WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah – Led by a tied-for-first-place all-around finish by sophomore Brenna Neault, No. 19 Stanford finished the first session of the 2023 Pac-12 Championships with a score of 195.875.
No. 14 Arizona State recorded the top score of the session with a 196.700, followed by No. 27 Washington and No. 28 Arizona each earning scores of 196.375.
Neault, alongside the University of Washington's Skylar Killough-Wilhelm, recorded the session's top all-around score of 39.400. The Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. native's performance was highlighted by a career-best matching performance on beam of 9.950.
The Cardinal started off its day on bars, earning a team score of 48.950. Stanford was led by senior Chloe Widner's 9.900 anchor performance, the best of any gymnast in the session. Neault recorded the rotation's second-highest score of 9.875, and juniorIra Alexeeva, fifth-year Madison Brunette, and freshman Claire Dean rounded out the rotation with scores of 9.750, 9.725, and 9.700, respectively.
Stanford then went to beam, scoring a team total of 49.400 to earn its third-best team event total of the year. After a strong 9.850 leadoff routine from Dean, an uncharacteristic fall from junior Isabela Onyshko put pressure on the back half of Stanford's lineup. The Cardinal stepped up to the challenge, recording four scores of 9.800-or-better, highlighted by Neault's career-best matching effort and Widner's score of 9.925 in the anchor spot. After the second session of the Pac-12 Championship, Neault's score held as the third-best at the meet, bringing home a bronze medal.
The Cardinal earned its lowest event total of the day on floor, counting a fall and recording an event total of 48.475. Freshman Anna Roberts earned the rotation's highest score, scoring a 9.875, followed by Dean's leadoff 9.850 and scores of 9.800 from Neault and fellow sophomore Katya Sander.
The day ended on vault with Stanford's second-best event total of the day. Roberts marked the rotation's highest total with a 9.850, followed by a 9.825 from freshman Taralyn Nguyen and totals of 9.800 from both Brunette and Widner.
The Cardinal now awaits its seeding for the upcoming NCAA Regionals as Stanford was mathematically locked into the event after the final week of regular-season competition. The NCAA Regional Selection Show begins at 9 a.m. on Monday, March 20.