STANFORD, Calif. - Competing without five Stanford gymnasts who represented Team USA at the Stanford Open on Saturday night, No. 1 Stanford compiled a 406.750 to defeat No. 9 California in the NCAA portion of the three-day meet from a jam-packed Burnham Pavilion.
Team USA, comprised of former Cardinal Blake Sun and current Cardinal Jeremy Bischoff, Taylor Burkhart, Asher Hong, Ian Lasic-Ellis and Riley Loos, finished first overall with a 411.250, followed by Stanford and California (390.100).
Hong, a freshman at Stanford, won the all-around with an 84.400, followed by Lasic-Ellis (84.250) and Khoi Young (84.000). Loos (83.700), Bischoff (80.650) and Ian Gunther (80.600) followed in fourth through sixth. Hong's all-around is the top by a collegiate gymnast this year, while Lasic-Ellis, Young and Loos all set new career highs.
Young captured the Stanford Open floor title with a career-best 14.400, followed by Hong (14.300) and Lasic-Ellis (14.000) in second and third, respectively. Sophomore Nicolas Kuebler finished fourth with a score of 13.850.
Hong and sophomore Mark Berlaga shared the rings title with scores of 14.750. Loos (14.700), Brandon Briones (14.550) and Matt Szot (career-high 14.400) followed in third through fifth. Despite Hong, Loos, and Lasic-Ellis, who finished sixth with a career-best score of 14.350, competing for Team USA, the Cardinal managed a 72.000 on rings – a new season-best. Kuebler (career-high 14.250), Gunther (14.050) and Young (career-best 13.800) all hit routines to finish seventh, eighth and ninth overall.
Team USA saved its best rotation for last, as Hong went a career-high 15.350 on vault to win the event crown. Loos followed in second with a career-high 14.950, while Burkhart (14.800) and Lasic-Ellis (career-best 14.600) took fourth and sixth. Young managed to earn a share of second place with Loos after posting a 14.950 of his own.
Hong won his third individual event after finishing atop the podium on parallel bars, delivering a 14.800 to beat out Lasic-Ellis (career-high tying 14.550) and Young (career-best 14.450) in second and third, in that order. Gunther (13.950) and Brandon Nguyen (career-high 13.850) also finished top eight, earning sixth and seventh, respectively.
Stanford managed a strong horizontal bar rotation, as the Cardinal took each of the top four spots overall. Gunther and Young managed identical 13.750, a new career-best for Young, to share first, followed by Kuebler and J.R. Chou with matching 13.650 scores to split third place. The horizontal bar score proved to be a new career high for Kuebler.
The Cardinal will take next week off from competition before visiting No. 2 Oklahoma for a showdown that also features William & Mary. That meet is set to begin at 4 p.m. PT.
