Fought Until The End
LOS ANGELES – No. 20 Stanford fought until the very end but earned a third-place finish at the NCAA Regionals Second Round, ending its 2023 season Thursday evening at Pauley Pavilion.
No. 4 UCLA finished first in their home gym with a 198.275. Missouri secured a spot in Saturday's finals meet with a 197.400, followed by the Cardinal's 197.275. Boise State earned a fourth-place finish with a 196.225.
The NCAA Regionals Second Round meet was neck-and-neck through three rotations, with the Cardinal down .100 heading into the final rotation. Stanford's gymnasts stepped up to finish the meet, recording the program's top vault team score in 11 seasons (2012 season, 49.550 at NCAA Super Six) but could not catch up to Missouri for the final regionals spot.
Senior Chloe Widner earned a third-place finish in the all-around competition, totaling a 39.550. Freshman Anna Roberts earned a second-place finish in the second-session on vault, earning a career-best 9.950 score.
The Cardinal kicked the night off on bars, totaling a 49.275 team total led by scores of 9.875 from junior Ira Alexeeva and freshman leadoff Claire Dean. Widner and fifth year Madison Brunette each earned scores of 9.850, while Roberts and sophomore Brenna Neault marked scores of 9.825.
Stanford then went to beam, earning its second consecutive 49.400 team score. Widner led the way with a 9.925, followed by a 9.900 from Neault and a 9.875 from junior Isabela Onyshko. Roberts and Dean rounded out the scoring efforts with marks of 9.850.
It was then onto floor where the Cardinal earned its lowest event score of the night, totaling a 49.150. Roberts led all Stanford gymnasts with a 9.875, while Widner and Brunette each added scores of 9.850. Completing the scoring efforts was Neault, who recorded a 9.825 and Dean, who led off with a 9.750.
The Cardinal then closed the evening with its top vault rotation in over a decade. Roberts earned her top collegiate score on vault in the five spot, scoring a 9.950, while Widner earned her top career effort, scoring a 9.925. Brunette debuted a Yurchenko 1.5, earning a career-best score of 9.875, while Nguyen and Neault each completed the rotation with scores of 9.850.
Stanford's 2023 season as a team is now complete. The Cardinal now waits until Saturday evening to find out if any of its individual competitors qualify for the 2023 NCAA Championships in Fort Worth, Texas April 13-15.