Only one gymnastics-less weekend separates the gymnastics community from NCAA gymnastics, and the No. 22 Stanford Cardinal will kick off their 2020 season at the California Grand Invitational & Collegiate Challenge.

Collegiate challenge sessions will stream live here on FloGymnastics.

Stanford Cardinal

2019 Record: 6-9
2019 Final Ranking: No. 22
2019 Preseason Ranking: No. 21
2020 Preseason Ranking: No. 22
Gymnasts lost: Taryn Fitzgerald, Hailee Hoffman, Nicole Hoffman, Catherine Rogers
Gymnasts gained: Jade Chrobok, Kelly Ramm, Adela Stonecipher, Chloe Widner

Stanford had a solid 2019 season, finishing at No. 22 and earning a season-high 195.525 at the end of the regular season. Its team scores fluctuated a bit last season, but it only scored a team total in the 194.000 range once, which isn’t bad at all, especially since 11 of its 17 gymnasts last season were underclassmen.

The Stanford Cardinal lost four gymnasts: Taryn Fitzgerald and the Hoffman twins to graduation, while Catherine Rogers (who would be a junior) is no longer on the roster. Fitzgerald and Hailee Hoffman were the only two who were consistently in lineups, so they don’t need to fill many spots. 

Fitzgerald was a staple in the vault and beam lineups, and head coach Tabitha Yim called her “a rock.” Her vault wasn’t the strongest, but she was able to hit her vaults often for scores in the 9.700-9.800 range. On beam, she often contributed solid routines scoring in the mid-9.700 to 9.850 range. So what the Cardinal lost on vault and beam weren’t the best, highest scoring routines but reliable ones that could hit and lead things off to set the tone for the event.

Hailee Hoffman competed on floor in every meet for Stanford. She was a solid and reliable competitor on the event, mostly scoring in the 9.800 range. Again, what Stanford lost wasn’t its top routine but one that was consistent and reliable.

The Cardinal have a strong freshman class, led by Canadian elite Jade Chrobok and reigning J.O. National, Region 3, and Texas state champion Chloe Widner. Both Chrobok and Widner could fill any of the spots the Cardinal have open. Chrobok excels on bars and beam, winning bars at the 2017 Pan American Championships and qualifying to the beam final at the 2018 Pan American Championships. The Canadian national team member also has a Yurchenko 1.5 vault that the Cardinal will definitely want to use as they don’t have many 10.0 vaults.

Widner is strong on all four, capable of scoring 9.700+ on every event in J.O. She has a clean and precise Yurchenko full that could easily make lineup despite its lack of difficulty—she got a 9.900 on vault at J.O. Nationals. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Widner emerge and contend as an all-around gymnast for Stanford.

Returning gymnasts in contention for lineup spots on vault, bars, and beam include Grace Garcia, Morgan Hoang, Wesley Stephenson, and Ashley Tai. Garcia and Hoang both vaulted a few times last season but weren’t able to solidify spots in the lineup. Stephenson competed bars a few times early last season but had consistency issues. Tai appeared in the beam lineup sparingly throughout the season and showed much improvement from the first meet of 2019 to the last, going from a 9.075 to a 9.800. If any of the aforementioned gymnasts can find consistency, they can all legitimately contend for lineup spots.

Key returners include Kyla Bryant, Kaylee Cole,and Rachael Flam. Bryant is Stanford’s all-around star, competing in the all-around in all but one meet last season. She’s capable of scoring a 9.900+ on bars, beam, and floor, and her career-high in the all-around is 39.5250. 

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Cole was a staple in the vault, beam, and floor lineups. She’s a good lead-off gymnast for the Cardinal on vault and floor, able to hit and set the tone for her team. On beam, she was a bit shaky last year with a few low scores, but Cole is capable of scoring a 9.800 on the event when she hits.

Flam is Stanford’s other all-around star, although she didn’t compete all four as often as Bryant. With an Omelianchik vault, Flam was the only Stanford gymnast to have a 10.0 vault last season. She did pretty well with it, earning a 9.900 at Pac-12 Championships, and otherwise often scored in the 9.800 range.

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Bars wasn’t her strongest event, and she didn’t compete it every meet, but Flam is capable of hitting a solid routine for a 9.800. Beam isn’t her most consistent event either, but she scored a 9.875 once last season, so she can really nail it when she gets it right. Flam did compete floor in every meet last season and has a career-high 9.900 on the event. With one year under her belt, Flam should be more experienced and used to the NCAA environment and schedule, which should help her excel even more in 2020.

While Stanford will certainly want to replace the routines it lost, it will also want to focus on improving the quality of its gymnastics in order to move back up the top-25 rankings in 2020.