ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The 2019 All-Academy Championship meet is on tap for the Navy gymnastics program this coming Saturday afternoon. For the first-time in recent history, the tri-meet between the service academies, Air Force, Army and Navy will be hosted on a campus site as the Mids have the honor of welcoming the Falcons and Black Knights to Macdonough Hall. Competition between No. 10 Navy, No. 12 Army and No. 13 Air Force is set for 1 p.m. 

Live stats will be available for Saturday's action through the Road to Nationals website.

The All-Academy Championship will be the third time in 2019 that the Mids and Black Knights have competed at the same event as the teams matched up at the West Point Open on January 11 and just last Saturday in the Army-Navy Star Meet. The Star Meet was also at West Point. At the West Point Open, Navy bested Army 395.6 to 392.1 to finish second overall in the six-team field. The Mids outscored the Black Knights on the floor exercise, pommel horse, vault and the high bars, while the hosts edged Navy on the rings and the parallel bars. Last weekend, the Mids needed a dramatic come-from-behind effort as they flipped a 3.65-point deficit after four rotations into a 0.55-point victory, 401.1-400.55. Navy and Air Force have not competed versus each other so far in 2019, though the squads will soon meet up again on Feb. 23 at Penn State in a tri-meet and later at the end of March at the USAG Collegiate Championships in Annapolis (March 29-30).

Last Time Out
Faced with 3.65-point deficit and just two events left, the parallel bars and high bar, the Navy gymnastics team put its head down and earned a dramatic 0.55-point come-from-behind victory over the Army Black Knights in the 2019 Star Meet. Performing in front of a hostile crowd at Army's Gross Center, the Mids were able to outscore the Black Knights by 2.55 points on the parallel bars before completely the comeback with a 1.65-point edge on the high bar to win 401.1 to 400.55. The win was Navy's first at West Point since 2011.

Trailing 270.15 to 266.5 after four events, the Mids' parallel bar unit was the story of Saturday as it posted a score of 67.7 that was 4.7 points higher than its season average and 3.8 points better than its previous season-best. After Army's Cole Casanova posted a first-place score of 13.85, Navy gymnasts occupied the next five positions. Ryan Orce was the leader of the Mids' p-bar corps as he recorded a score of 13.7. Sophomore Max Gerber came in third place 0.1 points back at 13.6. His classmate Ryan McVay was nearly as proficient with a 13.5 score. The duo of Travis Keller and Ben Provost rounded out the Mids' high-scoring unit with matching 13.45 scores. Army finished with 65.15 points on the parallel bars
 
Now down by just 1.1 points and one event left, the high bar, Navy posted four of the top-five scores once again. Freshman Cash Buske led the way for the Mids as the plebe had ice water in his veins and nailed a 13.6-point routine. Gerber backed up his strong p-bar performance with a second-place result on the high bar with a 13.5. Provost helped Navy sweep the top-three spots with a 13.4-point score. The Mids finished with 66.9 points versus 65.25 points for the host Black Knights to cap the comeback.

Prior to this dramatic comeback, Navy saw Army win each of the first four events, the floor exercise (67.35-66.95), the pommel horse (65.1-63.3), the rings (67.3-66.6) and the vault (70.4-69.65).

As a result of his career-best 13.6 on the high bar, Buske was the ECAC's Specialist of the Week, while his teammate Nehemiah Baker was recognized as the conference's Rookie of the Week after placing second on the vault (14.4) and fifth on the rings (13.55).

Recent All-Academy Results
2018: Air Force (403.85), Navy (400.2), Army (399.55) in San Antonio
2017: Air Force (405.8), Navy (394.2), Army (Didn't Attend) in San Antonio
2016: Air Force (427.35), Navy (424.1), Army (422.85) in Atlanta
2015: Air Force (427.75), Army (413.0), Navy (410.2) in Houston
2014: Air Force (427.7), Navy (410.15), Army (409.35) in Houston
    Air Force has won eight consecutive All-Academy team titles (2018-2011);
        There was no 2010 meet as weather canceled flights for Army and Navy en route to Aliso Viejo, Calif.
2009: Navy (335.05), Air Force (330.8), Army (312.9) in Portland, Ore.

Comparing the Squads

	Navy	Army	Air Force
A-A	397.875	394.675	390.800
FX	67.238	67.738	66.950
PH	65.239	63.875	62.175
R	66.538	65.763	65.625
V	69.950	69.150	69.075
PB	64.175	64.013	64.650
HB	64.738	64.138	62.325