March 9, 2017 ANNAPOLIS, Md. Â- The Navy gymnastics team will close out its home slate of 2017 action on Friday night with a three-team meet at Macdonough Hall. The Mids (8-8) will play host to the Air Force Falcons (7-4) and William & Mary Tribe (7-2) in a 6 p.m. competition. The three teams will be looking to improve their standings in the NCAA rankings as the national championship selection date draws closer. Air Force currently has the ninth-best scoring average at 407.533, while Navy comes in 11th with a 404.7 mark. William & Mary is 14th at 397.383.
Friday will be the second of three meets between Navy and Air Force and the third of three versus William & Mary. The Falcons won a two-team dual at the All-Academy Championships on Feb. 11 in San Antonio by a score of 405.8-394.2. The Mids and Tribe split a home-and-home dual series with Navy earning a 409.4-401.3 victory in Annapolis on Jan. 28 before William & Mary was victorious at home last Friday night, March 3, 394.3-393.5.
Senior Day
Prior to Friday's meet, the two-man senior class of Jonny Tang and team captain Wyatt LaPointe will be honored. A two-time NCAA Championship competitor in the all-around finals, Tang has earned nine All-ECAC honors and seven USAG All-American nods over his top-level career at Navy. Tang has competed in the all-around in all 40 occasions that he suited up for the Mids. He is an 11-time ECAC weekly award winner.
In LaPointe's case, the 2016-17 team captain, he has been a rings and vault specialist for the Mids over the majority of his four-year career. After appearing just twice as a plebe in 2014, LaPointe joined Navy's starting lineup on the rings in 2015 and has been a staple there ever since. This season, he's also seen regular action on the floor exercise, in addition to the rings and vault. On Jan. 31, LaPointe was recognized as the ECAC Specialist of the Week.
Live Stats
Navy will be providing live stats for Friday's competition. Click here for the link …
Last Time Out
After failing by 0.8 points on the road at William & Mary on Friday, the Mids returned to action on Sunday afternoon at Springfield College in a three-team meet of ECAC rivals. Army joined the competition between Navy and Springfield as well.
The Mids came out on Sunday with a resounding response and dominated the three-team field with a score of 401.9 versus a 391.4 for the Black Knights and 380.5 for the Pride.
Navy recorded team-high scores in five of the six events and had individual event winners on the floor exercise with Lucas Beltran's 14.15 score, the rings with Jonny Tang's 13.7 and on the parallel bar courtesy of Tang's 13.85.
As a team, Navy posted a 65.2 on the floor exercise, 66.95 on the pommel horse, 66.8 on the rings, 69.9 on the vault, 65.35 on the parallel bars and 67.7 on the high bar.
For their combined duos over the William & Mary and Springfield meets, Tang and Tanner West were recognized by the ECAC as the conference's gymnast and rookie of the week, respectively.
Event Comparisons
| Navy | USAFA | W&M |
| A-A | 404.7 | 407.53 | 397.38 |
| FX | 67.73 | 68.47 | 67.05 |
| PH | 65.95 | 68.37 | 65.2 |
| R | 68.2 | 69.53 | 66.97 |
| V | 70.12 | 70.28 | 69.87 |
| PB | 68.17 | 68.17 | 67.37 |
| HB | 67.67 | 67.27 | 65.22 |
Top Individuals to Watch
| Navy | Air Force
| William & Mary
|
| A-A | J. Tang - 82.48 | T. Wang - 84.37 | A. Sabbagh - 77.82 |
| FX | J. Tang - 14.3 | C. Branin - 14.13 | T. O'Neill - 13.62 |
| PH | J. Tang - 13.3 | T. Wang - 14.82 | J. Gliozzi - 14.37 |
| R | W. LaPointe - 14.33 | T. Wang - 14.73 | R. Meyer - 13.8 |
| V | L. Beltran - 14.45 | T. Wang - 14.82 | N. Van Dyke - 14.3 |
| PB | J. Tang - 14.35 | J. Fornoff - 14.33 | R. Meyer - 14.12 |
| HB | J. Tang - 13.88 | C. Cannon - 14.27 | A. Sabbagh - 13.43 |
