April 28, 2008
STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford men's gymnastics features three potential Olympians for the 2008 Beijing Games. Current senior David Sender, redshirt junior Sho Nakamori, and alumnus David Durante are all in the hunt for one of the six spots on the U.S. Gymnastics Olympic Squad. Each gymnast is a member of the 2008 U.S. Men's Senior National Team.
David Sender
- Senior majoring in Biological Sciences with a 3.12 GPA
- Sender has received the Stanford Block S award for excellence in athletics and academics the past two years.
- Sender has been a member of the Senior Men's National Team for the last five years, a World Championships team member in 2006, and a collegiate All-American ten-times over in all-around, rings, vault, and parallel bars. He currently holds the record for most All-American awards by a Stanford gymnast in a four year career.
- Sender is a two-time national title winner in vault (2006 and 2007) at the NCAA Individual Event Finals.
- Sender took part in a World Cup event in Qatar in March, where he took fourth in vault with a 15.95, five-hundredths of a point shy of medaling.- This season, Sender's season bests were 15.8 on floor, 13.6 on pommel horse, 16.4 on vault, 15.2 on parallel bars, 15.5 on horizontal bar, and 90.95 in all-around. In still rings, his season high of 16.350 was the top NCAA score in 2008. He took second on rings and vault, and third in all-around at the 2008 NCAA Individual Event Finals, and helped the Cardinal to a second place finish in the team finals.
Sho Nakamori
- Redshirt junior majoring in International Studies with a 3.21 GPA
- Nakamori earned two All-American awards in 2006, the same year that he captured second place in floor exercise at the NCAA Individual Event Finals. In 2008, Nakamori earned three All-American awards in pommel horse, parallel bars, and all-around. He finished third in both pommel horse and all-around.
- Nakamori was recently named to the Senior Men's National Team for the second year in a row and was a part of the World Championship Team in 2007. This year his season highs are 15.35 in floor, 14.85 in pommel horse, 15.4 in still rings, 15.4 in vault, 15.6 in parallel bars, 14.95 in horizontal bar, and 90.35 in all-around. His 15.6 in parallel bars at the Stanford Open was the highest score for the Cardinal this season.
- Nakamori recently competed in a World Cup event in Slovenia and took fifth place on parallel bars with a 15.25.
David Durante
- Graduated from Stanford in 2002 with a B.S. in Human Biology and a minor in Psychology.
- An NCAA All-American on horizontal bar in 2002 and a World Championship Team member in 2006 and 2007.
- Won the all-around and parallel bars championship at the 2007 Visa Championships in San Jose, Calif.
- Won the all-around championship at the 2006 and 2005 Winter Cup Challenges in Las Vegas, Nev. Also took first in parallel bars in 2006 and second on the p-bars in 2005.
Sender, Nakamori, and Durante's selections to the Olympic squad will depend on how each gymnast fares in the USA Championships and the Olympic Trials. Scores, history of success, and event preparation will factor into whether or not each is successful in making the team.