STANFORD, Calif. - It came down to the final routine, but No. 2 Stanford ultimately fell on the losing end of the back-and-forth affair in a tri-meet against top-ranked Oklahoma and No. 12 Greenville on Saturday evening.
The Cardinal posted a season-best 328.850 in the meet, but it wasn't enough to top Oklahoma's meet-winning score of 329.100. Greenville finished the evening with a 308.800.
Asher Hong highlighted the meet with a trio of event titles on the night, pacing the field on floor exercise, still rings, and vault. Hong's efforts on floor (14.150) and vault (14.350) were both season-bests, earning his first title of the season on each event. His still rings crown was his third of the year, where the Tomball, Texas native scored a 14.850. Hong also added second-place finishes on pommel horse (13.800) and parallel bars (13.650) to round out an impressive showing for the junior.
Brandon Nguyen continued his success with yet another parallel bars title in Norman, this time turning in a 14.100 routine. It is Nguyen's fourth win of the year on the apparatus, already surpassing his total number of event titles from a season ago. The captain out of Elk Grove, Calif. holds a share of the nation's top scoring average on parallel bars with a 14.050. Nguyen also finished second on high bar with a 13.650.
The nation's leading all-arounder Taylor Burkhart enjoyed a pair of podium finishes, finishing second on vault with a 14.350, along with a 13.550 on high bar to finish tied for third. Burkhart also turned in a season-best 13.900 on floor exercise, good enough for fourth in the event.
Arun Chhetri turned in a couple notable performances on the night with a 13.650 parallel bars to earn a share of second and a fifth-place still rings routine of 14.000, while Kaien J-Spencer finished tied for third on pommel horse with a 13.600. Other noteworthy routines included Mark Berlaga scoring a 14.000 of his own on still rings, and a new career-best 13.750 vault from Cooper Kim.
Stanford now heads into a bit of a hiatus, as a handful of Cardinal gymnasts prepare for the Winter Cup on February 22 before the collegiate season resumes with a road meet against Penn State on March 1.