DANBURY, Conn. – The Navy gymnastics program had a standout day on Friday as the Eastern Collegiate Athletics Conference (ECAC) announced its postseason major award winners, as well as the 2020 All-ECAC teams. Declared the 2020 ECAC Champions due to their ranking as the top-scoring team in the conference, the Mids saw Connor Van Loo selected as the ECAC Rookie of the Year, while head coach Kip Simons was named the ECAC Coach of the Year and assistants Craig Holt and Colin Payne garnered nods as Co-ECAC Assistant Coaches of the Year. Additionally, Navy gymnasts earned 24 All-ECAC honors across the six different events.
 
A staple in Navy's floor exercise and vault lineup from the first week of action, Van Loo, a native of Freeland, Michigan scored a 14.3 or better on four of his vaults, including a season-high of 14.75. Overall, he registered at least a 14.05 in all of his vaults during his freshman campaign. On the floor exercise he competed in all seven meets, as well, with four routines of 13.8 or better, including a 14.75 in his final appearance of the year at California. Nationally, Van Loo finished the season ranked eighth on the vault to earn CGA All-America status; additionally, he ranked 25th on the floor exercise. In terms of the ECAC, Van Loo was a five-time recipient of the ECAC Rookie of the Week award in 2020.
 
For leading the Mids to their third straight ECAC title, Simons was recognized as the 2020 ECAC Co-Coach of the Year. He shared the honor with William & Mary's Mike Powell. During his first five years in charge of the Navy program, Simons has earned this accolade either outright or as a co-honoree four times; 2016, 2018, 2019 and now 2020. As a team, Navy finished the 2020 season ranked fifth in the nation with a cumulative four-score average of 406.633.
 
The assistant coaching staff of Craig Holt and Colin Payne also earned recognition in the ECAC's year-end announcement. Focusing on the Mids' rings and high bar training Holt has now earned ECAC Assistant Coach of the Year honors four times in the past five years: 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2020. Payne, a third-year assistant coach with Navy has now garnered ECAC Co-Assistant Coach of the Year awards in back-to-back years. He is entrusted with the training of the Mids' pommel horse and parallel bars lineups.
 
In terms of All-ECAC accolades, Navy's high bar lineup swept its respective category with Midshipmen finishing one through six in the conference's standings. CGA All-Americans Cash Buske (13.733 NQA) and Ben Provost (13.683 NQA) led the way for Navy in the final ECAC standings. Juniors Max Gerber (13.467) and Ryan McVay (13.383) ranked third and fourth, respectively, before Giovanni Gambatese (13.200) and Ryan Orce (13.083) rounded out the top-six.
 
The Mids' floor exercise corps was nearly as prolific with five All-ECAC honorees. The Mids occupied positions two through six amongst the conference's highest scorers. Senior team captain Frank Bradley led the way with a 14.050 national qualifying average. Josh Williams (13.900 NQA) and Connor Van Loo (13.883) were tightly packed in third and fourth place in the league. The final two Mids to garner All-ECAC accolades were David Toussaint (13.867) and Provost (13.850).
 
Both Navy's pommel horse and vault lineups had four gymnasts named to the 2020 All-ECAC Team. Dan Clark (13.617 NQA) finished his sophomore season with the highest NQA in the conference. Toussaint (13.583) tied with Army's Matthew Martin for the second-best NQA. Orce (13.400) and Jake Carlson (13.283) were Navy's third and fourth honorees for their respective work on the pommel horse.
 
On the vault, Navy gymnasts posted the top-four NQA's in the ECAC. Van Loo, a CGA All-American came in first with an NQA of 14.517. Lucas Beltran earns his third career All-ECAC honor on the vault with a regular season NQA of 14.367. Toussaint (14.350) and fellow junior Travis Keller (14.333) rounded out the top-four scorers in the ECAC for the 2020 season.
 
Williams, McVay and Carlson all picked up their second All-ECAC nods for their respective work on the rings this season. Williams, Navy's fourth CGA All-American led the ECAC with an NQA of 14.000, a substantial 0.3 points ahead of the rest of the conference. McVay (13.600) ranked third in the ECAC, while Carlson (13.500) tied with William & Mary's Christian Marsh for fourth place.
 
Navy's parallel bars lineup saw the duo of Gerber and McVay collect accolades with respective NQA's of 13.583 and 13.267, good for third and fourth place in the conference.

2020 ECAC Postseason Awards 

Senior Gymnast of the Year
Stephen Lewis – Springfield College, Sr.

Co-Most Improved Gymnast
Zane Petras – William & Mary, Sr.
Liam O'Hara – Army, Sr.

Rookie of the Year
Connor Van Loo - Navy, Fr.

Co-Coach of the Year
Kip Simons – Navy
Mike Powell – William & Mary

Assistant Coach of the Year
Craig Holt and Colin Payne - Navy
 
All-ECAC Floor Exercise Team

Name	School
First Team
Mathew Davis	Army
Frank Bradley	Navy
Josh Williams	Navy
Connor Van Loo	Navy
David Toussaint	Navy
Ben Provost	Navy

All-ECAC Pommel Horse Team

Name	School
First Team
Danny Clark	Navy
Matthew Martin	Army
David Toussaint	Navy
Ryan Orce	Navy
Jake Carlson	Navy
Rex Scott	Army

All-ECAC Rings Team

Name	School
First Team
Josh Williams	Navy
Mathew Davis	Army
Ryan McVay	Navy
Christian Marsh	William & Mary
Jake Carlson	Navy
Darrel Yamamura	Army

All-ECAC Vault Team

Name	School
First Team
Connor Van Loo	Navy
Lucas Beltran	Navy
David Toussaint	Navy
Travis Keller	Navy
Jacob Nauman	Army
Stephen Lewis	Springfield

 
All-ECAC Parallel Bars Team

Name	School
First Team
Mathew Davis	Army
Andrew Lyubovsky	William & Mary
Max Gerber	Navy
Ryan McVay	Navy
Kiernan Reagan	Army
Aidan Cuy	William & Mary

All-ECAC Horizontal Bar Team

Name	School
First Team
Cash Buske	Navy
Ben Provost	Navy
Max Gerber	Navy
Ryan McVay	Navy
Giovanni Gambatese	Navy
Ryan Orce	Navy

All-ECAC All Around Team

Name	School
First Team
Mathew Davis	Army
Stephen Lewis	Springfield
Andrew Lyubovsky	William & Mary
Dominic Ramalho	Springfield