ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy gymnastics team will kick off the second half of its 2020 season in grand fashion on Saturday afternoon as the seventh-ranked Midshipmen head to Columbus, Ohio for a head-to-head matchup with the nation's number five team, the Ohio State Buckeyes. Saturday's competition is the first in three weeks for the Mids following their victory at the All-Academy Championship on February 8. The matchup of potential NCAA Championship combatants also comes in the first weekend of five-up, five-count scoring as the pressure of the late season ratchets up an extra notch. Previous to this weekend, teams could test different lineup combinations in six-up, five-count competitions with the lowest score getting dropped. First touch in the Covelli Center is set for 2 p.m. with all of the action streaming live on the BTN-Plus website. The streaming service is subscription based.

Due to the live streaming nature of the meet and the associated broadcast rules, Navy will not be allowed to use Facebook for live video updates on Saturday.

Last Time Out
Navy closed out its dominant run of early season execution as the then No. 6 Mids rolled to a 13.6-point victory over the field of service academy rivals, No. 14 Army and No. 16 Air Force at the 2020 All-Academy Championship on Saturday, February 8 at the Mission Concepcion Sports Complex in San Antonio. One year after earning the All-Academy title for the first time since 2009, the Mids left no doubt that the trophy would be returning to Annapolis as they turned in a score of 407.7 to surpass both the Black Knights' 394.1 and the Falcons' 387.5.
 
As a team, Navy scored 69.85 points on the floor exercise, 64.8 on the pommel horse, 69.95 on the rings, 70.85 on the vault, 65.6 on the parallel bars and 66.65 on the high bar. The Mids placed first in four rotations; the floor, rings, parallel bars and high bar.
 
Individually, Josh Williams led the Mids as the sophomore finished first in both the floor exercise and rings competitions. He was joined atop the leaderboard by Lucas Beltran, the winner of the vault event, and Ben Provost (Sr., South Hadley, Mass.) the top-scorer on the high bar. Additionally freshman Connor Van Loo tied for second on the vault, while placing fourth on the floor exercise. His floor exercise score (14.0) was a career-high for his young career, while his 14.6 on the vault is his second-best through five meets. He was recognized as the ECAC Rookie of the Week.

Comparing the Squads

	Navy	OSU
A-A	406.633	407.250
FX	69.10	69.47
PH	65.93	66.27
R	68.38	66.78
V	71.78	70.75
PB	66.18	67.65
HB	67.15	66.85

Who to Watch ... Gymnasts in the Top-30 Nationally
Floor Exercise
4) Ohio State - Jesse Tyndall - 14.55
12) Ohio State - Kazuki Hayashi - 14.23
t-18) Navy - David Toussaint - 14.03
t-18) Navy - Ben Provost - 14.03
t-27) Navy - Josh Williams - 13.92
Pommel Horse
13) Navy - Ryan Orce - 13.70
15) Navy - Jake Carlson - 13.68
17) Navy - David Toussaint - 13.65
19) Navy - Danny Clark - 13.63
t-20) OSU - Rihards Trams - 13.58
Rings
6) Navy - Josh Williams - 14.18
11) OSU - Angel Leon - 13.93
15) Navy - Ryan McVay - 13.80
t-17) Navy - Jake Carlson - 13.75
t-29) Navy - Ryan Orce - 13.53
Vault
t-7) Navy - Lucas Beltran - 14.63
11) Navy - Connor Van Loo - 14.52
t-29) OSU - Sean Neighbarger - 14.32
Parallel Bars
19) OSU - Jesse Tyndall - 13.93
t-21) OSU - Justin Ah Chow - 13.78
t-29) Navy - Max Gerber - 13.60
t-29) OSU - Kazuki Hayashi - 13.60
High Bars
2) OSU - Angel Leon - 14.07
13) Navy - Ben Provost - 13.68
14) Navy - Cash Buske - 13.67
t-22) Navy - Max Gerber - 13.48
25) OSU - Jesse Tyndall - 13.43
t-26) Navy - Ryan McVay - 13.38