MINNEAPOLIS – The Navy men's gymnastics team rounded out its 2021 season in fine fashion as
David Toussaint (Sr., Warren, Ohio),
Giovanni Gambatese (So., Pewaukee, Wisc.) and
Ryan McVay (Sr., Roseville, Calif.) challenged for All-American status with standout individual performances in the event finals of the 2021 NCAA Championship at the University of Minnesota. One day after posting some of the top scores in session one of Friday's qualifying meet Toussaint, Gambatese and McVay led a group of six Midshipmen competing on the grandest stage of national collegiate gymnastics, as the first two gymnasts came within 0.1 points of finishing in the top-eight, while McVay used a career-best score to come in tenth place.
A participant in the event finals in every season that the NCAA Championship was held during his four years with the Midshipmen, Toussaint put an exclamation point on his collegiate career at Maturi Pavilion with 13.366 score on the pommel horse that ranked 10th overall in the field of 44 of the nation's best gymnasts. The senior hit his routine and its 5.2 level of difficulty with an 8.166 execution score. Minnesota's Shane Wiskus and Penn State's Jack Baldwin tied for eighth place and the final spot for All-American status with matching scores of 13.400. Additionally, Toussaint competed on the floor exercise and tied for 31st place with a 13.966 result.
Gambatese found himself in a similar situation on the high bar as the sophomore executed his routine with 8.633 precision and netted a final score of 13.433 that tied for 14th-best in the field. In a tightly-packed grouping of gymnasts from sixth place through 14th, Gambatese finished 0.2 points behind Stanford's Riley Loos and 0.1 out of the final All-American spot that went to Michigan's Anthony Tawfik and Thomas Paul, and Oklahoma's Jack Freeman, who tied for seventh at 13.533.
Competing as an all-around gymnast, McVay was in consideration for All-American status with six solid routines across the board. He posted a 13.933 on the floor exercise, 12.5 on the pommel horse, 13.4 on the rings, 13.4 on the vault, 13.2 on the parallel bars and a 13.0 on the high bar. McVay's career-best all-around score of 79.433. His best individual event standing was 25th on the high bar.
Connor Van Loo (So., Freeland, Mich.) was the next highest individual Navy finisher as he placed in a four-way tie for 22nd on the vault with Michigan's Jacob Moore, Nebraska's Dylan Young and Illinois' Max Diab with a score of 14.233. His 4.8 vault was judged with an execution score of 9.433.
Josh Williams (Jr., Cypress, Texas) performed on a pair of apparatus on Saturday night, the rings and floor exercise. On the rings, he earned a 13.266 result that ranked 31st overall. On the floor exercise, he recorded a score of 13.0 to finish in 42nd place.
The final Midshipmen to compete was
Jake Carlson (Sr., Lakeville, Mass.). In his first NCAA Championship event final, Carlson placed 40th on the pommel horse with a 11.733 score.
"Everyone rose to the occasion tonight and laid it all on the line," remarked head coach
Kip Simons. "It's a tremendous honor to represent the Naval Academy on the national stage and our guys took advantage of the opportunity and brought home two top-10 finishes.
"This was the perfect ending to our firsties' successful careers as gymnasts as they now transition to becoming our nation's future leaders. We're grateful to have had the opportunity to have the closure they deserve."
In the team finals, Stanford won its second straight NCAA Championship with a score of 414.521. Oklahoma went down the stretch of the six-team final tight with the Cardinal, but came up short by less than three points with a 411.591 total. Michigan was the final team on the podium, as they came in third at 410.358. Nebraska (406.624), Minnesota (406.291) and Illinois (397.991) rounded out the standings on Saturday night.
