May 22, 2008
Complete Results in PDF Format 
STANFORD, Calif. - Seven Stanford gymnasts began preliminary all-around competition tonight at the Visa U.S Championships at Reliant Park in Houston, Texas, hoping to prove why they should earn one of the six spots on the U.S. roster for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Out of 41 participants, four of the seven Cardinal gymnasts finished in the top half in the field of competitors. All seven will participate in Saturday night's finals.
Senior David Sender, now competing for Team Chevron having exhausted his eligibility at Stanford, had the best finish of the night for any Stanford gymnast, tying for third with Chevron teammate Raj Bhavsar for third with a 89.7 in all-around. Sender's best individual event finish came on vault, where he completed a Yurchenko 2-1/2 and scored a 16.2 to tie for second place.
Alumnus David Durante, also competing for Team Chevron, had the next highest place, tying for seventh with teammate Guillermo Alvarez at 88.8. Durante took the evening's parallel bars top score, with a 15.5.
Redshirt junior Sho Nakamori checked in at 12th place with an 87.6 and tied for seventh on floor with a 15.05. Junior Bryant Hadden also finished in the top-half of the field of competitors, taking 17th in all-around and had his strongest showing on still rings, in which he tied for ninth place with an even 15.0.
Freshmen Ryan Lieberman, Josh Dixon, and Tim Gentry finished in 21st, 23rd, and 25th, respectively.
For a gymnast to qualify for the U.S Olympic roster, high scores at both the U.S. Championships and the Olympic Trials (June 19-22 in Philadelphia) must be achieved. Also, the athlete's history of success and event preparation will be evaluated to help determine whether or not they are successful in making the team.
Saturday's final will begin at 6 p.m. CT and will be televised June 8 at 2 p.m. ET on NBC. For more information on the Visa U.S. National Championships, please visit the USA Gymnastics website .