Jan. 27, 2007

WEST POINT, N.Y. - Navy junior gymnast Christopher Tam (Draper, Utah) placed third in the all-around to lead the Midshipmen to a fourth-place finish out of seven colleges at the West Point Open on Friday evening.

Penn State defended its title from last season and posted its 10th West Point Open title by scoring 214.7 points, followed by Temple's 199.5 points, Army's 197.75 points, Navy's 190.25 points, Springfield's 185.05 points, MIT's 174.1 points and James Madison's 162.15 points.

For the second time in as many meets this season, Tam scored above an 8.0 in all six disciplines in accumulating an all-around score of 49.9 to finish only 1.35 points behind all-around champion Matt Cohen's 51.25-point tally from Penn State.

The Navy junior led the team in scoring in the floor exercise (8.8), pommel horse (8.25), still rings (8.2) and parallel bars (8.05). His 8.8-point performance in the floor exercise tied his second-best mark in the event and was his highest score since the 2005 USAG Collegiate National Championship. He also earned an 8.55 on the high bar and an 8.05 on the vault. Each of his six efforts placed him among the top-20 performers, including 10th-place finishes on the pommel horse and high bar.

Junior Brandon Cook (Longmont, Colo.) posted a team-high score of 8.15 points on the vault to place 18th overall. Cook also finished 22nd in the floor exercise with his 8.5-point performance. Classmate Isaac Olson (Spokane, Wash.) led the squad on the high bar with his ninth-place score of 8.65.

Sophomore Ken Lee (Rockville, Md.) competed in the all-around for the second time this season and in his career on Friday, racking up a score of 44.6 points to rank 11th among all collegians. Lee's best performance came in the floor exercise, where he earned an 81.5 from the judges.

The Midshipmen (5-3) return to action next Saturday when they travel to Harrisonburg, Va., to take part in the James Madison Invitational.