Feb. 22, 2006

No. 3 Stanford Men's Gymnastics (6-1) heads across the Bay this weekend to the Pacific Coast Classic, competing against No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 6 Michigan, No. 7 Iowa, No. 8 Cal, No. 9 Minnesota, and No. 10 William & Mary in Oakland on Saturday, February 25 (7:00 pm). The Cardinal is coming off of a busy weekend in Pennsylvania last week. Stanford won the Temple Invite on Saturday, 211.750-198.600, over Temple, Springfield and MIT. On Sunday, the squad traveled to University Park to take on No. 6 Penn State. The competition was tight throughout the evening, but Stanford fell to the Nittany Lions, 216.800-216.750. Junior Alex Schorsch posted an outstanding score of 9.700 on the still rings to win the event at Penn State.

STANFORD MOVES UP A SPOT TO NO. 3 The Cardinal men moved up one spot this week in the national rankings to the third position. With an average team total of 213.067, Stanford now trails behind No. 1 Oklahoma (214.917) and No. 2 Ohio State (213.663). The Cardinal is ranked in the top three teams for four events, including first-place rankings on the floor exercise (36.450) and vault (36.917), a second-place ranking on the still rings (36.867), and a third-place ranking on the high bar (36.233). Sophomore David Sender leads the squad on the floor with a top individual ranking and a season average of 9.567. Dylan Carney is tied for seventh nationally on the floor with an average of 9.183. Sender also leads both the team and the nation thus far on the vault with a season average of 9.500. On the rings, Alex Schorsch is ranked second with a season average of 9.667 to lead the team on the event. Sender is ranked seventh on the rings with an average of 9.367, as well as fourth for the all-around with a score of 52.150.

CARDINAL MEETS TOP-RANKED OKLAHOMA Stanford will meet top-ranked defending national champion Oklahoma for the first time this season at the PCC. Oklahoma currently leads the nation on the still rings and high bar, with season averages of 37.633 and 36.883, respectively. The Sooners have the third, fourth and fifth ranked gymnasts on the rings in Jamie Henderson, Jonathan Horton and Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons. Horton is also ranked third on the floor exercise with a season average of 9.450. Oklahoma topped No. 2 Ohio State and No. 7 Cal last weekend in Columbus, scoring a season-high 216.55.

SENDER EARNS MPSF GYMNAST OF THE WEEK David Sender opened up the season with the MPSF's first Gymnast of the Week award. Sender was honored for his season-opening performance at Cal on January 13, in which he won the floor exercise (9.350), the vault (9.550) and shared a victory on the rings with teammate Bryant Hadden (9.300). Three Oklahoma athletes have won MPSF Gymnast of the Week since Sender. Defending national champion Oklahoma currently tops the MPSF, garnering the No. 2 ranking in the nation after Ohio State.

SENDER SELECTED TO NATIONAL TEAM After tying for fourth at the 2006 Winter Cup with a two-day combined all-around score of 173.900, David Sender was selected to the senior national team. The national team consists of fourteen gymnasts in all, including the top six finishers in the all-around final, six more gymnasts based on a points system established by the Men's Program Committee, and two additional gymnasts selected by the Men's Program Committee. Cal's Tim McNeill was also named to the national team as one of the six gymnasts selected though the point system. McNeill placed third on the pommel horse at the Winter Cup with a combined score of 29.000 after two days of competition.

Following the Pacific Coast Classic, Stanford will host No. 6 Michigan in the Cardinal's final home meet of the 2006 season on Saturday, March 4 (7:00 pm).