Feb. 15, 2009
PORTLAND, Ore. - Navy gymnasts Dylan Parrott (So./Rockwell, N.C.), Andrew Faulk (Fr./San Antonio, Texas) and Adam Stanton (Sr./Centennial, Colo.) each played a key role in a come-from-behind team victory over Air Force and Army at the All-Academy Championship at the Multnomah Athletic Club on Saturday night.
The No. 11 Midshipmen (12-1) posted a season-best team score of 335.6 points to win their second-consecutive All-Academy title, more than three points higher than their previous mark. No. 16 Air Force (3-8) placed second with 330.8 points and No. 18 Army (1-9) finished third with its 312.9 points.
The Midshipmen won each of the final-three events - vault (season-best 61.5 points), parallel bars (season-best 55.05 points) and high bar (54.2 points) - and combined for an impressive score of 170.75 points among those three disciplines to erase Air Force's advantage in the first half of the meet. Navy also boasted the highest team score on the pommel horse with another season-high performance, 54.7 points.
"Our guys did a great job fighting back during the second half of the meet," stated Navy head coach Dr. Sho Fukushima. "We struggled during the first half of the meet, but our guys came back and stepped up their performance to win the meet."
Parrott won the high bar with a score of 14.2 points and placed second on the parallel bars with a 13.85-point routine to play a major role in Navy's rally. The Navy sophomore also landed in second place on the floor exercise with a score of 14.2 points and won the all-around competition with a season-best tally of 85.05 points - 1.50 points above his previous standard.
Fellow all-around gymnast Faulk finished second in the competition with his season-best performance of 83.35 points - a full two points higher than his mark in winning the Star Meet at Army last Saturday. The Navy freshman executed a double-twist with a perfect landing on the vault for an eye-popping mark of 16.05 points to claim first-place honors. He also finished third on the high bar with a 13.5-point routine and opened the night by topping the field on the floor exercise with a 14.3-point score from the judges.
Stanton joined in by winning two events on Saturday evening. The Navy team captain registered a season-high score of 13.95 points on the parallel bars to best the field, prior to which he won the pommel horse with a solid 14.35-point routine.
Classmate Trey James (Sr./Matthews, N.C.) immediately followed Stanton in second place on the pommel horse with a season-high 14.25-point showing. Ken Lee (Sr./Rockville, Md.) also bested his previous season-best score on the vault with his third-place performance of 15.25 points.
The Midshipmen will return home to host their final home meet of the year on Saturday, Feb. 28, when they welcome back William & Mary and Springfield into Macdonough Hall. The meet will start at 2 p.m. and admission is free.
