Stanford Wins 2009 NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Title
Posted on 17 April 2009 by admin
Stanford handily put away the competition to win their fourth NCAA Men’s Gymnastics title. The Cardinal closed the deal with the evening’s top scores on rings. Tim Gentry and Nick Noone led the way with scores of 15.45, followed by Kyle Oi’s 15.35 and Sho Nakamori’s 15.05. Michigan and Oklahoma mounted late charges on floor and vault but fell short.
Oklahoma’s bid to repeat was officially thwarted with their sub-par performance on pommel horse (57.75), despite their strong finish on vault (64.05). Meanwhile, Michigan surprisingly captured 2nd place by finishing strong on high bar (59.25) and floor (61.20).
Oklahoma’s Steven Legendre nailed down the All-Around title (90.50) with his clutch 16.30 on vault. He narrowly edged out Cal freshman Glen Ishino (90.00). Defending All-Around champion, Casey Sandy, finished in 7th place with an 88.40. Illinois’ Paul Ruggeri captured 3rd place with an 89.50.
Overall, it was a very tight competition with just .35 separating 2nd place Michigan and 4th place Cal. For Stanford, it all came down to pommel horse and rings. At times this season, Stanford has struggled on pommel horse, but tonight they did what they had to do. On rings, they merely piled on with their typical top-ranked performances. Not to mention, they also scored a season-high best of 59.30 on parallel bars.
Oklahoma’s downfall was on pommel horse, which at least cost them a legitimate shot at the title. Michigan and Cal saved their best for last by posting season-high team scores. Illinois was in contention until they sealed their 5th place fate on parallel bars (56.70).
SUPER SIX RESULTS:
- Stanford - 362.80
- Michigan - 361.50
- Oklahoma - 361.20
- Cal - 361.15
- Illinois - 359.30
- Ohio State - 355.95
TOP ALL-AROUNDERS:
- Steven Legendre (OU) - 90.50
- Glen Ishino (Cal) - 90.00
- Paul Ruggeri (IL) - 89.50
- Kyson Bunthuwong (Cal) - 89.00
- Kyle Bunthuwong (Cal) - 88.70
- Chris Brooks (OU) - 88.45
- Casey Sandy (PSU) - 88.40
EVENT WINNERS:
- Floor - Steven Legendre (OU) - 16.00
- Pommel Horse - Daniel Ribeiro (IL) - 15.50
- Rings - Bryant Hadden (ST) & Evan Roth (Cal) - 15.55
- Vault - Steven Legendre (OU) & Geoff Reins (IA) - 16.30
- Parallel Bars - Sho Nakamori (ST) - 15.20
- High Bar - Paul Ruggeri (IL) - 15.75
The event finals will be held on Saturday, 4/18 at 8:00pm EDT. Click here to watch the live results. By all means, do not miss next week’s broadcast of the team/all-around finals on ESPN2. Set your DVRs to record the action on Thursday, April 23 at 3:00pm EDT. ESPNU will broadcast the action again on Saturday, April 25 at 4:00pm EDT.
