High above the floor at Maples Pavilion during Saturday’s NCAA gymnastics West Regional sat Mike Clayton.

Clayton, a San Jose resident, chose to watch from the last row of the building because he wanted the entire event to sink in.

“This is the first post-season event I have been to,” Clayton said. “The crowd is very active.”

Clayton, who was supporting his hometown San Jose Spartans, was surprised with the large turnout for the event. “This is much larger than what I am used to for a gymnastics event,” he said.

Clayton was one of over 3,000 fans who came to Stanford University to support their schools’ gymnastics program. The large, diverse and energetic crowd showed its colors every time a gymnast hit a signature move or nailed a landing.

Fans were there from all the schools, but Alabama, Stanford and Oregon State seemed to have the largest followings.

Jessie Galvin made the 7 1??2 hour drive down from Oregon to support the Beavers. “Our softball team is down here playing Cal right now, so we decided to come and support the gymnastics program as well,” he said. Galvin, who was attending his first gymnastics meet, was impressed with all the team’s support. “It’s really easy to get into it with such a large crowd.”

Sunnyvale resident Cody Chase came to the event to support the Crimson Tide. Chase, an Alabama alumnus, said the crowd was good, but did not compare to the 14,000 to 15,000 people that would sell out Alabama’s arena. “Students get in free, but if you didn’t get there early, you wouldn’t get in,” Chase said.

In the end Clayton was disappointed in the Spartans, but was very happy to be part of such a stellar crowd.

“The most impressive thing about the crowd at the event was the amount of respect they had for every team,” Clayton said.

Vincent Gesuele can be reached at [email protected]