COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Stanford men's gymnastics dynasty continues.
The Cardinal won its fifth consecutive NCAA championship, pulling away in the fifth of sixth rotations to score 425.324 to runner-up Michigan's 419.689 at Ohio State's Covelli Center on Saturday. It was Stanford's highest team-score since beginning it's national title streak in 2019.
Leading the Cardinal was sophomore Asher Hong, who captured an incredible three individual titles – on vault (15.266), parallel bars (15.100), and rings (14.966) -- and Khoi Young, who captured the all-around championship, with 86.098 points.
Stanford has won at least one NCAA team championship in each of the past 48 academic years, dating back to 1976-77. Stanford has won 135 NCAA championships (71 men, 64 women) and 164 national championships overall (77 men, 85 women, 2 coed).
This is the 10th NCAA men's gymnastics championship in school history and Stanford has won every NCAA title since 2019 (there was no NCAA championship in 2020). The others were won in 1992, 1993, 1995, 2009, and 2011.
Stanford led wire to wire, scoring 73.632 on vault in the first round. That score would hold as the highest by any team in any rotation. Hong's 15.266 would be enough for him to win a second consecutive NCAA vault title. Young would finish third, sticking his 15.133 routine to reach the podium.
Hong, the 2023 U.S. all-around champion, followed with a score of 15.100 on the parallel bars as Stanford extended its lead. Young finished runner-up with a 14.900 for his second All-America honors of the night, while Colt Walker registered a 14.466 to finish sixth place in the event.
However, Stanford's lowest team scores came in the horizontal bar and floor exercise, in the third and fourth rounds. That enabled Michigan to close within 282.761- 282.193, and Oklahoma was only two points behind. Brandon Nguyen reached the podium with an eighth-place finish on high bar (13.600), while Jeremy Bischoff finished eighth on the floor (14.200) to become an All-American for the first time of his career.
The fifth rotation changed everything. Stanford's Marcus Kushner opened with a 14.133 on pommel horse while Michigan's first competitor scored 13.366 on the high bar. With some breathing room, all five Stanford gymnasts scored at least 14, including a 15.233 effort from Young to finish silver with fifth-year J.R. Chou finished just behind in third with a 14.500.
The Cardinal suddenly held a huge lead going into the final round, with 354.826 to Michigan's 348.857, and Oklahoma's 348.257. Barring disaster, the championship was Stanford's. And there was no disaster, with Stanford's competitors each scoring at least 13.800 in the final rotation, on still rings.
Asher Hong would claim his final event title of the evening on the anchor position with a 14.966 rings routine. Arun Chhetri (fifth - 13.966) and Mark Berlaga (eighth - 13.933) would cap off the event as Stanford's sixth and seventh unique podium finisher at the championships.
Throughout the session, every Stanford gymnast scored at least 13.166 in every event.
Young was especially consistent, becoming the fifth different Stanford gymnast to win an NCAA all-around title and it was the ninth overall by a Cardinal. Previous all-around champions from Stanford were Steve Hug (1972-74), Jon Louis (1986), Akash Modi (2015, 2017), and Brody Malone (2019, 2021).
Of Stanford's 135 NCAA championships, 35 have been won by fall sports, 33 by winter sports and 67 by spring sports.
Since 2000, Stanford has captured 59 NCAA crowns.
Men's gymnastics is among three Cardinal teams to win five consecutive NCAA titles, joining women's swimming and diving (five straight from 1992-96) and women's tennis (six straight from 1986-91). Lightweight rowing won five national championships from 2015-19.
Stanford's 10 NCAA championships are tied for the fourth-most team titles in the nation (Penn State 12, Oklahoma 12, Illinois 10).
Head coach Thom Glielmi has led the Cardinal to seven NCAA titles, which ranks third overall among active Stanford head coaches and trails only Lele Forood of women's tennis (10) and John Tanner of women's water polo (9).
