Feb. 7, 2015 HOUSTON - The 13th-ranked Navy gymnastics team finished in third place in Saturday's All-Academy Championship in Houston, Texas. Taking on their rivals from Air Force and Army at NRG Arena, the Mids totaled 410.1 point, while the 10th-ranked Falcons won the title with 427.75 points. The No. 12 Black Knights completed the event with 2.8 more points than the Mids to finish in second place at 413.0.
Jonny Tang (So., Malvern, Pa.) won the all-around competition with a final total of 84.1 points. He scored 14 or more points on four of the six apparatus, including a 14.8 result in floor exercise. The rest of his scores from the all-around were a 14.45 on the pommel horse, 13.15 on the rings, 14.2 on the vault, 13.3 on the parallel bars and 14.2 on the high bar. He edged out Army's Jesse Glenn for top honors in the all-around by 0.25 points as the Black Knight gymnast recorded a final score of 83.85.
In the team competition, Navy recorded a score of 68.9 in the floor exercise, 68.65 on the pommel horse, 68.8 on the rings, 71.1 on the vault, 65.65 on the parallel bars and a 67.1 on the high bar. The Mids bested the Black Knights, next week's Star Meet opponent, in three of the six rotations and tied on the parallel bar. A 3.15-point differential in floor exercise and 2.8-point margin in high bar helped Army outpoint Navy on Saturday.
Tang led the Mids' effort in floor exercise at the meet as his 14.8 score was second only to Air Force's Aaron Nubine's 15.4. Mitchell Larios (Jr., Frisco, Texas) was Navy's second leading scoring during that rotation as he notched a 14.45 result. Noah Beeman (Fr., Dayton, Ohio) finished third in Navy's lineup with a score of 13.9.
In pommel horse action, Eric Morrison (Jr., Broomfield, Colo.) and Tang finished closely in the meet's rankings in fourth and sixth overall. Morrison completed his routine with a score of 14.65, while Tang followed with a 14.45. Michael Dorsey (Jr., Hollywood, Fla.) was Navy's third highest scorer with a 13.5 result.
The rings saw the Mids record three top-six scores on Saturday. Thomas Goodell (Sr., Hopkinton, Mass.) finished second overall with 14.3 points. Air Force's Denis Aurelius was first at 14.9. Joshua Steves (Sr., Houston, Texas) and Eric Viscardi (Sr., Marietta, Ga.) ranked fifth and sixth overall with 14.05 and 13.95 scores, respectively.
Navy recorded its best five-man score on the vault with 71.1 points. The Mids' top four competitions on the vault all notched scores of 14.2 or better. Larios was Navy's top vaulter with a 14.7 performance, good for second place. The Texas native nearly pulled out the event win, but was edged by Nubine, who recorded a 14.75. Other high scorers on the vault for Navy included Viscardi, David Frick (Jr., St. Johns, Fla.) and Tang, who registered results of 14.55, 14.25 and 14.2, respectively.
In parallel bar action, Vadim Ivanov (Fr., Las Vegas, Nev.) continued the strong start to his young career with a team-high score of 13.85. Ivanov's score ranked him fifth overall. Larios (13.5) and Tang (13.3) rounded out the top performers for Navy on the apparatus.
Tang's career-best all-around performance came to a close on Saturday with a career-high score of 14.2 on the high bar. His fourth place routine was followed on Navy's squad by Goodell, who came in seventh with a 13.6 score. A career-high 13.4 result for Frick ranked third for the Mids.
The Mids will be back in action next Saturday, Feb. 14 versus these same Black Knights in a dual meet with the 2015 Star on the line. The battle for the Star is slated to begin at 1 p.m. at Army's Christl Arena.
