Stanford wins 5th straight men's gymnastics crown
Sophomore Asher Hong won three individual titles and Khoi Young captured the all-around title to help the Stanford men's gymnastics team capture its fifth consecutive NCAA championship on Saturday in Columbus, Ohio.
The Cardinal pulled away in the fifth of six rounds to score 425.324 to runner-up Michigan's 419.689.
Hong won the vault (15.266), parallel bars (15.100), and rings (14.966), and Young was the all-around champions with 86.098 points.
Stanford has won 10 NCAA men's gymnastics titles in all.
Saturday, Stanford led the entire meet, scoring 73.632 on vault and never looked back.
Young had scores of 15.133 on vault, 14.900 on parallel bars, 13.400 on high bar, 14.166 on floor, 15.233 on pommel horse, and 13.266 on rings. He is the fifth different Stanford gymnast to win an NCAA all-around title and it was the ninth overall by a Cardinal. Previous all-around champions from Stanford were Steve Hug (1972-74), Jon Louis (1986), Akash Modi (2015, 2017), and Brody Malone (2019, 2021).
NWSL
BAY FC LOSES ON ROAD >> The Kansas City Current scored three times in the second half to hold off Bay FC 5-2.
Bay FC (2-3) trailed 2-1 at halftime behind Kayla Sharples' goal in the 17th minute, but didn't score againTess Boade in the 78th minute to make it 5-2.
Bay FC's next match is May 1 at home against the Portland Thorns.
Golf
SCHEFFLER CARDS 63, LEADS RBC HERITAGE >> Masters champion Scottie Scheffler was relentless as ever Saturday with another bogey-free round at the RBC Heritage, an 8-under 63 that gave him a one-shot lead and left him one round from joining some rare company.
Not since Bernhard Langer in 1985 has a Masters champion won the following week on the PGA Tour at Harbour Town. The only other Masters champion to win the next week was Gary Player in 1978 at the Tournament of Champions.
“I think when I'm playing my best, sometimes it feels like I'm competing against myself a little bit out there, trying to keep pushing and stay as focused as I can,” Scheffler said.
Scheffler was at 16-under 197. Sepp Straka made a 15-foot birdie putt on the last hole for a 65 to get within one shot. They will be in the final group today, with a different wind and thunderstorms in the forecast.
KORDA ONE SHOT OFF LEAD IN SUSPENED CHEVRON >> Nelly Korda was one shot off the lead at the Chevron Championship in Woodlands, Texas when the third round was suspended Saturday because of lightning in the area.
Play at Carlton Woods was halted just before 3 p.m. and called for the day two-and-a-half hours later with dangerous conditions remaining. The third round of the LPGA's first major of the season will resume this morning, with the final round scheduled to commence just before 9:30 a.m.
Korda was 3-under 41 through 11 holes in the third round and 10 under overall. She entered Saturday one shot off the lead after posting a 7-under 137 through the first two rounds.
Atthaya Thitikul is leading the field at 11 under through 12 holes.
NFL
FORMER L.A. RAMS QB GABRIEL DIES >> Roman Gabriel, the former North Carolina State quarterback who was the 1969 NFL MVP with the Los Angeles Rams, died Saturday. He was 83.
Gabriel's son, Roman III, announced his father's death in a social-media post, saying he had “passed away peacefully” that morning of natural causes at home.
Gabriel was a two-time player of the year in the Atlantic Coast Conference (1960 and 1961) while at N.C. State, becoming the first ACC quarterback to throw for 1,000 yards in a season.
He ended up being the No. 2 overall NFL draft pick of the Rams, where he played from 1962-72 before playing with the Philadelphia Eagles from 1973-77. He was the MVP in 1969, throwing for 2,549 yards and 24 touchdowns to go with five rushing scores.
He was a Pro Bowl pick four times. He threw for 22,223 yards and 154 touchdowns in his 11-year career with the Rams, leaving that franchise as its career leading passer.
Tennis
RYBAKINA OUSTS SWIATEK AT PORSCHE GRAND PRIX >> Elena Rybakina defeated top-ranked Iga SwiAtek 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 to reach the Porsche Grand Prix final and end Swiatek's hopes of a third consecutive title on Saturday.
Rybakina, the world No. 4, hit 10 aces and saved 11 of the 13 break points she faced to win the first semifinal at the clay-court tournament in 2 hours, 49 minutes.
Rybakina will play Marta Kostyuk in today's final after the 27th-ranked Ukrainian defeated Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 7-6 (2), 6-2 in the other semifinal.
It will be Rybakina's fifth final of the season.
Swiatek was under constant pressure on serve from Rybakina. She faced 20 break points and lost four of them. Seven double faults and 42 unforced errors didn't help.
Motorsports
TEENAGER LOVE WINS NASCAR XFINITY RACE >> Nineteen-year-old rookie Jesse Love won the first NASCAR Xfinity Series of his career in a crash-marred, double-overtime finish at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday.
Love held off Brennan Poole, who pulled alongside roaring into the trioval, and took the checkered flag 0.141 seconds ahead of Riley Herbst. Anthony Alfredo and Leland Honeyman claimed the next two spots, MCDOWELL TAKES POLE FOR NASCAR CUP RACE >> Michael McDowell of Front Row Motorsports earned the pole position for today's race at Talladega at 182.022 mph.
He was followed by two more Ford drivers — Team Penske's Austin Cindric (181.739) and McDowell's Front Row teammate, Todd Gilliland (181.401).
VERSTAPPEN WINS F1 POLE >> Max Verstappen of Red Bull has completed a Formula 1 double, taking the pole Saturday for the Chinese Grand Prix just hours after winning the first F1 sprint of the season.
Teammate Sergio Perez will start alongside Verstappen today on the front row with Fernando Alonso.