ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy gymnastics team continued producing high-scoring results as the Mids defeated the William & Mary Tribe by a score of 402.0-384.45 on Saturday afternoon in Macdonough Hall. Surpassing the 400-point mark for the second consecutive meet, the Mids (7-2, 1-0 ECAC) won the first two events over the Tribe (4-6, 0-1 ECAC) and led from that point on as they eventually secured a 17.55-point victory. Navy's effort was led by a plethora of high-level performances as five different gymnasts placed first in events on Saturday.
 
Individual standouts for Navy, included Lucas Beltran (Sr., Corpus Christi, Texas), who won the floor exercise, David Toussaint (Jr., Warren, Ohio), who captured the pommel horse crown and Josh Williams (So., Cypress, Texas), who finished atop the table for the rings event. The final two gymnasts to win events in the head-to-head duel were Max Gerber (Jr., Dix Hills, N.Y.) on the parallel bars and Giovanni Gambatese (Fr., Pewaukee, Wisc.) on the high bar.
 
As a team, Navy scored 67.8 points on the floor exercise, 66.3 on the pommel horse, 67.5 on the rings, 68.55 on the vault, 65.85 on the parallel bars and 66.0 on the high bar. 

"I'm really pleased with the performance today," remarked head coach Kip Simons. "We had some guys in the lineup today to gain some experience and they stepped up and showed us what the future of NMG will look like. The score is back to 0-0 as we begin preparing for Army next Saturday."
 
Navy's day started off well as its floor exercise lineup turned in six of the top-seven results on Saturday afternoon with Beltran at the forefront with a 14.05 score. Williams placed second overall as he was judged with a 13.8. After William & Mary's Tomas Palma came in third at 13.5, it was all Midshipmen for the next four positions with Cian McConnell (Sr., Houston, Texas) and Toussaint placing fourth and fifth with respective scores of 13.4 and 13.35. The duo of Connor Van Loo (Fr., Freeland, Mich.) and Travis Keller (Jr., Centreville, Va.) tied for sixth with matching 13.2 efforts.
 
Another dominant result came from the Mids' pommel horse lineup with a sweep of the top-four spots. Toussaint was in complete control of the event with a 0.35-point margin of victory over his teammate Ryan Orce (Sr., Gainesville, Fla.), 13.9 to 13.65. Dan Clark (So., Avon, Mass.) made it three Navy gymnasts with 13.0-plus point scores as he posted a 13.5. Ryan McVay (Jr., Roseville, Calif.) and Gerber closed out the Mids' scoring lineup as McVay placed fourth with a 12.75 ahead of Gerber's 12.5 in sixth place.
 
The exact same placements occurred on the rings with the top-four scorers and five in the top-six. Williams had a significant 0.25-point advantage over a pair of teammates Jake Carlson (Jr., Lakeville, Mass.) and McVay. Williams turned in a score of a 14.0 versus identical 13.75's for Carlson and McVay. Gambatese rounded out the top-four sweep as he earned a 13.05 score. In his collegiate debut, Alexander Brown (So., Lafayette, La.) placed sixth with a 12.95 result.
 
The vault was the only event that the visitors from Williamsburg outscored the Mids, though it was by the slimmest of margins, 68.95 to 68.55. Van Loo and Williams finished back-to-back in second and third place with respective scores of 14.05 and 13.9. Nehemiah Baker (So., Oak Ridge, N.C.) made it three Navy gymnasts in the top-five as his 13.85 was fifth-best at the meet.
 
Navy's parallel bars lineup also took three of the top-five positions, led by Gerber and Toussaint going one-two with competitive scores of 13.55 for Gerber and 13.5 for Toussaint. Keller placed fourth overall with a score of 13.2.
 
The Mids sealed their victory on the high bar as they posted a cumulative score of 66.0 that was 3.5 points ahead of the Tribe. Gambatese, the reigning ECAC Rookie of the Week, came through with a top-line result for Navy as he won the event by 0.10 points, 13.45 to 13.35, over Ben Provost (Sr., South Hadley, Mass.). McVay, Gerber and Orce finished consecutively in positions fourth through six with McVay earning a 13.2 ahead of Gerber and Orce's matching 13.0-point scores.
 
Navy will be back at home looking to keep its early season momentum going next Saturday when they host Army in the 2020 Star Meet. The action between the two rival programs is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Macdonough Hall.