STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – In the first five-up, five-count competition of the 2019 season, the Navy men's gymnastics program posted a solid 393.95-point showing in a three-team meet at Penn State's Rec Hall. Competing alongside the No. 6 Nittany Lions and the No. 13 Air Force Falcons, the No. 7 Mids went 1-1 as they outscored the Falcons, 393.95 to 392.65, but came up short versus the host Nittany Lions, who tallied a season-high point total of 410.3.
 
Navy was led by its high-scoring horizontal bar squad that netted the team 66.7 points, 2.25 more than Penn State and 5.15 more than Air Force. The trio of Cash Buske (Fr., Madison, Wisc.), Ben Provost (Jr., South Hadley, Mass.) and Max Gerber (So., Dix Hills, N.Y.) finished consecutively in third, fourth and fifth place with scores of 13.55, 13.50 and 13.45, respectively. His strong high bar score was the second top-five result of the day for Provost as he kicked off the meet with a standout performance on the floor exercise that netted him a 13.95-point score, placing him first, clearing the 15-man field by 0.20 points.
 
As a team, Navy scored 65.7 points on the floor exercise, 64.45 on the pommel horse, 66.05 on the rings, 69.00 on the vault, 62.05 on the parallel bars and 66.7 on the high bar. 
 
"We went into a tough environment on the road and fought hard today," remarked head coach Kip Simons. "The beginning of our season was such a physical and emotional roller coaster with wins over Army and at the All-Academy Championship. It's understandable that we were a little off after a bye week. We are currently upgrading our routines for the postseason peak."
 
Led by Provost's win, the Mids' floor exercise lineup had a pair of gymnasts in the top-five; one of three events on Saturday with multiple Navy competitors in the top-five. Lucas Beltran (Jr., Corpus Christi, Texas) backed up Provost with a score of 13.75 that placed him in a four-way tie for second.
 
Navy's pommel horse corps also had a pair of top-five performances as Dan Clark (Fr., Avon, Mass.), the reigning ECAC Rookie of the Week, was back in top form as he posted a career-best score of 13.9, good enough for fourth place. His teammate, David Toussaint (So., Warren, Ohio) was one spot back in fifth with a 13.8 effort.
 
Penn State had a stranglehold on the top of standings for the next two events with the top-four scores on the rings and the top-three on the vault. Josh Williams (Fr., Cypress, Texas) was Navy's top rings technician with an eighth-place 13.55. During the vault rotation, Nehemiah Baker (Fr., Oak Ridge, N.C.) challenged for top-billing as he finished in a three-way tie for third place with a score of 14.2. Frank Bradley (Jr., McLean, Va.) was 0.05 points back with a 14.15, that placed him in sixth.
 
Gerber was Navy's top scorer on the parallel bars with 13.65-point result that placed him fourth overall.
 
Navy will continue competition in the second half of its 2019 season with a pair of road meets next weekend. The Mids will go head-to-head versus William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va. on Friday night before heading up to Massachusetts for another dual-meet on Sunday afternoon versus Springfield.