ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The College Gymnastics Association released its 2020 CGA Preseason Coaches Poll earlier this week and the Navy gymnastics team found itself ranked No. 10 overall in the nation. Coming off its fourth straight appearance in the NCAA Championship Meet, the Mids tie their ranking from the 2019 poll for the highest preseason standing in program history.
Bringing back a deep and talented team, fifth-year head coach
Kip Simons and the Midshipmen return five senior gymnasts, who will all play a vital role in the team's success in 2020. Team captain
Lucas Beltran and his senior classmates, are joined in the upperclass by five juniors, as well as eight sophomores and four freshmen. The quartet of
Dan Clark,
Ryan McVay,
Ryan Orce and
David Toussaint all qualified for and competed in the event finals at the 2019 NCAA Championship at the University of Illinois. As a team, Navy finished its 2019 season with a program-best tenth place result at the NCAA Championships. The Mids held off the Cal Bears for their first-ever top-10 finish, 393.123 to 390.859. Other highlights from the 2019 season include Navy's Star Meet win over Army, the team's first All-Academy Championship title since 2009, it's first USAG Collegiate Championship since 2008 and its second straight ECAC Championship
Stanford, the defending NCAA champions, headline the 2020 CGA Preseason Coaches Poll with 457 points and 17 first-place votes. Oklahoma, the winner of the previous four NCAA Championship titles is right behind the Cardinal with 420 points and a pair of first-place votes. The Michigan Wolverines are picked third with 404 and received the final first-place vote. Illinois (383) and Nebraska (377) to round out the top-five. Four more Big Ten programs make up the second half of the top-10 as Minnesota (373), Penn State (367), Iowa (317) and Ohio State (316) are situated in front of Navy, who was selected tenth with 283 points.
The Midshipmen are the only non-Power 5 school in the top-10 and are the highest ranked service academy program as Army sits 12th overall, one spot ahead of Air Force. Amongst its ECAC rivals, Navy is the highest ranked squad.
Navy kicks off its 2020 season at the West Point Open on the weekend of January 10-11. One week later on Jan. 18, the Mids come home for its annual Navy Open. That competition is the first of three straight at home in Macdonough Hall as the William & Mary Tribe come into town on Jan. 25 before the Black Knights of Army arrive for the 2020 Star Meet on Feb. 1. The final home date for the Mids in 2020 is on March 21 with a Senior Day contest versus Temple University. This year's postseason lineup consists of the USAG Collegiate Championships on March 27-28, the ECAC Championship on April 4 and the NCAA Championships on April 17-18. The University of Michigan will host the two-day national championship meet in Ann Arbor.
2020 CGA Preseason Coaches Poll ~ Top-15
1. Stanford (457 points, 17 first-place votes)
2. Oklahoma (420 points, 2 first-place votes)
3. Michigan (404 points, 1 first-place vote)
4. Illinois (383)
5. Nebraska (377)
6. Minnesota (373)
7. Penn State (367)
8. Iowa (317)
9. Ohio State (316)
10. Navy (283)
11. California (254)
12. Army (228)
13. Air Force (227)
14. Arizona State (203)
15. William & Mary (182)
