neault's 9.90 and super senior Bryant's 9.95. Also earning career-best efforts were Gutierrez and Lawson with scores of 9.85 and 9.875, respectively. Brunette matched her career-best effort with a 9.875, the same score she recorded just a week ago against California. All six of Stanford's gymnasts earned scores of 9.85-or-better throughout the second rotation.
With UCLA up 98.500-98.425, Stanford hit the beam for a solid third rotation. Bryant and Neault led the scoring for the Cardinal, both earning 9.80 scores. The Cardinal wrapped up beam with a team total of 48.875. However, UCLA's floor score of 49.025 gave the Bruins the 147.475-147.300 lead heading into the fourth rotation.
The Cardinal sealed the win with a team score of 49.600 on floor, the best floor score by Stanford since March 2, 2020. After a career-best 9.90 effort from Gutierrez, a career-best 9.85 performance from Addie Stonecipher, and a career-best matching score of 9.875 from Brunette, it was Stanford's upperclassmen who finished the upset with three 9.925-or-better routines to close the rotation. Hoang and Bryant matched their career-best floor scores with 9.925 and 9.975 scores, respectively, while Lawson recorded her collegiate-best effort on the floor with a score of 9.925. Stanford gymnasts led the program to the ninth-best floor rotation seen in the nation this season.
Stanford's win over UCLA marked the halfway point of the 2022 season, with five more regular-season opportunities left before postseason action. The Cardinal takes over Dallas, Texas next Saturday when it travels to the Metroplex Challenge to take on #2 Oklahoma, #12 Denver, and Pac-12 foe #34 Washington. Action is set to begin at 4:45 p.m. PT.