Super Seniors Excel
STANFORD, Calif. – On super senior night, Stanford's fifth-year gymnasts excelled as the Cardinal hosted its first home meet of the 2022 season Friday in Maples Pavilion.
#19 Stanford fell 196.925-196.250 to #10 California, but the night saw seven career-best or matching performances alongside seven season-best or matching efforts from gymnasts donning the Block S. The Cardinal ended the meet with a season-best team floor score.
Super senior Kyla Bryant continued her legacy of high-scoring and fiery performances on the competition floor Friday. Her success began on vault with a 9.925 and continued throughout the night, anchored by a 9.95 on floor for an all-around total of 39.425. She brought home two event titles (vault and floor) with career-best and season-best performances on the apparatuses, respectively.
Fellow fifth-year senior Taylor Lawson also found success throughout her night, scoring 9.800+ on the three events she competed on while recording a season-best floor score of 9.85.
Stanford opened the meet on vault, collecting 9.700+ scores from four members of its rotation, anchored by Bryant's career-best performance. After one rotation, the Cardinal trailed the Golden Bears 49.000-48.875.
It was then onto the uneven bars as a 9.800 performance from Lawson and 9.825 efforts from senior Madi Brunette and Bryant earned Stanford a 48.975 team score. Redshirt freshman Ira Alexeeva recorded her career-best effort on the event, scoring a 9.75 with a 9.7/9.8 judges' score split.
The Cardinal then moved to beam where the team earned its first 49.000+ event score of the evening. The third rotation was highlighted by Brunette's 9.875 performance and a career-best effort from sophomore Sze En Tan of 9.85.
Stanford saved its best rotation for last, recording a meet-best total of 49.300 on floor. Bryant's 9.95 season-best performance led the way, with Brunette's career-best matching 9.875 total, Lawson's 9.85 score, freshman Anapaula Gutierrez's 9.825 performance, and sophomore Amanda Zeng's 9.800 effort rounding out the Cardinal's scoring routines throughout the event.
The Cardinal return to the friendly confines of Maples Pavilion Saturday, Feb. 12, welcoming the UCLA Bruins to The Farm for a 2 p.m. matinee matchup televised on Pac-12 Insider.