WEST POINT, N.Y. - The Navy men's gymnastics team turned in a strong start to its 2019 season with a second-place effort at the West Point Open on Friday night. Trailing the host Army Black Knights for second place down the stretch, the Mids swung the score into their favor with a 68.1-point showing on the floor exercise, their final rotation of the evening. When the dust settled for the team and all-around portion of the two-day West Point Open at Christl Arena, No. 10 Navy had recorded 395.20 points to come in behind the No. 8 Penn State Nittany Lions (407.50), but ahead of four other programs. In the all-around competition, sophomore
Ryan McVay (Roseville, Calif.) placed fifth overall with 76.80 points.
The rest of the standings in the six-team competition saw Army score 392.10 points, William & Mary 382.65 points, Springfield 372.25 and Temple round out the field with 302.80 points.
"I'm so proud of the team," remarked head coach
Kip Simons. "It's been a long preseason of training, but it paid off tonight. We intentionally sat some of our veteran performers to test our plebes. To come out with a win over Army at West Point is huge and sets the tone for the season, as well as for the Star Match in three weeks. I look forward to a strong performances from our individuals on Saturday night in the event finals before it's back to work on Monday."
Starting from the end of the event with final team placement on the line, Navy's floor exercise squad turned in a dominant performance with six gymnasts posting scores in the top-12 and recording a team total of 68.1 points. With 38 gymnasts performing routines on Friday night, the Mids' depth on the floor was the story. Though not placing first in the event, Navy saw its competitors finish tied for fifth with
David Toussaint (So., Warren, Ohio) and
Ben Provost (Jr., South Hadley, Mass.), in seventh with
Nehemiah Baker (Fr., Oak Ridge, N.C.) and ninth with McVay. Toussaint and Provost turned in matching scores of 13.8, while Baker was 0.15 points back at 13.65. McVay tallied a 13.55-point performance.
Josh Williams (Fr., Cypress, Texas) and
Travis Keller (So., Centreville, Va.) rounded out the group of six Mids in the top-12 in 11th and 12th place, respectively with scores of 13.45 and 13.4.
Toussaint, Provost and Baker will advance to the individual finals for the floor exercise on Saturday night.
Navy's highest scoring event of the night was the vault. Tallying 69.7 points, the Mids ranked first overall in the field of six teams, besting Army by 0.1 points. Once again, Navy had a trio of event finalists lead the way.
Lucas Beltran (Jr., Corpus Christi, Texas) spearheaded the Mids' vault lineup on Friday as he placed first overall with 14.5 points. After Army, Penn State and William & Mary all had one gymnast finish in each of the next three spots,
Frank Bradley (Jr., McLean, Va.) claimed the fifth position with a 13.95-point effort. Keller was right behind Bradley in a tie for seventh place with 13.9 points.
The pommel horse was the Mids' third-most prosperous event as the their lineup posted a score of 65.7.
Ryan Orce (Jr., Gainesville, Fla.) and Toussaint led Navy on the pommel horse as Orce turned in a third-place score of 13.85. Toussaint was two places back in fifth with a respective score of 13.55. In his collegiate debut, freshman
Dan Clark (Avon, Mass.) came in 10th overall with a 13.2. Orce and Toussaint will compete on Saturday night in the event finals.
Navy's high bar corps was the fourth squad to place second or above in the field as the Mids came in second behind the Nittany Lions with 63.85 points; PSU's lineup scored 65.95 points. Navy's effort was buoyed by three gymnasts in the top-10. Team captain
Christian Correale (Sr., Harrisburg, Pa.) posted the fifth-highest score of the evening with a 13.1-point routine. Orce was just 0.05 points behind his teammate in sixth at 13.05. Sophomore
Max Gerber tied for 10th overall with a 12.65-point result. All three Mids advanced to Saturday night.
The Mids' rings and parallel bars lineups saw two gymnasts place top-10, but only one in each discipline qualify for the event finals. Navy's top-10 performers on the rings, included McVay and Orce, who posted the eighth and ninth-best scores of 13.65 and 13.60, respectively. In the parallel bars event, Beltran challenged for first place with a 13.9-point score. He was just edged by Penn State's Sam Zakutney for the top spot as the Nittany Lion earned 13.95 points. Navy's second gymnast in the top-10 on the p-bars was Gerber, who's 12.95 tied him for 10th overall.
Competing in the all-around, McVay tallied 76.8 points to rank fifth overall. Zakutney placed first in the six-event competition with a score of 81.0.
Ten Midshipmen qualified and are slated to compete in the event finals of the West Point Open on Saturday night at 7 p.m.; Beltran (V, PB), Orce (PH, HB), Toussaint (FX, PH), Baker (FX), Provost (FX), McVay (R), Bradley (V), Keller (V), Correale (HB) and Gerber (HB).
