No. 18 Stanford Hosts Inaugural ACC Home Dual Meet

Quick Sticks

• No. 18 Stanford hosts No. 21 NC State in its inaugural Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) home dual meet this Saturday, Jan. 18 in Maples Pavilion.
• Stanford's 2025 home opener is slated for a 2 p.m. PT start and will be streamed on ACC Network Extra, with Jenna Becerra and Casey Magnuson on the call.Live scoring can be found on Virtius. 
• The Cardinal won its 2025 debut in Seattle, topping Washington, Boise State and UC Davis to open its campaign with a 3-0 record. Stanford's score of 195.600 was its third-best in a season opener under Rodgers Family Director of Gymnastics Tabitha Yim (eighth season), trailing only its 2022 (196.275 at Cal) and 2023 first-meet totals (196.175).
• Stanford's season-opening victory was led by the Cardinal securing four individual event titles and the highest team event totals on three of the four events. Senior Brenna Neault won the all-around title with a 39.100 all-around total, while junior Anna Roberts brought home the vault title and a share of the floor crown and junior Claire Dean secured the top finish on beam.
• Freshman Alana Walker made her debut in a Stanford leo at Friday's quad meet, earning a 9.825 on vault and a 9.850 on floor, both good for fourth-place finishes. It marks one of the best first performances by a freshman of current Stanford team members, as only Anna Roberts (2023) earned more than two 9.800-or-better totals in her first showing with the Cardinal.
• Current team members debuts under Tabitha Yim (Year-Name (meet opponent, date, event)- score))
  • 2024- Temple Landry (at Denver Quad, 1/21/24, FX)- 9.775
    • Victoria Cluck (vs. Washington, 2/6/24, VT)- 9.750
    • Sienna Robinson (vs. Washington, 2/6/24, BB)- 9.825
  • 2023- Anna Roberts (at Super 16 Quad, 1/6/23, AA)- 9.900, VT; 8.675, UB; 9.800, BB; FX. 9.850
    • Taralyn Nguyen (at Super 16 Quad, 1/6/23, VT, BB, FX)- 9.800, VT; 9.625, BB; 9.800, FX)
    • Claire Dean (at Super 16 Quad, 1/6/23, UB, BB, FX)- 9.775, UB; 9.625, BB; 9.825, FX
  • 2022- Brenna Neault (at California, 1/16/22, AA)- 9.750, VT; 9.825 UB, 9.875, BB; 9.775, FX
    • Anapaula Gutierrez (at California, 1/16/22, VT, UB, FX)- 9.050, VT; 9.800, UB;  9.825, FX
• The Cardinal and NC State meet for the first time in head-to-head competition since the 2017 season, where the two programs met at a quad meet hosted by George Washington. NC State took the victory over the Cardinal, scoring 194.825 while Stanford tabbed a total of 193.275.
• Stanford was picked to finish second in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in 2025 following a vote of the league’s six head coaches. Alongside the preseason coaches poll, the conference released the 2025 Preseason Watch List which features 12 gymnasts as nominated by the league’s six gymnastics programs, and the Newcomer List, featuring one true freshman from each program. 2024 NCAA Vault National Champion junior Anna Roberts and senior Brenna Neault were each picked for the Preseason Watch List while freshman Ui Soma was named to the 2025 Newcomer Watch List.
• The future for Stanford is bright, as the 2025 Cardinal team returns all but eight routines from its 2024 NCAA Championships lineups. Stanford lost Ira Alexeeva, Sandra Jessen, Chloe Widner and Amanda Zeng to graduation (4) but welcomed five incoming freshmen that made up College Gym News’ seventh-ranked incoming freshman class. The class is led by ACC Newcomer Watch List honoree Soma, alongside Olympian and five-star recruit Levi Jung-Ruivivar, fellow five-star recruit Jaime Dugan, and four-star incomers Alana Walker and Kendra Chang.
• Junior Anna Roberts highlights a Stanford squad that brings both experience (eight upperclassmen) and new energy (eight underclassmen) to the competition floor. Roberts is the Cardinal's first NCAA event champion to return the next season to the Stanford team since Elizabeth Price rejoined the Cardinal after her 2015 NCAA Vault Title. Stanford's 2016 season was historic as the Cardinal won a share of the Ann Arbor Regional Championship trophy, its first regional title since 2010, and made its fifth consecutive appearance at the NCAA Championships, the longest streak in Stanford history.