March 24, 2007
Results
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - Navy junior gymnast Christopher Tam (Draper, Utah) finished second in the all-around to lead the Midshipmen to a second-place performance out of six varsity teams at the USAG Collegiate National Championship on Saturday afternoon at William & Mary's Kaplan Arena.
The Midshipmen repeated their second-place finish from a season before with a team score of 198.0 points, their second-highest output on the year. Host William & Mary claimed its seventh-consecutive USAG Collegiate Championship title with a team tally of 199.85 points. Air Force came in third place with 191.3 points, followed by Springfield's 179.75 points, MIT's 176.85 points and James Madison's 160.45 points.
The annual collegiate division championship is sponsored by USA Gymnastics, the national governing body of the sport. In addition to the six varsity programs, club teams from Arizona State, Texas and Washington partook in the event.
Tam earned USAG collegiate division All-America status for his 48.85-point performance in the all-around on Saturday and will compete in four disciplines during the individual event finals tomorrow. Tam scored an 8.7 in the floor exercise, an 8.35 on the still rings, an 8.35 on the high bar and a 7.8 on the pommel horse to advance in each of the events. The Navy junior also registered an 8.25-point performance on the parallel bars.
Sophomore Joseph Atzenbeck (Broomfield, Colo.) topped the field of competitors on the pommel horse, qualifying for tomorrow's action with a season-best 8.5 from the judges. He has scored an 8.25 or higher during each of his last-four performances on the apparatus.
Junior Brandon Cook (Longmont, Colo.) produced a solid afternoon for the Midshipmen, joining Tam as a multiple-event qualifier for the event finals. Cook placed second in the floor exercise with a season-best score of 9.15 and stuck his landing on the vault for an 8.35. Classmate Jon-Michael Chombeau (Beaverton, Ore.) also stuck his landing on the vault, earning an 8.2 from the judges to make it through to Saturday's competition.
Two Midshipmen that have been working their way back from time missed during the season also advanced to Saturday's finals. Junior Isaac Olson (Spokane, Wash.) came in second on the high bar with an impressive 9.0 routine, while senior team captain Sean Blackman (Fayetteville, Ga.) posted a season-best 8.9 on the still rings to place third.
Sophomores Adam Stanton (Centennial, Colo.) and James Godfrey (Columbia, S.C.) scored higher than an 8.0 on the parallel bars to earn the right to compete for the event title on Saturday. Stanton finished second with an 8.45-point routine and Godfrey produced a fourth-place performance of 8.3 points.
As a team, the Midshipmen set a season high on the high bar (33.8 points) and posted their second-best score of the year in both the floor exercise (34.25 points) and parallel bars (32.75 points).
The individual event finals are slated for a 2 p.m. start tomorrow in Kaplan Arena.
