The stands might not have been completely full, but the energy in Burnham Pavilion for the men’s gymnastics meet last Saturday night was felt in each and every corner of the room. The No. 5 Cardinal came from behind in a tightly contested meet to down No. 2 Penn State and No. 9 Iowa in an emotional victory. The Cardinal finished with a 216.70 total, while Penn State was close behind with 214.80 and Iowa was in third with 204.75.

Entering the parallel bars 1.5 points behind Penn State, and needing to be solid on the final two rotations, Stanford kicked it into gear. Highlighted by junior Chris Harper’s 9.1, the crowd was electrified throughout the parallel bars, roaring after each member of the Cardinal dismounted and landed with ease. With Penn State suffering a few falls off the high bar, Stanford knew that its high bar score would make or break the meet.

In perhaps the finest rotation of the night for the team, freshman Andrew McIntyre put together a great routine and tallied an 8.8. McIntyre’s performance got the crowd going, and the Cardinal was high-flying from there. Sophomore Bryant Hadden scored a 9.3 and the defending NCAA high bar champion, senior Dylan Carney, scored an outstanding 9.7.

The momentum built for Stanford, who barely took notice of Penn State’s struggles on their final event of the night, the vault. The final gymnast for Stanford, junior David Sender, sparked the loudest roar from the audience, as he launched off the high bar and perfectly stuck his landing en route to a 9.25. The team tallied a solid 37.05 on the event, vaulting into the lead to claim the victory.

Stanford outscored second-place finisher Penn State 72.70-69.30 on the final two events, and largely attributed it to the energy that the team, as well as the fans, had down the stretch.

“This is absolutely amazing,” Sender, the all-around champion (55.55), said. “This has been the most fun meet of the year. I can’t even describe the feeling right now. It was a little rough at the beginning, and we really didn’t even know how close [to Penn State] we were.”

Sender had a right to be excited. When he hit the landing off the high bar, he clenched his fists and smiled, a signal that he most likely just performed the meet-clinching routine.

“This is one of the greatest feelings I have ever had,” Sender continued. “The team fought for everything. We knew [every tenth] mattered tonight. This is great.”

Head coach Thom Glielmi agreed with Sender that every point mattered.

“The team understood the importance of each tenth,” he said. “It was tough all night, but we never gave up and we got the job done.”

The team’s victory was even more celebrated due to the fact that it came on Senior Night and was the last home meet of the season.

“To come out here on Senior Night and do our jobs so well is amazing,” said Harper, who was one of the emotional sparks for the team as the meet progressed.

“These seniors are awesome,” he added. “We are all such good friends. To do it for them — on this stage — is great.”

Other highlights of the meet included a great night for freshman Lucas Hughes, who did not let the liveliness in the pavilion hinder his performance. He stepped up when needed and competed very well in his four events: the floor exercise (8.4), pommel horse (8.35), parallel bars (8.55) and high bars (7.6).

“As a freshman, I haven’t really experienced a meet that was so high-energy,” Hughes said. “It is so much more intense to compete when everybody in the crowd is so pumped up. I was a little nervous, but I had so much adrenaline from the crowd that it kind of balanced out.”

Additionally, the Cardinal foursome of Sender, Hadden and seniors Josh Goldman and Alex Schorsch tallied the highest score of the night on the still rings (37.55) — an event that continues to be very strong for the squad despite frequently entering only four gymnasts.

The victory this past weekend gives Stanford momentum as it heads into the championship season. The team has been working hard with its training regimes and will continue to do so as it looks to be one of the top contenders for the NCAA title.

The Cardinal will now welcome a few weeks off before it returns to action in two weeks. The squad will spend spring break on campus, training for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Championships on March 31 in Berkeley, Calif. MPSF opponents for Stanford include No. 4 Oklahoma, No. 7 California, No. 10 Nebraska and No. 16 Air Force. The meet will surely feature high-end gymnastics in preparation for the NCAA Championships held Apr. 12-14 in State College, Penn.