Men’s gymnastics strives for fifth MPSF title

When your team has won four MPSF titles, along with four NCAA Championships, you have big shoes to fill. Stanford men’s gymnastics is feeling exactly this, as they head into the MPSF Championships this Saturday at 2 p.m.

Akash Modi has been on fire all season, proving himself as one of the finest gymnasts on the NCAA stage. He will be a necessary piece in the Cardinal goal to claim the MPSF title (MIKE KHEIR/The Stanford Daily).

The team will travel across the bay to Berkeley, where they will shoot for their fifth MPSF title (their other four being in 1993, 1995, 2009 and 2011).

The No. 2 Cardinal squad has had a successful season thus far, maintaining a 13-2 total record, along with a 5-1 record within the conference. The team has only found itself unable to take out No. 1 Oklahoma, who has been a historically difficult opponent for the Cardinal, and Japan’s Olympic team, to whom they lost in the International Collegiate Challenge. Besides these two more-than-worthy opponents, Stanford has been able to keep up a completely clean slate, a remarkable feat for the team.

Last week, the squad was able to round up the season with a definitive victory against rival, No.12 Cal. Stanford did not allow Cal a single highest spot on the podium, something that the team will look to repeat in the upcoming championships.

After an outstanding performance that saw four event titles, senior Akash Modi was awarded both the CGA and the MPSF Gymnast of the Week honors, making him the most-awarded Gymnast of the Week in NCAA history.

Modi is surrounded by an entire team of qualified and talented gymnasts, who have also largely contributed to the raging success of the team. Currently, the team stands fourth nationally on the pommel horse, third on vault, second in the all-around, still rings, high bar and parallel bars and first on floor.

The CGA Champion, Modi, leads the team on the pommel horse, ranking third in the NCAA, followed by freshman Joey Ringer and junior Robert Neff, who are tied for 22nd. Modi also leads the team in the all-around, placing first, while Neff finds himself in fourth place and sophomore Grant Breckenridge ranks 11th. Sophomore Josiah Eng demonstrates the depth of the team, ranking second on the still rings, where Modi ranks 14th, Jordan DeClerk ranks 20th and Taylor Seaton ranks 24th. These numbers continue on all other events, where the Cardinal heavily occupies the first twenty spots nationally.

The team will look to continue and expand on this trend as they take on No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 10 Air Force and No. 11 Cal. The competition will be held in Berkeley, California and will begin at 2 p.m. Live stats can be viewed at calstats.net.

Contact Laura Sussman at laura111 ‘at’ stanford.edu