Stanford captured its seventh national championship, including the second consecutive crown

Eric Miller

MINNEAPOLIS – Turning in its best score of the year at 414.521, Stanford captured its second consecutive men’s gymnastics national title on Saturday from Maturi Pavilion.

The national title is the seventh in program history, as the Cardinal also won it all in 2019, 2011, 2009, 1995, 1993 and 1992.

Oklahoma (411.591) and Michigan (410.358) followed in second and third, respectively. Nebraska took fourth with a score of 406.624, followed by Minnesota (406.291) and Illinois (397.991).

Junior Brody Malone repeated as an individual national champion, capturing the all-around and high bar titles for the second time in as many championship meets.

Malone turned in an 85.064 in the all-around, edging 2021 Nissen-Emery Award winner Shane Wiskus (84.866) of Minnesota for the title. Malone hit for a season-best 14.466 to win the high bar championship, marking the fifth consecutive high bar title for Stanford. A career-best 14.366 on still rings (second overall) and a season-high 14.666 on floor also added to the stellar all-around total and nabbed All-America honors.

The native of Summerville, Ga. is the first NCAA men’s gymnast to win the all-around title in his first two championship meets. He is also the first to win the all-around in back-to-back seasons since Michigan’s Sam Mikulak (2013-14). With two individual national titles on Saturday night, Malone has tied the program record for the most in Stanford history with five – joining Steve Hug and Akash Modi.

Led by the four All-American selections for Malone, Stanford garnered 15 as a team – one shy of the program record set in 2020. Riley Loos and Ian Gunther both collected three All-America selections, with Loos taking third on still rings (14.166), fourth on floor (14.66) and sixth on high bar with a mark of 13.633. Gunther earned his selections by way of a fourth-place finish on rings (14.066), a fifth-place finish on pommel horse (13.633), and a seventh-place finish on parallel bars (13.833).

Three Cardinal gymnasts took home All-America honors on vault, with Zach Martin taking second (14.900), Curran Phillips nabbing third (14.733), and Brandon Briones earning a share of fifth with a score of 14.666. Briones would also finish third overall in the all-around with a mark of 82.165 to claim a second All-America honor.

Nissen-Emery Award finalist Blake Sun was the final Stanford gymnast to earn All-America honors, claiming a share of seventh overall on parallel bars with a score of 13.833.

Stanford Championship Notes

  • Stanford is the nation’s all-time leader in NCAA team championships (128), totaling nine more than second-place UCLA (119). The Cardinal has won 155 national championships overall.
  • Stanford captured two national championships on Saturday, with synchronized swimming also claiming the U.S. Collegiate Nationals title. The Cardinal last won multiple championships on the same day back on Dec. 8, 2019 (NCAA men’s water polo, NCAA women’s soccer).
  • Stanford has won at least one NCAA team championship during each of the last 45 seasons, dating back to the 1976-77 campaign.
  • Of Stanford’s 128 NCAA championships, 68 have come from men’s programs and 60 from women’s programs.
  • Of Stanford’s 128 NCAA championships, 35 have been won by fall sports, 30 by winter sports and 63 by spring sports.
  • Stanford has won 52 NCAA championships since 2000.
  • The seven men’s gymnastics national titles are the fifth-most team titles in the nation (Penn State 12, Oklahoma 12, Illinois 10, Nebraska 8).
  • Head coach Thom Glielmi has led the Cardinal to four NCAA titles, which ranks third overall among active Stanford head coaches and trails only Lele Forood of women’s tennis (10) and John Tanner of men’s water polo (7).
  • Men’s gymnastics is the first Cardinal men’s program to win consecutive NCAA titles since men’s soccer completed a three-peat from 2015-17.