NCAA Morgantown Regional
No. 11 Stanford (10-9-1, 8-7 Pac-12)
Saturday, April 4 • 1 p.m. (PT)
WVU Coliseum • Morgantown, W.Va.
Live Stream | Stats • Available via GoStanford.com
Admission • $12 Single, $10 Groups
STANFORD, Calif. – No. 11 Stanford will pursue a spot at the NCAA Championships this Saturday at 1 p.m. (PT) when it competes in the NCAA Morgantown Regional.
The Cardinal (10-9-1, 8-7 Pac-12) will look to earn its sixth regional title and qualify to the NCAA Championships for the eighth time in the past nine years. Stanford competed at the NCAA Morgantown Regional once before in 2010, when it scored 196.775 to finish first and claim the Cardinal’s most recent regional title.
Stanford has qualified to the NCAA regional competition in 32 consecutive years and 35 overall.
Joining the Cardinal in Morgantown will be top-seeded Florida, and (in order of seeding) Illinois, Arkansas, New Hampshire and West Virginia. The top two teams in the regional competition will receive a berth to the NCAA Championships in Fort Worth, Texas, April 17-19.
Stanford head coach Kristen Smyth and redshirt junior Ivana Hong discuss the upcoming meet.
Cardinal Update
• Stanford’s season has been highlighted by multiple individual standout performances and a consistent ascent in scoring. The Cardinal has scored above its season average in each of its past three meets.
• After battling through injuries for a majority of the season, the Cardinal is the healthiest it’s been entering postseason competition and expects to be in the mix for a regional title.
• Stanford enters the NCAA Morgantown Regional with a 10-9-1 record and an 8-7 mark against Pac-12 competition. Stanford registered a Regional Qualifying Score of 196.720 and averaged a 196.180 in 11 meets.
• The Cardinal is ranked in the top 25 in all four events based on its Regional Qualifying Score: bars (4th, 49.420), beam (9th, 49.225), vault (T-14th, 49.280) and floor (20th, 49.185).
• Stanford hit 23-of-24 routines and recorded its second-highest score of the season (197.175) in its most recent competition at the Pac-12 Championships to finish third. The Cardinal has finished fourth or higher at the conference championships in 15 consecutive years.
• Stanford excelled on bars, tying its season-high score of 49.525 with four gymnasts finishing in the top five and all six competitors placing in the top 12. Cardinal gymnasts scored 9.875 or higher in all six performances.
• Elizabeth Price went 9.950 on bars to claim her first career Pac-12 title and added a 9.950 on vault to place third. She was named the Pac-12 Specialist of the Year – an annual award given to the conference’s top non-all-around gymnast.
• Price finished the regular season with 11 victories in 14 routines: vault (6), bars (4) and floor (1). Price scored 9.925 or higher in 12-of-14 performances and began her collegiate career with seven consecutive victories. Six of her 11 victories came against Pac-12 competition.
• Ivana Hong (human biology) tied her career best on beam (9.925) to tie for second and registered a 9.875 on bars to tie for eighth. She holds two of Stanford’s top-four scores on bars and three-of-four top scores on beam this season. Hong has hit 91 percent (20-of-22) of her routines on bars and beam.
• Kristina Vaculik (human biology), a three-time All-American in 2014, missed the first four meets this year due to illness. She’s returning to her All-America form quickly and competed in the all-around for the second time this season, finishing fourth with a 39.450. She tied for fifth on bars (9.900), tied for eighth on floor (9.900) and tied for ninth on beam (9.850).
• Nicolette McNair, the 2014 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, earned a pair of top-10 finishes scoring 9.900 on bars to tie for fifth and going 9.875 on vault to tie for seventh.
• Samantha Shapiro (engineering) continued to excel on bars, tying for fifth with a 9.900. The two-time NCAA Championships runner-up in the event has hit 10 consecutive routines for scores of 9.800 or higher.
• Rebecca Wing (engineering) has excelled in the leadoff position on bars and beam this season. She scored 9.875 on bars to tie for 12th.
• Pauline Hanset was steady throughout the championships, contributing a 9.825 on floor and a 9.850 in the leadoff position on vault. Her most important routine came on beam when she hit her routine to earn a 9.750 after the gymnast before her fell.
• Taylor Rice (international relations) has been one of Stanford’s most consistent gymnasts this season. She led Stanford with 11 individual victories during the regular season: all-around (5), floor (4), beam (1) and vault (1). Eight of her 11 wins came against Pac-12 competition. Rice has hit 90 percent (37-of-41) routines on the season.
• Rice set career bests in the all-around four times and recorded career highs in all four events during the season.
Rotation Schedule
• Here is the rotation order for the NCAA Morgantown Regional:
Florida: bars, beam, bye, floor, vault, bye
Stanford: bye, bars, beam, bye, floor, vault
Illinois: beam, bye, floor, vault, bye, bars
Arkansas: bye, floor, vault, bye, bars, beam
New Hampshire: vault, bye, bars, beam, bye, floor
West Virginia: floor, vault, bye, bars, beam, bye
Stanford Against NCAA Morgantown Regional Opponents
• Here are the results from the last time Stanford faced each regional opponent:
Florida: April 19, 2013 (Los Angeles), NCAA Team Semifinals: Florida (first) 197.775, Stanford (sixth) 194.700.
Illinois: April 18, 2014 (Birmingham, Ala.), NCAA Team Semifinals: Stanford (fourth) 196.600, Illinois (sixth) 195.800
Arkansas: April 21, 2012 (Duluth, Ga.), NCAA Super Six: Stanford (fourth) 197.500, Arkansas (sixth) 196.300
New Hampshire: Jan. 4, 2003 (Wailuku, Hawaii), Maui Invitational: Stanford (first) 196.050, New Hampshire (third) 193.325
West Virginia: April 10, 2010 (Morgantown, W. Va.), NCAA Southeast Regional: Stanford (first) 196.775, West Virgina (fourth) 195.100
Stanford’s NCAA Regional History
• Stanford has qualified in 32 consecutive seasons and 35 overall.
• The Cardinal has finished in the top two to advance to the NCAA’s in seven of the past eight seasons.
• Under head coach Kristen Smyth, Stanford has won four regional titles, were runners-up six times, and have a third- and two fourth-place finishes.
• The Cardinal has had 27 gymnasts combine for 44 individual titles, including 39 since 1998.
• Stanford is seeking its sixth NCAA regional title, all since 1999.
Individual Cardinal Experience at NCAA Regional
• The following are current Stanford gymnasts (11) who competed as part of past regional lineups:
Three: Kristina Vaculik (2011, 2013, 2014), Samantha Shapiro (2012, 2013, 2014),
Two: Pauline Hanset (2012, 2014), Rebecca Wing (2012, 2014), Taylor Rice (2013, 2014), Ivana Hong (2012, 2013)
One: Melissa Chuang (2014), Rachel Daum (2014), Nicolette McNair (2014), Danielle McNair (2014), Jenna Frowein (2014)
Super Six Experience
• Stanford has four gymnasts who were part of the lineups that competed in the 2012 NCAA Super Six finals in Duluth, Ga., on the Cardinal’s fourth-place team. They are: Pauline Hanset, Ivana Hong, Samantha Shapiro and Rebecca Wing.
In the Rankings
• Stanford is ranked in the top 25 in the following events based on its Regional Qualifying Score:
Vault: T-14th, 49.280
Bars: 4th, 49.420
Beam: 9th, 49.225
Floor: 20th, 49.185
• Stanford gymnasts are ranked in the top 25 in the following events based on its Regional Qualifying Score:
All-Around
Taylor Rice, 19th, 39.395
Vault
Elizabeth Price, T-6th, 9.945
Bars
Ivana Hong, T-17th, 9.900
Beam
Ivana Hong, T-11th, 9.905
