March 20, 2015 COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Led by Jonny Tang's (So., Malvern, Pa.) title in the all-around competition, the Navy gymnastics team finished second at the 2015 USA Gymnastics Collegiate Championship on Friday. Competing versus an eight-team field at Air Force's Cadet West Gym, the Mids recorded 412.45 points to finish runner-up to the host Falcons, who were victorious at the national event for the sixth straight year.
Air Force won the team event with a season-high score of 432.85. Behind Navy's 412.45, William & Mary finished third at 410.1, while Arizona State was fourth overall with 404.8 points. The Sun Devils were the top finishing club squad.
This was the first runner-up result at the championships for the Mids since 2009 when they finished second to William & Mary.
In the all-around competition, Tang became the first Navy gymnast since Andrew Faulk in 2012 to take home first place honors. The sophomore finished atop a 12-man field with a final score of 83.75. He scored 14.35 on the floor exercise, 12.6 on the pommel horse, 14.25 on the rings, 14.15 on the vault, 14.35 on the parallel bars and 14.05 on the high bar. His efforts on the floor exercise (9th), rings (10th), parallel bars (5th) and high bar (4th) earned him top-10 rankings.
As a team, the Mids scored a 71.95 in the floor exercise, 62.55 on the pommel horse, 71.75 on the rings, 71.35 on the vault, 68.90 on the parallel bars and 65.95 on the high bar. The result on the floor exercise was a season-best.
The duo of Mitchell Larios (Jr., Frisco, Texas) and Eric Viscardi (Sr., Marietta, Ga.) led Navy's floor exercise lineup with top-six scores of 14.65 and 14.6, respectively. Both results qualified them for Saturday's individual event finals. Noah Beeman (Fr., Dayton, Ohio), Tang and Eric Morrison (Jr., Broomfield, Colo.) gave the Mids' lineup five gymnasts with scores of 14.0 or better as Beeman and Tang notched identical 14.35's, while Morrison recorded a 14.0. This was the first time in 2015, that Navy's entire counting five registered scores in the 14's.
Navy had two more qualifiers for Saturday's action come from the rings. Thomas Goodell (Sr., Hopkinton, Mass.) and Joshua Steves (Sr., Houston, Texas) finished fourth and fifth overall on the apparatus with scores of 14.7 and 14.65, respectively. Tang and Viscardi gave Navy four gymnasts in the top-10 as the pair tied for 10th at 14.25.
The Mids' final event with two Saturday qualifiers was the parallel bars. Tang and Larios advanced as they led Navy with scores of 14.35 and 14.1, respectively. Goodell just missed qualifying as he recorded the ninth-highest score on the day at 14.0.
Though only one of their gymnasts qualified for the event finals, all five Midshipmen that stepped to the line for an attempt on the vault scored in the 14's. Larios, the lone qualifier, led the way with a 14.65 score. His score tied him for second overall. The rest of Navy's lineup included Viscardi, who scored a 14.3, Tang at 14.15, David Frick (Jr., St. Johns, Fla.) at 14.15 and Zac Ceroli (Jr., Angier, N.C.) at 14.1. This was the second straight week that Navy's entire lineup reached the 14.0 benchmark.
Tang was the only Midshipmen to qualify on the high bar as he recorded the fourth-best score overall at 14.05.
Morrison was the top finisher for Navy on the pommel horse as his 13.45 score ranked 13th overall.
The individual event finals for the championship where USAG Collegiate All-American accolades will be on the line begins on Saturday at 2 p.m. local time (MT), 4 p.m. ET. Live free video for the finals will be provided by Air Force. Click here for the link ... Live Video
Navy Event Finalists on Saturday
FX: Larios, Tang
R: Goodell, Steves
V: Larios
PB: Tang, Larios
HB: Tang
