The Stanford men’s gymnastics team looks to get its 2008 campaign off to a roaring start while living up to their preseason ranking as the top team in the country when they compete at the 38th annual Windy City Invitational at the University of Illinois at Chicago this Saturday. A newcomer to the event, the Cardinal will face a tough slate of Midwestern competition at the event, including six other squads ranked in the preseason top 15.

After two straight third-place team finishes at the NCAA Championships, Stanford’s hopes are riding high that this could be the year for a first place finish. In addition, the team will have the luxury of hosting the championship competition in 2008.

Stanford took home a third place finish at last year’s NCAA Team Championships, topped only by Penn State and Oklahoma. But with returning standout seniors David Sender, who finished first individually in the vault in 2007, and All-Americans Chris Harper and Dylan Carney, the Cardinal leapt to the top of the rankings during the offseason.

Stanford returns 12 of 16 gymnasts and also netted a talented class of recruits, including three time junior-national all-around champion Tim Gentry from Plano, Texas and three-time junior-national team member Ryan Lieberman from Lake Forest, Ill.

The Cardinal received eight first place votes in the rankings, topping No. 2 Penn State’s four, No. 3 Oklahoma’s two and No. 4 Ohio State’s one. Archrival California placed fifth in the preseason polls, but failed to garner any votes for the top spot in the rankings as the only other west coast squad in the top 15.

The talented field Stanford is set to face in Chicago includes the No. 4 Buckeyes, No. 6 Michigan, No. 7 Minnesota, No. 8 Illinois, No. 9 Iowa and a No. 13 Illinois-Chicago host squad.

Following the squad’s competition in Chicago, the Cardinal is set to face conference foe No. 5 Cal in Berkeley on Jan. 18, before hosting the Stanford Open from Jan. 25-27.