Cal Men’s Gymnastics Wins Third in Row over Stanford
Posted on 17 February 2009 by admin
Cal made it three-in-row over Stanford at the 2009 Gold Country Classic held on February 14. Once again, Cal’s strength on pommels put the Bears on top, although the final team score was close (354.25 – 354.00). Cal had four gymnasts with pommel scores of 14.3 or better, led by Kyle Bunthuwong’s 14.85. Bunthuwong also won the high bar competition with a 15.35.
Cal’s top all-rounders, the Bunthuwong brothers and Glen Ishino, were held out of most of the events in preparation for this weekend’s Pacific Coast Classic. Meanwhile, Stanford dominated on floor, rings and vault. Josh Dixon’s 15.75 on floor and Tim Gentry’s 16.4 on vault, were the top performances for Stanford. Sho Nakamori, coming off a great performance at Winter Cup, did not compete at all for Stanford.
The question remains whether or not Cal will make it four-in-row at the Pacific Coast Classic. The collegiate lineup for the Pacific Coast Classic is impressive. Stanford, Cal, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Air Force will be on hand for arguably the best collegiate meet of the regular season. Illinois’ Paul Ruggeri, the defending NCAA high bar champion, is out indefinitely with a torn meniscus. The injury, suffered at the Winter Cup, probably cost him a spot on the U.S. Men’s National Team. Still, the competition will be fierce, and it will mark the first time this season that Cal and Stanford will face teams from the Big 10.
February 18th, 2009 at 1:44 am
This meet is going to be awesome! Illinois also had a great pommel horse meet scoring 5 guys above a 14.25 (although it appears they bombed floor, rings, and p bars). They did drop in the rankings so they look to be the underdog at the classic with teams ranked #2, #3, #4, #5, and #6 but it looks like all five teams should be rather competitive. I can’t wait to hear the outcome.
p.s. I wish Paul a speedy recovery and hopefully he will be back before big tens. The Illini could use him.
February 19th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
Any predictions?
I’m going with
(#3)1.Stanford 354.8
(#2)2.Cal 353.5
(#6)3.Illiois 353.1
(#4)4.Michigan 351.9
(#5)5.Minn 348.2
From watching youtube videos it looks like judging in the central region is tighter than judging on the west coast at this point. But I think that the judging at the PCC will be tighter than the Stanford Open and west coast dual meets but not tighter than Windy City and some of Central region dual meets. (explaining my analysis of the west coast teams staying about the same and the big ten teams scoring slightly higher ;).. )
February 19th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
We’re going with…
1) Stanford (by a hair)
2) Cal
3) Michigan (by a hair)
4) Illinois
5) Minnesota
You’re probably right about regional judging quirks so far. It will be fun to see so many great gymnasts at one meet. The PCC will be televised by Comcast Sports Net, but apparently it will be delayed until sometime in March.
February 22nd, 2009 at 10:21 pm
looks like your were right! Looks like a great competition. I would love to see it.
February 22nd, 2009 at 10:43 pm
MG – It was a great meet. Stanford is definitely on the rise… they came up big on pommel. Cameron and Ishino were incredible. As Ishino builds more difficulty into his routines, he’s going to be downright scary. Kyle Bunthuwong showed why he earned his way on to the Sr. Nat’l Team. The Japanese were impressive on FX, V & HB.
February 23rd, 2009 at 12:33 am
ohhh I didn’t realize you were there. I was looking at the results and saw which schools dominated on each event. I was wondering how:
Stanford looked on Floor…?
Illinois looked on Pommel…?
Stanford looked on Rings…?
Michigan looked on PBars…? and
Cal looked on High Bar…?
being that 4 different (NCAA) colleges won 5 events makes it appear to have been a really competitive meet. Were all these victories deserved? thanks!
February 23rd, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Stanford on floor? Solid…they had 3 guys over 15.00
Illinois on pommel? Good…4 guys over 14.00 and Stannard got 15.2
Stanford on rings? Good…2 guys over 15.00…Sho had a 14.95
Michigan on Pbars? Ok… Cameron had a nice 15.35
Cal on high bar? Ok… nice routines by Ishino & Bunthuwongs
The meet was very competitive. I was impressed by the top 4 teams, and I was told that Air Force had their highest scores of the season.