Feb. 8, 2013

LAS VEGAS - Five Stanford men's gymnasts qualified Thursday to the final round of the Winter Cup Challenge, led by senior Eddie Penev who finished fifth overall in the preliminary round. Joining Penev in Saturday's final round will be Cardinal teammates Sean Senters, Jonathan Deaton, Paul Hichwa and Cameron Foreman.

Stanford performed strong overall with each of the five qualifiers finishing in the top 10 in at least one event.

Penev led the Cardinal claiming the meet's highest score on vault with a 15.150 and finishing fifth overall with 50 points. Penev also had strong routines on rings (13.650, ninth), floor (14.500, 11th), parallel bars (13.900, 14th) and the all-around (83.800, fourth).

Senters earned 43 points to claim ninth overall after finishing second on vault with a 15.100 and sixth on high bar with a 14.050.

Foreman, Hichwa and Deaton did not compete in the all-around but accumulated enough points in their respective events to qualify for the finals.

Foreman scored 14.100 on high bar to finish fifth overall in the event. He added a 14.150 on parallel bars for an 11th-place finish.

Hichwa finished in the top 10 in two events, picking up a sixth-place finish on floor (14.75) and finishing 10th on high bar (13.950).

Deaton, the youngest of the Stanford qualifiers, earned a 10th-place finish on vault with 14.800.

The five gymnasts will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 9 at 7:15 p.m. in the Winter Cup final round as they pursue a spot on the U.S. Men's Senior National Team.