Stanford gymnastics never fell, a feat that no other team was able to match at the three-day NCAA Championships this past weekend. And though only four-tenths of a point separated second and fifth place, the Card is content with a fifth-place finish on a 196.825 score.

“When we stood on the floor behind our fifth-place banner, we were only 20 feet away from the first-place banner,” sophomore Kelly Fee said. “Last year, we were hundreds of miles away. This meet was a necessary step toward a future national title, and we’re all very pleased with our finish.”

Six Stanford gymnasts, the most in school history, walked away with 13 All-American awards. Five Stanford gymnasts also qualified for the individual event finals.

The Card started in the prelims last Thursday night and placed second in its session to become one of the “Super six” that moved on to the final day of national team competition.

“We hit 24-for-24 routines on the day of prelims for first time since January, so it was amazing to have the opportunity to compete on the final day of the year,” sophomore Nicole Ourada said.

Stanford vaulted its way into the “Super Six” with confidence and precision. High scores included junior Tabitha Yim’s 9.9 and junior Alex Pintchouk’s 9.875. Stanford also posted a team vault score of 49.225.

Halfway through the competition, Stanford stood one-tenth of a point ahead of UCLA, just like coach Kristen Smyth had hoped.

“We definitely expected it to be a dog fight,” Smyth said. “To hang in with those kind of great teams was outstanding.”

The Card’s performance on the balance in the pre-lim competition was solid, and Stanford went into Friday’s routines with confidence. Junior Lauren Elmore led off with a 9.8, and five solid routines followed. A 49.25 on the beam turned out to be the third-highest team score on any event all night.

Stanford moved to the last event, the floor exercise, knowing that one mistake could take them out of the running. The team stepped up to the challenge and put together an outstanding performance, highlighted by a 9.9 from freshman Carly Janiga and a difficult routine by Elmore.

“Lauren has one of the hardest routines out there; she completed a full twisting double back in her first pass and had lots of bonuses throughout the routine,” Smyth said. “This was the best floor rotation of any team that I have coached.”

At the end of the night, the Card stood proud as it was awarded its fifth-place All-Around title.

“I can’t even attempt to explain what I felt at that moment,” Yim said. “All the morning practices, cardio, pressure sets — all the sacrifices we made as a team went in to that moment, and it was definitely worth the effort.”

Five girls went on to compete in the individual event finals on Saturday: Tricase and Janiga on the vault; Ourada, Fee and Yim on the beam; and Janiga and Yim on the floor.

Tricase chose to scratch from the vault finals due to a flare-up in her shoulder from the two days of competition beforehand. Janiga went on to compete and scored a 9.75.

On the balance beam, Yim scored a 9.83375, and Fee fought a wobble on her flight series to earn a 9.75. Ourada, a gymnast who has only competed on the beam seven times this season, scored a 9.875 to earn a tie for third.

“We are so proud of Nicole,” Smyth said. “She has worked so hard and come so far this season. She was the very last one to compete in front of an arena of 10,000 people. She stepped up when the pressure was on and nailed her routine.”

Janiga and Yim both scored 9.8875 to tie for eighth.

The Card will have every single gymnast returning next year, plus three new recruits and a healthy freshman, Allyse Ishino — all giving the women “incredible depth,” according to Smyth.

With this year’s return to the NCAA Championships (after a two-year hiatus), Stanford has shown that it belongs at nationals and sees this year as a great jump-off point for next year.

“We proved all season long that we’re one of the best teams in the country, and we’re ready to build from here,” Tricase said. “Also, the experience of competing in a Super Six is embedded in our minds and is going to be an invaluable asset to our mental game as we train for next year.”