ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy gymnastics team had a day for the record books on Saturday as the squad dominated its service academy rivals at the 2019 All-Academy Championship. Normally held at a variety of neutral sites across the country, the 2019 service academy tri-meet came back to campus for the first time in recent history. Hosted at Navy's Macdonough Hall, the fans in attendance were treated to a stellar performance by the Mids as they scored a season-high 408.5 points on their way to the win over Air Force and Army. The Falcons placed second with 402.9 points, while the Black Knights scored 396.4 points. As a team, Navy won five of six events and had individuals record 14 top-five results.
 
David Toussaint (Warren, Ohio) led the Mids' individual charge as the sophomore placed first in the both the floor exercise and pommel horse disciplines. He finished in the top-five, as well in his third event, the vault. Ben Provost (Jr., South Hadley, Mass.) gave Navy its third individual winner as he cleared the field of 18 on the high bar by 0.10 points. Ryan Orce (Jr., Gainesville, Fla.) provided the hosts with top-of-the-line performances on four events as he placed sixth or better on the pommel horse, rings, parallel bars and high bar on Saturday.
 
"36 for 36 on routines is unprecedented so early in the season," exclaimed head coach Kip Simons. "That's a testament to the character and preparation of this team. MacD was rocking this afternoon and nobody could stop the train! We were very good today. No one single person led us, but it was the work from a group of blue collar guys, who became men on the battlefield today."
 
Navy's day started off on the pommel horse as the teams were staggered throughout the gym. Rotating gymnasts on each apparatus, Max Gerber (So., Dix Hills, N.Y.) was first on the pommel horse for the Mids and he laid down a solid 12.8-point routine that would eventually place him tenth overall. As the rest of the lineup came up to the horse, three more Mids finished in the top-six. Toussaint was the top performer in the event as he turned in a 14.05 to come in first. Orce nearly made it a sweep of the top-two spots as he placed third at 13.7. Dan Clark (Fr., Avon, Mass.) was Navy's third scorer as he finished sixth with a 13.2. The Mids' 66.35 on the pommel horse was over a point higher than their season average (65.239).
 
All three service academies brought it on the rings as Navy placed first as a team with 67.0, just 0.15 points ahead of Army and 0.30 north of Air Force. Freshman Josh Williams (Cypress, Texas) was the leader of Navy's rings team on Saturday as he earned 13.75 points, good enough to place third overall. Orce made it two Mids in the top-five with a 13.55.
 
Navy flexed its muscle on the third rotation and pulled ahead for good from this point on as the Mids' floor exercise team surpassed their season average of 67.238 by over three full points with a 70.35 at the All-Academy Championship. Toussaint was stellar in his performance on the floor as he recorded a score of 14.4 to finish in first place. After a pair of Black Knights took second and third, his teammates, Lucas Beltran (Jr., Corpus Christi, Texas) and Ryan McVay (So., Roseville, Calif.) turned in identical 14.25-point score to tie for fourth place.
 
Ahead of Air Force by 2.85 points and Army by 5.35 at the half with a cumulative score of 203.7 points, Navy put significant space between its opposition with season-best performances on the parallel bars and high bar on its next two turns.
 
Coming into Saturday with a 64.175-point average, the Mids' parallel bars corps was ready to go with four gymnasts finishing in the top-seven and all five of their scorers placing top-10. Orce was the leading finisher for Navy on the p-bars as he recorded a 13.95-point effort to place second in the field. 0.15 points back in fourth place came Gerber with a 13.8-point routine. McVay made it three Mids in the top-five with a score of 13.7. Team captain senior Christian Correale (Harrisburg, Pa.) came in seventh at 13.3. As a team, the Mids' parallel bars lineup scored 68.0 points.
 
Navy's high bar team was nearly as prolific as it beat its season average by over 2.7 points as it netted a cumulative score of 67.55 at the meet. The formula of four gymnasts in the top-seven played out again on this apparatus. Provost and Cash Buske (Fr., Madison, Wisc.) led the way as the duo went one-two with respective scores of 13.75 and 13.65. Orce notched his fourth top-six of the day as he scored 13.55 points to place sixth. Gerber was the fourth Mid in the top-seven as he was one spot back with a 13.45.
 
Up significantly going into their final event, Navy cruised during the vault turn and scored 69.25 team points. The sophomore pairing of Toussaint and Travis Keller (Centreville, Va.) tied for top-billing on the Mids with matching 13.9-point vaults. The duo tied for fifth place.
 
Navy's All-Academy Championship team victory broke a run of eight consecutive wins by Air Force in the annual competition. The Mids last win came in 2009 at the meet in Portland, Oregon.
 
"We're super proud of this victory and we're looking forward to a weekend off to regroup and prepare for the second half of our season," remarked Simons.
 
Navy will be away from team competition for two weeks before getting back after it in a three-team meet in State College, Pa. on Saturday, Feb. 23. Hosted by Penn State, Navy will compete with the host Nittany Lions, as well as these same Falcons. First touch is set for 4 p.m.