April 3, 2016 WILLIAMSBURG, Va. Â- One day after securing its first ECAC Championship title since 1989, the Navy gymnastics program was hitting on all cylinders in Sunday's action at the ECAC Championships. The Mids collected four individual event titles on the pommel horse, rings, vault and parallel bars at Kaplan Arena on the campus of William & Mary. Mitchell Larios (Sr., Frisco, Texas) won two titles, while Eric Morrison (Sr., Broomfield, Colo.) and Connor Gonzales (Sr., Glen Ellyn, Ill.) each finished atop the podium once.
"Today was a day for the record books," remarked head coach Kip Simons. "Winning four events at the conference is impressive. We hit all 17 routines performed this afternoon just a day after our emotional team win. We had great alumni and fan support this weekend and they definitely got what they came for. Our student-athletes will remember this weekend for the rest of their lives."
Morrison was the first Midshipman to collect an event championship as he posted a 14.7 score on the pommel horse. Amongst a field of 10 competitors, the senior bested his opponents by 0.5 points as Springfield's Jon Zirna finished runner-up at 14.2. Morrison's score was the second highest of his 2016 season. Michael Dorsey (Sr., Hollywood, Fla.) gave Navy two gymnasts in the top-three as he tied a career-best score of 14.15.
Gonzales was the second Navy athlete to garner a first-place accolade as he highlighted a one, two finish by the Midshipmen on the rings as he held off his teammate Eric Poletti (Sr., Lancaster, Pa.) by 0.15 points at 15.3 to 15.15. Gonzales' point total was a personal-best and marked the first time in his four-year career that he had scored above 14.95. The two Navy athletes finished 0.6 and 0.45 ahead of William & Mary's Nick Van Dyke, who finished third. Sunday marked the first time in 2016, that two Navy gymnasts on the rings had scored in the 15.0's.
On the vault, Larios took the first of his two event wins as he scored a personal-best 15.3 to defeat the field by 0.25 points. Andy Jones (So., Reading, Mass.) was the second Midshipmen to earn his way onto the podium as the finished fifth overall with a 14.65 score.
Larios backed up his vaulting title with a first-place result on the next rotation, the parallel bars. Larios took his second championship with his second-best score of 2016, a 14.85 routine on Sunday. Jonny Tang (Jr., Malvern, Pa.) finished runner-up to his teammate with a 14.15 score.
Navy's most successful event in terms of top-six finishers was the floor exercise as Tang, Larios and Noah Beeman (So., Dayton, Ohio) finished in succession in third through fifth place. Tang and Larios tied for third place with the same 14.15 score before Beeman rounded out the run of top-five finishers with a 13.9 result.
The Mids equaled their three podium finishers on the high bar as Beeman, Poletti and Tang all completed the rotation with medals around their necks. Beeman placed fourth with a personal-best 14.3 score, while Poletti and Tang tied for fifth with identical 14.25 results.
At the conclusion of the action, Navy's coaching staff was recognized by the ECAC. Kip Simons was named ECAC Co-Coach of the Year with Army West Point's Doug Van Everen, while Craig Holt garnered ECAC Co-Assistant Coach of the Year with Army West Point's Carmin Giglio.
Navy will next be in action on Friday, April 15 at the NCAA Championships. The two-day meet will be hosted by Ohio State University. 2016 will be the first time since 2009 that Navy will be competing at the NCAAs as a team. Over the past six years, the Mids have sent individual qualifiers to the national meet.