SAN ANTONIO - In an amended two-team All-Academy Championship, No. 9 Air Force defeated No. 12 Navy, 405.8-394.2 on Saturday. Competing at the Alamo Gymnastics Center at the Mission Concepcion Sports Complex as part of the 2017 San Antonio Gymnastics Invitational, the Mids and Falcons went head-to-head after the Army Black Knights were unable to make the trip due to travel issues from New York. After an early lead by Navy in the floor exercise, three straight event wins by Air Force put the Falcons in front on their way to victory.

Noah Beeman (Jr., Dayton, Ohio) led Navy's closely grouped trio of all-arounders with a cumulative score of 79.0. The junior counted amongst the Mids' top-five scorers in five of the six events and was the top Navy performer on the vault (13.75) and high bar (13.6). He was backed up in the all-around by Tanner West (Fr., Cypress, Texas), who finished with 78.75 points and Jonny Tang (Sr., Malvern, Pa.), who recorded 78.5 points. Air Force's Timmy Wang finished first overall in the all-around with a 85.35 score.

As a team on Saturday, Navy posted a 67.6 on the floor exercise, 61.65 on the pommel horse, 68.4 on the rings, 66.9 on the vault, 66.4 on the parallel bars and 63.25 on the high bar.

"Noah stepped up tonight and showed signs that he is hitting his full stride," remarked head coach Kip Simons. "Tanner and Jonny continue to battle back-and-forth while carrying their weight over six events."

The Mids competition began with a solid turn on the floor exercise as they outscored the Falcons, 67.6-67.45. After Air Force gymnasts finished first and second overall, Navy took the next three spots with Frank Bradley (Fr., McLean, Va.) and Tang tying for third with respective 13.7-point efforts. Lucas Beltran (Fr., Corpus Christi, Texas) rounded out the top-five with a score of 13.65.

Air Force took the lead on the next rotation, the pommel horse, with 66.45 points versus 61.65 for Navy. West was the lone Midshipmen to rank top-five as his 12.65 finished fifth.

Navy had three gymnasts finish amongst the top-five on the rings and vault with West and Tang earning the honors on the rings and Beeman on the vault. West placed fourth with a 13.95, while Tang was 0.05 points back with a 13.9 in fifth place. In Beeman's case, his 13.75 vault was tied for fourth overall with Air Force's Aaron Nubine.

The Mids won their second event as they outscored the Falcons, 66.4-65.75, on the parallel bars with four of the top-six finishers. Tang placed second with a 13.75 before Ryan Orce (Fr., Gainesville, Fla.) came in fourth with a score of 13.65. West and Vadim Ivanov (Jr., Las Vegas, Nev.) finished back-to-back in fifth and sixth at 13.2 and 13.0, respectively.

On the high bar, Beeman ranked second with a 13.6-point result.

"We are in need of a weekend off for some recovery and adjustments to our routines," said Simons. "Depth continues to be an issue as we travelled only 10 gymnasts this weekend. The next phase of our training will be about positioning ourselves for postseason success."

Navy will step away from regular season competition next weekend before hosting Penn State on Saturday, Feb. 25. The Mids and Nittany Lions will face off at Macdonough Hall beginning at 2 p.m.