Stanford Men’s Gymnastics: The Cardinal took on three countries

Last Saturday night the No. 2 ranked Cardinal hosted the national teams of Canada, Finland, and reigning World Champion Japan, along with No. 9 ranked California in a packed Burnham Pavilion.

The evening began with junior Akash Modi taking silver on the pommel horse with a 15.250. Junior Drew Willoughby finished right behind with a 15.000 to contribute to Stanford's second place event total of 72.950.

Senior Dennis Zaremski tied for first on rings with a 15.250, as Junior Jordan DeClerk's 15.050 took third. Freshman Josiah Eng tied for fourth with a 14.700 to help the Cardinal dominate the event with a combined 73.750.

Stanford tallied its best vault of the season, winning the event with a score of 75.050. Junior Taylor Seaton and Modi went back-to-back for the top two spots with a 15.400 and 15.350.
Zaremski went on to grab the silver on parallel bars with a 15.650 score, followed by Modi's 15.550 in third. The team took the win with a 74.800 despite Japan taking three of the top five spots.

Japan cruised to a victory on high bar, as expected seeming that it is their specialty event. They are known for implementing insane difficulty into their routines with a flurry of difficult release skills. Fifth-year senior Brian Knott was still able to post his own season-best of 15.050.

Japan's performance on high bar brought this meet down to the final event: floor. The Cardinal trailed by 1.050 at this point. Modi tied for second with a 15.600, as junior Gabe Flores posted a 15.200 and sophomore Robert Neff scored a 15.100 to help Stanford take the event, and win the meet.

Akash Modi took the all-around crown, his fourth of the year, this one against some of the world's best.

As the No. 2 ranked Cardinal improves to 13-0 on the season, it sets its sights on a huge showdown with No. 1 Oklahoma this Saturday, March 5th at 5pm in Oklahoma.