WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The Navy gymnastics team secured its first dual meet win of its young 2019 season on Saturday as the Mids (1-0) defeated the William & Mary Tribe (0-1) 394.25 to 390.60. Though Midshipmen gymnasts only collected two event wins, the team's depth was on display at the EIGL meet in Kaplan Arena as Navy outscored William & Mary on five of the six apparatuses.
 
Ben Provost (Jr., South Hadley, Mass.) and Frank Bradley (Jr., McLean, Va.) led Navy's individual standouts on Saturday as Provost placed first on the floor exercise, in addition to finishing second on the high bar, while Bradley was the top-scorer on the vault. David Toussaint (So., Warren, Ohio) and Ryan Orce (Jr., Gainesville, Fla.) were also important to the Mids' success as Toussaint earned top-three results on the floor and pommel horse. Orce competed in four events versus the Tribe and placed top-four in three of them.
 
As a team, Navy scored 66.1 points on the floor exercise, 68.25 on the pommel horse, 65.9 on the rings, 69.35 on the vault, 62.25 on the parallel bars and 62.4 on the high bar. In a close meet, the Mids' 4.20-point advantage over the first two rotations, the floor exercise (66.1-64.35) and he pommel horse (68.25-65.80) played a huge role in the overall outcome.
 
The action on Saturday started fast for the Mids as they came out the Kaplan Arena floor and saw its floor exercise and pommel horse lineups each place four gymnasts in the top-five. On the floor, Provost and Toussaint led the way with similar scores of 13.6 and 13.5, respectively. Just 0.1 points back in fourth place was freshman Josh Williams (Cypress, Texas) with a 13.4. Bradley rounded out the run of Mids in the top-five with a score of 12.95 that placed fifth overall.
 
After William & Mary's Jacopo Gliozzi recorded a 14.5 to finish first on the pommel horse, Navy occupied positions two through five with a quartet of strong performances. Orce and Toussaint went two-three in the standings with scores that were separated by just 0.05 points, 14.25 and 14.20, respectively. The Massachusetts pairing of Dan Clark (Fr., Avon, Mass.) and Jake Carlson (So., Lakeville, Mass.) finished back-to-back with Clark in fourth at 13.55 and Carlson in fifth at 13.25.
 
Navy had a similar pack mentality on the rings as five straight Mids followed the Tribe's David Watkins (14.1) and Gliozzi (13.55) on the leaderboard. Ryan McVay (So., Roseville, Calif.) was the top-placing Navy gymnast with a 13.35-point effort. Christian Correale (Sr., Harrisburg, Pa.), Orce and Carlson all came in close behind with respective scores of 13.3, 13.2 and 13.15. Williams was the fifth counting score for Navy in seventh place at 12.9.
 
The standings for the vault alternated between the Mids and Tribe for the first five positions. Bradley was the top-scorer on the afternoon with a 14.1-point performance. Lucas Beltran (Jr., Corpus Christi, Texas) came in third at 14.0 before Nehemiah Baker (Fr., Oak Ridge, N.C.) placed fifth with a 13.85. Navy's depth came up big on the vault with four more Mids occupying spots six through nine.
 
William & Mary's p-bars team generated a solid comeback effort for the hosts with a score of 65.2 and four of the top-six finishers. Orce and Correale fought their way into the top-three as Orce turned in a score of 13.55 to finish in second, while Correale was third with a 13.35.
 
With the victory within reach, Navy's high bar lineup iced the win with four gymnasts placing in the top-five. Provost led the quartet as he earned a 13.0 score to come in second place. As part of his all-around mission, McVay closed his day with a 12.75 that was third best. Orce and Cash Buske (Fr., Madison, Wisc.) came in fourth and fifth respectively at 12.55 and 12.5.
 
As an all-around competitior, McVay accumulated 75.7 points. He was the only gymnast on Saturday to attempt the six-event undertaking.
 
"I'm not thrilled with the team's performance, though today was the culmination of three really tough weeks of training," remarked head coach Kip Simons. "The guys showed some signs of fatigue late in the day, but we'll rest tomorrow and get back to the grind on Monday. Army Week starts now! We'll be better next weekend."
 
Navy will next be in action on Saturday, Feb. 2 at West Point, N.Y. when the 2019 men's gymnastics star will be on the line. The service academy rivals have split the past two Star Meets with Navy winning at home in 2018 and Army holding on for the victory at West Point in 2017.