Stanford (3-5, 0-1 Pac-12)
Arizona (5-1, 0-0 Pac-12)
Sun., Jan. 29 • 1 p.m. (PT)
Maples Pavilion • Stanford, Calif.
Television • Pac-12 Networks
Live Statistics • Via GoStanford.com
Social • Facebook » StanfordWGym • Twitter » StanfordWGym • Instagram » StanfordGymnastics • Snapchat » StanWGym
STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford will make its home debut Sunday at 1 p.m. (PT) when it plays host to Arizona in Maples Pavilion.
The Cardinal (3-5, 0-1 Pac-12) returns home after opening the season with three consecutive road competitions. The Wildcats (5-1, 0-0 Pac-12) are coming off a 195.850-194.325 victory against Iowa State this past weekend.
Sunday's competition will be Alumni Day and Stanford will recognize former gymnasts in attendance before the meet. The Cardinal will also highlight the 15th anniversary of the 2002 team, the program's first team to reach the NCAA Super Six.
Stanford will see a familiar face in the Arizona corral, as second-year head coach Tabitha Yim returns to The Farm for the first time since serving as an assistant coach with the Cardinal from 2010-15. She is the most decorated gymnast in Stanford history and was a 14-time All-American, including 13 first-team awards, at Stanford from 2005-08.
The meet will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks and live statistics will be available via GoStanford.com. ***Last Time Out
• The Cardinal dropped a 196.150-194.150 decision last Friday at Southern Utah.
• Elizabeth Price returned to Stanford's lineup last week after missing the previous meet due to illness and earned three top-two finishes, including two individual event victories. Price won vault (9.875) and bars (9.900) and placed second on floor (9.850).
• Danielle McNair had a nice night as well, tying for second on vault (9.850) and earning a career-best 39.000 in the all-around.
.@elizabeth_ebee excels in return to the lineup. Stanford battles but falls short at Southern Utah. #GoStanford https://t.co/YgcmrVssQL
— Stanford Gymnastics (@StanfordWGym) January 21, 2017
Leading the Way
• Stanford is led this season by co-captains Nicolette McNair and Elizabeth Price. The All-America duo possess a wealth of experience and accomplishments throughout their careers.
Experienced Group
• Stanford returns six gymnasts and 14 routines from last year's NCAA Championships roster. The Cardinal has four gymnasts who were part of the lineups that competed in the 2015 NCAA Super Six finals in Fort Worth, Texas, on the Cardinal's fifth-place team. They are: Danielle McNair, Nicolette McNair, Elizabeth Price and Haley Spector.
Consistently One of the Best in the Country
• Stanford is one of seven teams in the nation to make at least seven Super Six appearances in the past 15 years (2002-16). (Alabama-14, Utah-11, Georgia-11, UCLA-10, Florida-10, Stanford-7, Nebraska-7)
• Stanford has competed in the NCAA Championships in 13 of the past 16 years, including nine times in the past 10 seasons.
• A misconception about the Cardinal is that it comes out of nowhere during championship season. However, it should not be a surprise and is not a fluke, as evidenced by the team consistently finishing among the top in the nation.
• The Cardinal coaching staff enters each season with a carefully calculated outline of goals for different points during the season. A major focus for the beginning of the season is on consistency, building depth in lineups and health. As the season continues, the Cardinal adds difficulty and unique elements to routines to ensure it peaks during postseason competition.
Familiar Face
• Arizona is led by head coach Tabitha Yim, who is a former Stanford gymnast and assistant coach. Yim is one of the most accomplished gymnasts in Cardinal history with 14 All-America honors, including 13 on the first team. She placed among the top 10 in the NCAA all-around competition all four years and twice won Pac-12 and NCAA Regional all-around titles. No one in Stanford history has more NCAA top-10 finishes than Yim, who had 11.
• After participating in Teach for America after graduation, Yim returned to campus and served as an assistant coach from 2010-2015.
Arizona head coach, Tabitha Yim, is one of the most accomplished gymnasts in Stanford history. (Photo by StanfordPhoto.com)
Price Continues to Dominate
• Elizabeth Price picked up where she left off last season, winning vault and bars with scores of 9.950 at the season-opening NorCal Classic at California. She followed that performance with first-place results on vault (9.875) and bars (9.900) on bars, and a second-place finish on floor (9.850) at Southern Utah.
• Price has scored 9.900 or higher in 46-of-74 (62 percent) performances during her collegiate career.
• Price became the second Cardinal gymnast to earn Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year honors in program history last season. She also claimed Regular Season All-America recognition in the all-around, vault and bars. She has accumulated four honors through her first two years after earning first-team honors on vault as a freshman in 2015.
• Price won or tied for three 2016 NCAA Ann Arbor Regional honors, finishing first in the all-around (39.575) and bars (9.975) and tying for first on floor (9.900).
• Price tied for the 2016 Pac-12 title on bars (9.900), tied for second on vault (9.900), and tied for seventh on floor (9.875). She placed fourth in the all-around with a 39.475.
• Price won the all-around in eight of the 10 meets she competed in the event last season, including a season-best 39.675 at UCLA and Georgia (March 6). She finished the regular season tied for fifth in the nation in the all-around with an RQS of 39.570.
• Price scored 9.825 or higher in 40-of-43 performances in 2016. She won 57 percent of the events she competed in last season (30 individual event victories in 53 possible events).
• Price became the fifth gymnast in Pac-12 history to earn four Gymnast of the Week honors in one season in 2016 (Kirsten Maloney, UCLA, 2005; Vanessa Zamarripa, UCLA, 2013; Makayla Stambaugh, Oregon State, 2013; Georgia Dabritz, Utah, 2015; Elizabeth Price, Stanford, 2016).
Elizabeth Price has scored 9.900 or higher in 46-of-74 performances during her career. (Photo by Hector Garcia-Molina/Stanford Athletics)
Cole Continues Strong Start
• Freshman Kaylee Cole scored 9.875 on vault in each of her first two performances this season. She has hit 8-of-10 of her routines this season.
Consistency from McNair
• Nicolette McNair returned from an offseason injury and has continued her role as one of the Cardinal's most consistent gymnasts. She excelled at Southern Utah, hitting all three routines on vault (9.775), bars (9.725) and beam (9.825).
• McNair was one of Stanford's most consistent gymnasts in 2016. She scored 9.800 or higher in 31-of-37 routines in 2016 and has hit 111-of-120 routines (92.5 percent) on vault, bars and beam in her career.
Nicolette McNair has hit 111-of-120 routines on vault, bars and beam in her career. (Photo by Hector Garcia-Molina/Stanford Athletics)
Daum Establishes Role in the All-Around
• Senior Rachel Daum made her collegiate debut in the all-around at the season-opening NorCal Classic and went 38.700 to finish third overall and improved on her score four days later at the UC Davis Quad Meet with a 38.975 to finish second.
A Welcome Return
• Sophomore Taryn Fitzgerald returns to Stanford's lineups after having her debut season in 2016 cut short due to injury. She tied her career best of 9.800 on beam at the UC Davis Quad Meet (Jan. 13). Fitzgerald has hit all three of her beam routines this year.
• Fitzgerald was establishing herself as a regular in Stanford's lineup on vault, beam and floor before she was injured in practice last season.
Early Impact
• Four gymnasts made their collegiate debuts at the NorCal Classic including freshmen Kaylee Cole, Ashley Tai and Aleeza Yu, and redshirt freshman Hailee Hoffman. The quartet have been regulars in lineups through the first two competitions this season.
• Yu is coming back from an offseason injury and competed on bars in each meet, posting two 9.825s and one 9.725. Tai has been in each vault, beam and floor lineup this year.
• Hoffman is establishing herself in the vault and floor lineups and had her best meet of the year at Southern Utah. She went 9.725 on vault and 9.775 on floor.
Each member of Stanford's freshman class has competed in every meet this year. (Photo by David Bernal/ISIPhotos.com)
Consistency Counts
• Danielle McNair has contributed scores on a weekly basis and been a regular on vault and bars throughout her career. She has become a contributor on beam as well during her senior season, competing in the all-around. McNair had her best meet of the year at Southern Utah, posting a 9.850 on vault and a career-high 39.000 in the all-around.
Spector Provides Power on Floor
• Haley Spector provided big scores on floor in 2016 and will be a crucial member of the lineup this season. She went 9.775 or higher in nine meets last year, including two scores of 9.925.
Stanford at the 2016 NCAA Championships
• Stanford returned to the NCAA Championships for the 13th time in the past 16 years, two gymnasts combined for five All-America honors and the Cardinal finished fourth in its semifinal (195.575) – its 11th top-10 finish since 2002.
• Elizabeth Price earned first-team All-America honors in the all-around, vault, bars and beam. Ivana Hong claimed first-team recognition on beam.
Four Named 2016 All-Pac-12
• The Cardinal was well-represented on the All-Pac-12 team with Elizabeth Price (all-around) and Melissa Chuang (beam) named to the first team, and Taylor Rice (all-around) and Ivana Hong (beam) earning second team honors.
• It is the fourth all-conference honor for Hong, second for Rice and Price, and the first for Chuang.
Super Six in the Classroom
• Six Stanford gymnasts earned 2016 Pac-12 All-Academic recognition, including Jenna Frowein (architecture) who claimed her third consecutive first-team honor. Honorable mention selections included Melissa Chuang (international relations), Rachel Daum (human biology), Ivana Hong (human biology and sociology), Taylor Rice (international relations) and Haley Spector (human biology).
In the Rankings
• Stanford is ranked in the top 25 in the following events based on its season average:
Vault: 15th, 48.958
• Stanford gymnasts are ranked in the top 25 in the following events based on their season average:
Vault
Elizabeth Price, 7th, 9.912
Bars
Elizabeth Price, T-2nd, 9.925