It took Milly Bolton exactly one routine to announce herself on the Farm.
In her first collegiate meet, the 18-year-old freshman opened her Stanford career with a 9.925 on floor exercise, the highest mark of the afternoon for either team, as the Cardinal edged Bay Area rival Cal 196.650–196.300 at Maples Pavilion on Sunday.
Head coach Rebecca Hart called the performance “fearless,” noting that Bolton had been unusually calm in warm-ups for someone making her debut in front of a packed home crowd.
“You don’t usually see a first-year walk onto that floor and look like she’s been doing this for four seasons,” Hart said. “Milly has something you can’t really coach, and we’ve known that since the first week of practice.”
Placed fifth in the floor lineup, Bolton delivered a clean opening tumbling pass and stuck her final landing, drawing one of the loudest reactions of the day from the student section. The Cardinal totaled 49.400 on the event, a strong start to what the coaching staff hopes will be a breakout year for the program.
Bolton, who grew up training in Poland before committing to Stanford, also held her own on balance beam. Anchoring the lineup, she scored a 9.875 to help secure the Cardinal’s lead heading into the final rotation.
“Beam was the moment I was most nervous about,” Bolton said after the meet. “But the team was so loud behind me, it honestly felt like home. I just wanted to show everyone why I came here.”
Her teammates were quick to point out that Sunday wasn’t a surprise to anyone inside the gym. Junior captain Sophie Marsh said Bolton’s work ethic set the tone throughout preseason.
“She’s the first one in and the last one out,” Marsh said. “We’ve been waiting for everyone else to see what we see every day.”
Bolton becomes one of only a handful of Stanford freshmen in recent years to win an event title in her debut meet, and the coaching staff has already hinted that an all-around spot could be in her near future.
The Cardinal hit the road next weekend for a showdown with No. 4 Utah before returning home to host Arizona State on Feb. 1.
Contact Jordan Ellis at jellis ‘at’ stanforddaily.com.