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Alvin Chow

Seniors Josh Goldman (pictured above), Peter Derman, Dylan Carney, Brice Rolston and Alex Schorsch make up the men’s gymnastics Class of 2007.

For the No. 5 Stanford men’s gymnastics team, this Saturday’s tri-meet versus No. 2 Penn State and No. 8 Iowa is important for at least five reasons: It is the last home meet of the season, making it the last home meet for five seniors.

Their last home meet marks the team’s annual senior night, when the five seniors (Dylan Carney, Peter Derman, Alex Schorsch, Brice Rolston and Josh Goldman) will be honored for their contributions and commitment to the team over the past four years. All five athletes should see plenty of action during their last home meet in a Stanford uniform. They will be taking the meet very seriously, as they do not want a repeat of what happened around this time last year in University Park, Pa.

The Cardinal had seemingly wrapped up what appeared to be a hard-fought victory over a very good opponent in Penn State. But home-team advantage kicked in for the apparently defeated Nittany Lions. At the end of the competition, Penn State appealed three scores from earlier in the meet, after what already seemed to the Cardinal like biased judging throughout the day. The Nittany Lions won their appeals, gained a few tenths of a point here and there, and shockingly earned enough to barely squeak by the Cardinal, 216.800-216.750. That half of a tenth of a point is the reason that Saturday’s meet is so important for the Cardinal squad.

“We really want to beat them this year,” co-captain Carney said. “After what happened last year at their place, beating them in our house would be really awesome.”

But 2006’s tight loss is something that coach Thom Glielmi does not want the team to mull over.

“I’d rather not talk about it,” Glielmi said. “It was last year — it’s over. We have our eyes on new things right now. We have a different team this year, and so do they.”

Iowa and Penn State will not be easy victories for the Cardinal. Glielmi, in his sixth year as head coach, points out that among the challenges from both opponents are their gymnasts from outside the United States.

“Usually, if guys are from the United States, it is easier to track them and know how they perform because they probably have competed in some sort of [United States National Team program],” Glielmi said.

But take teams like Iowa and Penn State, which feature gymnasts from Puerto Rico, Canada and Europe, and the scouting gets a bit more difficult.

“With guys from outside the U.S., you never know what they have in store for that night,” Glielmi said. “You don’t know what they are going to bring. But we have our own things to focus on. We have our eye on April.”

April brings the NCAA Championships, which Glielmi is optimistic for if the Cardinal can put it all together at once. After several disheartening injuries, the team has put a solid lineup together that will carry the Cardinal into the big meets. The Stanford team believes that whoever goes out and competes will be able to get the job done, no matter what.

“Another big thing for us is that we are not dependent on emotion to be able to hit,” Glielmi said. “Other teams have to get their guys up, yelling and screaming, in order to hit. We don’t rely on that, which will really work in our favor come championship time.”

Glielmi is also not hesitant to rest some athletes as the season comes to a close. Derman, a team co-captain, did not compete last weekend and standout sophomore Bryant Hadden will only compete in a few events this weekend. This move is to ensure the best and healthiest possible lineup for the championship season.

“We have the potential to post a [total score above 220],” Glielmi said. “That is a very competitive score at the NCAAs. If we have all our guys healthy and at their best, then we just might be the team to beat.”

Saturday’s meet begins at 7 p.m. at Burnham Pavilion.