March 17, 2007
PHILADELPHIA - Navy junior gymnast Christopher Tam (Draper, Utah) led the team in three events and placed fourth in the all-around as the Midshipmen finished third out of three teams at a tri-meet with Temple and Army on Saturday afternoon in McGonigle Hall. The Mids concluded their regular season with a 9-11 mark, while the Owls improved to 15-3 and the Black Knights moved to 11-5.
Host Temple led the way with 206.15 points, followed by Army's 199.6 points and Navy's 193.2 points. Saturday's tri-meet was scheduled to be a dual-meet between Navy and Temple, but Army made the trip south to Philadelphia after its dual-meet against MIT was cancelled due to weather in the Northeast.
Tam concluded the day with 49.3 points in the all-around, scoring an 8.0 or higher in five of the six disciplines. The Navy junior tied with Temple's Sterling Kramer for the individual title on the high bar with 8.85 points. Tam also tied for second on the parallel bars with Temple's John Vogtman and Army's Mike Oliveira, scoring 8.35 points. Tam and Navy senior team captain Sean Blackman (Fayetteville, Ga.) tied for the team lead on the still rings, each receiving an 8.4 from the judges.
Sophomore Adam Stanton (Centennial, Colo.) also had a productive afternoon, scoring above an 8.0 in two events. He tied for second place with Temple's Luke Vexler on the pommel horse with a season-best score of 8.75. Later in the day, Stanton earned an 8.05 on the parallel bars for the team's second-best effort on the apparatus.
Junior Brandon Cook (Longmont, Colo.) led the squad in two disciplines and finished the day with three performances scoring higher than an 8.0. He placed third in the floor exercise with an 8.8 and paced the Midshipmen with an 8.1 from the judges on the vault. The Navy junior also recorded an 8.2 on the high bar, matching his season-best effort from the James Madison Invitational.
The Midshipmen will begin post-season play next weekend when they head down to Williamsburg, Va., to take part in the USAG Collegiate Championship. Navy finished second among five schools during last year's championship.
