NORMAN, Okla. - Stanford scored 440.450 to finish second Friday at the NCAA Championships Finals, earning its ninth top-three finish in the past 10 years.
Oklahoma claimed the national title with a 447.050. Following Stanford was Penn State (439.500), Michigan (437.650), California (432.100) and Iowa (427.450).
Stanford’s second-place finish is its highest since it won the 2011 NCAA Championship.
Sophomore Akash Modi became the first Stanford gymnast since Jon Louis in 1986 to win the NCAA title in the all-around. Modi tallied a season-high 90.450 to claim top marks in the all-around. He is the first Cardinal gymnast to claim an NCAA individual title since 2012 when Eddie Penev earned victories on floor and vault.
Modi added a first-place finish on parallel bars (15.750), tied for second on floor with a career-best 15.600 and tied for third on high bar with a season-high 15.050. He contributed a seventh-place result on pommel horse with a 14.850.
Modi has earned 23 individual event victories against NCAA teams this season: parallel bars (7), all-around (6), floor (4), pommel horse (3), rings (2) and high bar (1).
Including Modi’s four top-10 finishes, five Stanford gymnasts qualified for nine lineup spots – and two alternate positions – in Saturday’s NCAA Individual Event Finals with top-10 results on the night.
Sean Senters tied for first on vault with a 15.350 and contributed a strong floor routine to produce a 15.300.
Brian Knott earned a career-best 15.500 on parallel bars to finish second and led Stanford with a 14.900 on pommel horse to tie for fifth.
Robert Neff went 15.050 on high bar to tie for third and added a 14.900 on parallel bars to tie for 10th. Taylor Seaton rounded out Stanford’s top-10 finishers with a 15.000 on vault to earn an eighth-place result.
Stanford opened the season’s final team competition with a strong showing on vault, notching the meet’s second-highest score of 74.200. Senters led the squad with a 15.350, followed by Seaton (15.000) and Ryan Sheppard (14.850) who tied his career best.
The Cardinal exploded for a season-best and meet-high 75.750 on parallel bars, paced by Modi (15.750) and Knott (15.500). Neff (14.900), Dennis Zaremski (14.850) and Jordan DeClerk (14.750) also turned in quality performances.
The momentum continued on high bar as Stanford logged the meet’s second-highest result of 73.300. Modi and Neff tied for third with scores of 15.050, followed by Knott with a 14.650.
Stanford sat in second place at the midway point of the meet with a 223.250 to Oklahoma’s 225.700.
Modi (15.600) and Senters (15.300) fueled the Cardinal on floor to earn a 74.100. Seaton (14.550) and Michael Levy (14.500) also produced strong scores.
The Cardinal was undone on pommel horse where it registered its lowest score of the season of 68.550. Modi and Knott helped ensure a strong finish in the event with scores of 14.850 and 14.900 in the fourth and fifth positions, respectively.
Stanford was in third place after the fifth rotation and needed a consistent performance on rings to retake the second position.
The Cardinal delivered.
DeClerk got Stanford going with a 14.600 and was matched by Modi later in the lineup. Brandon Beckhardt earned a 14.950 in the second position. Levy and Zaremski produced clutch scores of 15.250 and 15.150 to boost the Cardinal back into second place and secure the runner-up result.
The meet concluded team competition for the year but five Stanford gymnasts will compete Saturday in the NCAA Event Finals at 5 p.m. (PT).
