March 31, 2007

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- Navy junior Christopher Tam finished eighth in the all-around to lead Navy to a fourth-place finish at the ECAC Championships hosted by Temple University this weekend. The ECAC Championships will conclude tomorrow with the individual event championships. The top eight finishers in each event likely qualify for tomorrow's event championships.

Navy scored 198.75 points, its second-highest output of the season. The Mids were just 1.65 points behind Army (200.30 pts.) and 4.05 points behind the University of Illinois-Chicago (202.70 pts.). Host Temple won the team title with a score of 208.40 points.

Tam recorded an overall score of 47.650 points en route to an eighth-place showing. He scored an 8.65 in floor exercise, a 6.50 in pommel horse, an 8.50 in still rings, a 7.70 in vault, a 7.70 in parallel bars and an 8.60 in high bar.

Navy also had several strong performances from three different competitors that finished in the top eight in the individual events. The top eight finishers in today's action will likely compete in tomorrow's events finals. The coaches were meeting after tonight's action to verify tomorrow's finalists.

Joseph Atzenbeck finished second in the pommel horse with a season-high score of 8.55. Atzenback also finished eighth in the parallel bars with a score of 8.35.

Sean Blackman placed third in the still rings with an impressive score of 9.25. The tally was a season high for Blackman by 0.35 points.

Lastly, Brandon Cook finished fourth in the vault with an 8.55.

Tomorrow's individual event championships will begin at 2:00 pm in Philadelphia.

# GO NAVY #