April 1, 2007

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- Adam Stanton won the individual title in the pommel horse at the ECAC Championships held this weekend at Temple University. In addition, five other Navy performances earned top eight honors and assistant coach Craig Holt was named the ECAC Assistant Coach of the Year, announced on Sunday evening.

Stanton recorded a score of 8.650 on the pommel horse to outdistance teammate Joe Atzenbeck (8.600), who finished third and Temple's Jon Vogtman (8.600), who placed second via tiebreaker. Stanton pulled off a outstanding swing with a great handstand pirouetting work through to his dismount. Atzenbeck's performance gave the Mids a one-three finish in the pommel horse.

Brandon Cook finished second in the vault with a score of 8.600, well behind Vogtman's score of 9.100. Cook's score was a result of a vaulted a very clean Kas half.

Navy's final top-three finish came from Isaac Olsen on the high bar with a score of 9.000. University of Illinois-Chicago's Tim Morrison claimed the title with a 9.100. Olsen wowed the crowd with his impeccable lines and a sky-high Geinger release.

Rounding out Navy's top-eight finishes came from Atzenbeck with a seventh-place showing in the parallel bars with a score of 7.850. Sean Blackman finished eighth in the rings with a score of 8.350.

During the competition, several conference honors were awarded based on a voting system by the coaches in the conference, where Holt was named by his peers as the Assistant Coach of the Year. Winning Coach of the Year was James Madison University's Roger Burke; Rookie of the Year went to UIC's Nikolai Korepanov; UIC's Tim Morrison won Senior Athlete of the Year; Army's George Rhynedance was awarded Most Improved Gymnast of the Year.

Navy will be in action next at the NCAA Qualifying Meet on April 12 in University Park, Pa., beginning at 1:00 pm.

# GO NAVY #