ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The No. 9 Navy men's gymnastics team will continue is busy early season schedule with a Sunday afternoon showdown against ECAC rival, No. 11 William & Mary on the road in Williamsburg. Coming off a Wednesday afternoon virtual competition against the Stanford Cardinal, the Mids (2-2) and Tribe (1-0) will go head-to-head at Kaplan Arena starting at 2 p.m. in just the second in-person contest of the year for Navy and first for William & Mary. The Tribe are scheduled to have live stats accompanying the action on Sunday.
Navy vs. William & Mary
Two of the four teams that make up the ECAC's Eastern Intercollegiate Gymnastics League, the Mids and Tribe have met multiple times in each of the most recent seasons. Navy outscored William & Mary three times during an abridged 2020 season, first at the 2020 West Point Open, 395.45-377.55, the following week at the Navy Open, 407.8-382.8 and finally in a head-to-head meet in Annapolis, 402.0-384.45
Last 5 Meetings
Jan. 25, 2020 (H): Navy, 402.0-384.45
Jan. 18, 2020 (H-Navy Open): Navy, 407.8-382.8
Jan. 10, 2020 (N-Army Open): Navy, 395.45-377.55
April 6, 2019 (N-ECAC Champ.): Navy, 401.15-388.55
March 29, 2019 (H-USAG Champ.): Navy, 400.7-384.50
Looking Back at Navy-William & Mary, January 25, 2020
Navy continued producing high-scoring results as the Mids defeated the William & Mary Tribe by a score of 402.0-384.45 on Saturday, January 25, 2020 in Macdonough Hall. Surpassing the 400-point mark for the second consecutive meet, the Mids won the first two events over the Tribe 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, who won the floor exercise,
David Toussaint, who captured the pommel horse crown and
Josh Williams, 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 on the parallel bars and
Giovanni Gambatese 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.
Comparing the Squads (Team-Highs of 2021)
|
Navy |
W&M |
| A-A |
395.200 |
379.95 |
| FX |
69.05 |
62.75 |
| PH |
65.45 |
61.95 |
| R |
63.80 |
61.20 |
| V |
72.40 |
68.05 |
| PB |
64.60 |
62.95 |
| HB |
61.55 |
63.05 |
Last Time Out: Navy vs. Stanford, Feb. 17
In matchup of two teams ranked in the preseason top-10, the defending NCAA Champions, the Stanford Cardinal defeated the Navy Midshipmen, 398.25 to 384.30 in a virtual meet on Wednesday. Competing through the Virtius platform, the Mids at Macdonough Hall and the Cardinal at Burnham Pavilion, the teams mixed-and-matched their lineups in a unique mid-week matchup. Resting some of their leading gymnasts, who led them to the 2021 All-Academy Championship on Saturday, Navy had six freshmen in action on Wednesday as the program's depth was on display.
Individually, sophomore
Giovanni Gambatese led the youthful lineup with an event win on the high bar. Amongst, the freshmen in action,
Caleb Hickey turned in a pair of top-five results on the floor exercise and the parallel bars. Additionally,
Erik Engelke placed third on the rings, while
John Wendeborn ranked fourth on the pommel horse and
Matthew Rosendahl was fifth on the vault.
As a team, Navy scored 64.8 points on the floor exercise, 60.7 on the pommel horse, 63.45 on the rings, 68.4 on the vault, 64.6 on the parallel bars and 62.35 on the high bar.
