STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford's 2024 season was one for the history books, going from a 52nd national ranking in week one to finishing as the fifth-best team in the nation. The program, guided by its mission to O.W.N. It (Our Work Now) and three of the program’s best team performances in its storied history, became the first unseeded team to make nationals in its new format (since 2019) and the first unseeded team to make the national championship meet in any format since 2011. Individually, sophomore Anna Roberts captured the 2024 NCAA Vault Championship title, bringing home the Cardinal's first NCAA individual championship since Elizabeth Price's floor title in 2018.
The Cardinal embodied the idea of “it’s not how you start, but how you finish” throughout the 2024 campaign. Stanford opened up with a 197.725-193.625 defeat at No. 20 Michigan, only putting up five gymnasts on both vault and bars.
After solid performances at Denver and Arizona, Stanford opened its home scheduling with a win over Washington, 196.875-196.500. The victory in Maples catapulted the Cardinal into a stellar rest of the regular season, not recording less than a team score of 196.500 in its final six meets before the postseason.
The Cardinal’s regular-season competitions against Bay Area foe California are where the team really shined. Stanford recorded the program’s second-best team score in program history on Senior Night, March 10, inside Maples Pavilion. Just seven days later, the Cardinal tallied the team’s ninth-best score in program laurels at a tri-meet against the Golden Bears and Sacramento State in Berkeley, March 17.
Senior night in Maples was highlighted by fifth-year Chloe Widner, as she recorded her first career 10.000 on beam in her final appearance at a Cardinal home meet. Widener’s routine marked the first perfect score for the Cardinal since the 2018 season.
Stanford kicked off postseason action strong, as the Cardinal won the afternoon session of the 2024 Pac-12 Championships backed by its best score at a conference championship meet since 2015. The Cardinal's finish at the final Pac-12 Championships is its best under Rodgers Family Director of Women's Gymnastics Tabitha Yim and is the program's highest score and finish since its 197.175 for third-place at the 2015 Pac-12 Championships.
After the first session, Widner led the all-around competition with a total of 39.500, led by her beam mark of 9.950, the top beam score of the session. She finished the meet tied-for-fifth in the all-around competition with Oregon State's Sophia Esposito and tied-for-second on beam with UCLA's Selena Harris and Emma Malabuyo.
Before the second session began, sophomore Anna Roberts held the lead on the floor title with her 9.950 performance in the fifth spot of the Stanford lineup. She finished tied-for-second on floor with UCLA's Selena Harris, Utah's Maile O'Keefe and Abby Paulson, each scoring a 9.950 in the second session. Oregon State's Jade Carey won the floor event title with a 10.000.
Fueled by a stellar performance at Pac-12s, Stanford began its path to the 2024 NCAA Championships competing at the NCAA Regionals in Berkeley, Calif. First up was the Second Round quad meet against host No. 3 California, No. 14 Auburn, and No. 25 Southern Utah, the winner of the First Round dual meet.
Led by the best team score at NCAA Regionals meet in program history, the Cardinal topped both No. 14 Auburn and Southern Utah in the NCAA Regional Second Round Meet. Fifth-year Chloe Widner led all competitors in both the afternoon and evening sessions with a new career-best all-around total of 39.700, earning the regional all-around title. She is the first all-around regional champion for the Cardinal since Elizabeth Price won the all-around title at the 2016 Ann Arbor Regional. Widner earned shares of the bars, beam and floor titles, scoring a 9.950 on each event, leaving as a co-regional champion on all three events. Sophomore Anna Roberts also captured a share of the regional floor title with a 9.950 performance and junior Anapaula Gutierrez earned a part of the regional vault title with a 9.900.
The Cardinal clinched its historic bid to the 2024 NCAA Championships at the Regional Finals, becoming the first unseeded team to make nationals in its new format by topping No. 6 Denver and No. 22 Arizona State.
Down .100 going into the final rotation, the Cardinal came through and matched its best floor rotation of the year to secure the victory inside Haas Pavilion. Fifth year Chloe Widner stepped up to the floor anchoring the rotation with Stanford needing a 9.875 to tie and came through with her first career 10.000 on the event for the perfect storybook ending to the meet. Widner finished second in the all-around competition with a 39.725, her new career-best total. Alongside her 10.000 on floor, she had 9.950 on bars and beam for the second straight meet, earning shares of or the top finishes on all three events.
Stanford’s 2024 season ended at the NCAA Championships, finishing third in Semifinals Session I. LSU and California finished first and second with scores of 198.1125 and 197.7125, respectively, to move on to Saturday's championship finals meet. Stanford totaled a score of 197.0750 and Arkansas placed fourth with a total of 196.4750.
Roberts shined in the Cardinal's semifinals appearance. She matched her career-best score of 9.9500 to become Stanford's third national vault champion in program history. Roberts also finished tied-for-fourth overall in the all-around competition with a career-best total of 39.6375. Her performances on vault and in the all-around competition earned her first-team all-American honors while her effort of 9.9000 on beam earned her second-team all-American honors.
The incredible year for the Cardinal was celebrated nationally and by the Pac-12 Conference. After an incredible fifth-year season that included the first 10.000 on beam by a Cardinal since 2004, Chloe Widner was named the 2024 Pac-12 Specialist of the Year as voted on by the conference's coaches. The Frisco, Texas native was also honored as an All-Pac-12 First Team member on beam.
Widner earned her first yearly award and her second all-conference honor, earning All-Pac-12 First Team honors on Bars in 2023. She is the third Stanford gymnast to earn the honor of Pac-10/12 Specialist of the Year (Amanda Spinner, 2013; Elizabeth Price, 2015) and the first Cardinal gymnast to earn a conference of the year award since Price was named Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year in 2018.
Widner also collected Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA) First Team All-American honors on Beam, the second All-American honor of her career. She was the first Cardinal student-athlete since Kyla Bryant in 2020 to be honored as a regular-season WCGA All-American.
Following the 2024 season, 10 Cardinal were named to the Pac-12 Winter Academic Honor Roll. Any student-athlete on their respective team roster with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.3-or above, and who has served at least one year in residence at the institution, is eligible for the distinction.
| Name | Major |
|---|---|
| Ira Alexeeva | International Relations |
| Claire Dean | Undeclared |
| Sandra Jessen | Human Biology |
| Brenna Neault | Human Biology |
| Taralyn Nguyen | Symbolic Systems |
| Anna Roberts | Undeclared |
| Katya Sander | Human Biology |
| Porsche Trinidad | Management Science and Engineering |
| Chloe Widner | Product Design |
| Amanda Zeng | IDMEN - Management & Biological Sciences |
The future for Stanford Women's Gymnastics is bright as it enters its first season as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2025, bringing in a freshman class that includes Olympian and five-star recruit Levi Jung-Ruiviar, fellow five-star recruits Ui Soma and Jaime Dugan and four-star incomers Alana Walker and Kendra Chang.