ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The No. 9 Navy men's gymnastics team will be back in virtual meet action this Saturday afternoon with a head-to-head matchup versus No. 7 Penn State beginning at 1 p.m. The teams will be using the Virtius platform and competing from their respective home gyms, Macdonough Hall in Annapolis for the Mids (3-2) and White Building in University Park, Pennsylvania for the Nittany Lions (3-2). Navy and Penn State have been opponents at each of the last four NCAA Championships (2016-19) with the Nittany Lions finishing sixth at the two most recent Championship Meets. In regular season competition, the regional rivals matched up twice during the 2019 season, once as part of a three-team meet in University Park (Penn State: 410.3 - Navy: 393.95) and later at the five-team Sun Devil Invitational (Penn State: 402.1 - Navy: 390.2).
What is a Virtual Meet?
A contest between multiple teams that will be competing from their respective gyms/arenas with judges receiving a live stream of the action and reporting scores back in real-time. The procedures and pacing of the competition should be similar to an in-person meet. Fans will also be able to view the competition on the Virtius platform that will showcase both teams' respective routines, as well as a live scoring component.
Follow Live at
Virtius ... (viewers will have to create a free login account)
Attendance Policy for Saturday
The general public will not be allowed to attend Saturday's competition due to COVID-19 restrictions at the United States Naval Academy.
Last Time Out - Sunday at William & Mary
Navy concluded a busy week of action with a strong road effort on Sunday afternoon at No. 11 William & Mary. Competing for the third time in eight days, the Mids used their depth to defeat the Tribe, 395.60-385.45 at Kaplan Arena. Navy outscored William & Mary in five different events and had individuals place first on five apparatus on its way to a team-best scoring mark for the 2021 season.
Josh Williams started the individual wins with a victory on the floor exercise before
Jake Carlson and
David Toussaint shared top-billing on the pommel horse. On the rings, Carlson was joined in first place by classmate
Ryan McVay.
Travis Keller and
Giovanni Gambatese closed out the list of victorious Midshipmen as they claimed wins on the parallel bars and high bar, respectively.
As a team, Navy posted a score of 68.4 on the floor exercise, a 64.85 on the pommel horse, 65.0 on the rings, 69.2 on the vault, 64.45 on the parallel bars and a 63.7 on the high bar.
Comparing the Squads (2021 Averages)
|
Navy |
Penn State |
| A-A |
389.28 |
397.46 |
| FX |
66.66 |
68.26 |
| PH |
63.01 |
65.23 |
| R |
63.88 |
65.08 |
| V |
69.94 |
70.64 |
| PB |
63.83 |
64.68 |
| HB |
61.95 |
63.57 |
Who to Watch ... Gymnasts in the Top-20 Nationally
Floor Exercise
5) Navy -
David Toussaint - 14.28
10) PSU - Matt Cormier - 14.11
13) PSU - Robbie Shamp - 14.05
18) PSU - Brennan Pantazis 0 13.93
Pommel Horse
11) PSU - Nick Mock - 13.52
14) PSU - Chase Clingman - 13.35
25) Navy -
David Toussaint - 13.10
Rings
4) PSU - Parker Clayton - 13.94
13) PSU - Michael Jaroh - 13.4
32) Navy -
Jake Carlson - 13.11
Vault
10) PSU - Matt Cormier - 14.46
18) PSU - Colin Wingrove - 14.33
20) Navy -
Giovanni Gambatese - 14.28
Parallel Bars
25) PSU - Michael Jaroh - 13.23
34) Navy -
Travis Keller - 13.11
High Bar
10) PSU - Michael Jaroh - 13.43
31) Navy -
Giovanni Gambatese - 12.85
