When competition begins at the Winter Cup on Feb. 7, 84 gymnasts from across the country will be gunning for seven open spots on the United States Senior National Team. The top four gymnasts at the meet will be selected to the national squad, as well as three others from the field.

Enlarge
#gallery http://daily.stanford.edu/image/full/8496
Alex Oppenheimer

Junior Jason Shen and the Cardinal are set to travel to Las Vegas, Nev. this weekend to take part in the highly competitive Winter Cup Challenge, which will feature athletes from three MPSF rivals among numerous others.

Stanford’s nine entries are the most of any school. Cardinal gymnasts who will be competing include freshmen Alex Buscaglia, Josh Dixon, Tim Gentry and Ryan Lieberman; juniors Bryant Hadden and Sho Nakamori; and seniors Eli Alcaraz, Dylan Carney and David Sender.

Although the Winter Cup is a competition focused more on individual performance, it will be a good test for a number of the Cardinal’s top athletes. Freshman Ryan Lieberman placed well at the Winter Cup in ‘07, but he will have to improve on last year’s performance to succeed in the Senior division. Hadden, a specialist on still rings, pommel horse, and parallel bars, could make the Team with a strong showing in those events. Carney, the 2006 NCAA champion on high bar, will be looking to qualify in that event or one of his other specialties, floor exercise and vault.

Stanford claims two current National Team members, Dave Sender and Sho Nakamori. Sender is a two-time NCAA vault champion and competed for the U.S. National Team at the World Championships in 2006. Nakamori, a great competitor in the all-around competition, will be looking to solidify his spot on the Team as well. Although he was forced to redshirt last season due to injury, Nakamori has been a star for the Cardinal in 2008.

The Stanford men’s gymnastics team is coming off a strong showing at the Stanford Open on Jan. 26, where it posted the highest score in the country to date.

With seven freshmen — comprising almost 40 percent of the team — head coach Thom Glielmi has his hands full when trying to put together his best lineup. However, coach Glielmi has been pleased with the progress his young team has made. The freshmen have been a vital part of the team’s early success, and they will be counted on more and more as the season continues.

Fortunately, the Cardinal has strong senior leadership to rely on. Seniors Chris Harper and Eli Alcaraz, along with co-captains Sender and Carney, will be tasked with leading a young and talented team through the growing pains of the collegiate gymnastics season.

They will be helped by Brice Rolston, a senior and team leader in ‘07 who returns as an assistant coach. The team has already shown signs of improvement and maturity — the Cardinal’’s first-place finish at the Stanford Open came just one week after a disappointing road loss to Cal.

The Winter Cup will include gymnasts from Stanford, the University of Illinois, Michigan, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Minnesota, Penn State and Nebraska along with athletes from the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs and other clubs from across the nation.

Competition begins today and the field will be halved before Friday. The finals will take place on Saturday.