WEST POINT, N.Y. - Competing for the first time in over a month, the Navy men's gymnastics team showed little rust as it came out on Saturday and cruised to a 5.7-point victory over the field at the 2021 ECAC Championship. In their first five-up, five-count competition of the season, the tenth-ranked Mids tallied 397.8 points, its second-highest scoring total of 2021. Navy received five individual wins and four event victories to earn its third straight league championship.
 
In the four-team event at Army's Gross Center, Navy was most closely challenged by William & Mary, who scored 392.1 points. The host Black Knights finished third with 388.05 points ahead of Springfield College, who recorded 381.75 points.
 
The quintet of Midshipmen ECAC Champions, included Ryan McVay (Sr., Roseville, Calif.) in the all-around, David Toussaint (Sr., Warren, Ohio) on the floor exercise, Jake Carlson (Sr., Lakeville, Mass.) on the rings, Travis Keller (Sr., Centreville, Va.) on the vault and Giovanni Gambatese (So., Pewaukee, Wisc.) on the high bar.
 
"Remarkable!" exclaimed head coach Kip Simons. "That's the only word that describes the feat this team accomplished today. 11 days of training after 22 days out of the gym and the guys rose to the occasion to bring home the conference trophy! This was a total team effort with the firsties showing strong leadership in the heat of battle. We had a few mistakes that we'll fix next week. I'm so proud and grateful to coach these men. Any time we face Army our guys seem to find a new level in their performance. It always feels special to beat conference rival Army on their home turf."
 
As a team, Navy scored 68.15 points on the floor exercise, 64.2 on the pommel horse, 66.7 on the rings, 69.5 on the vault, 64.0 on the parallel bars and 65.25 on the high bar.
 
The Mids' day started out well in an ultra-competitive floor exercise event as the four teams were separated by just 0.65 points. Toussaint led Navy's effort with a score of 14.0 on the floor, 0.05 points ahead of William & Mary's Cutter Fugett. Josh Williams (Jr., Cypress, Texas) finished third overall in the field of 23 gymnasts with a 13.9 score. McVay was the third Midshipmen in the standings with a score of 13.7, good for seventh place overall. The senior all-arounder was just 0.05 points shy of making the podium for the floor exercise.
 
Navy started increasing its lead on the next rotation as the Mids outscored the four-team field by 2.9 points on the pommel horse. A trio Navy gymnasts finished on the podium led by Dan Clark's (Jr., Avon, Mass.) second-place result of 13.3. Ronan McQuillan (Fr., Katy, Texas) came in 0.3 points behind Clark in fourth place in his first-ever ECAC Championship event. Toussaint earned his second All-ECAC honor as the senior placed sixth with a 12.8 score.
 
Navy's winning ways continued on the rings with a 1.65-point advantage over its opponents. The Mids had a quartet of strong podium-worthy performances led by Carlson's 13.7-point event victory. He outscored Williams and McVay, who completed the top-three sweep for Navy. Williams registered a score of 13.6, while McVay turned in a 13.5. The fourth gymnast on the podium was Dhiren Lutchman (Jr., Beltsville, Md.), who placed fifth with a 13.15.
 
The fourth event win for Navy on Saturday came on the high bar courtesy of a clean sweep of the top-four individual positions. Gambatese earned his first career ECAC title with a dominant score of 13.6. The Mids' team captain, Max Gerber (Sr., Dix Hills, N.Y.) came in second on the high bar with a 13.25 result. Lutchman and McVay ended up on the podium again as the duo tied for third with identical marks of 13.15.
 
The Mids' fourth individual winner was Keller, who was victorious on the vault with his second-best score of the season, 14.3. Williams netted his third podium finish as he was the runner-up, 0.05 points back at 14.25.
 
Keller's second All-ECAC result came on the parallel bars as he turned in a 13.15-point performance, good for fourth place. Gerber just missed finishing in the top-six as William & Mary's Aidan Cuy outscored him, 13.1 to 13.0 for the final position.
 
In the all-around competition, McVay placed first with 79.2 points, two ahead of Andrew Lyubovsky from William & Mary. In addition to his three podium finishes, McVay scored 12.55 points on the pommel horse, 13.4 on the vault and 12.95 on the parallel bars.
 
After the championship, McVay was awarded the 2021 ECAC Senior Gymnast of the Year.
 
Navy will be back in action in two weeks at the 2021 NCAA Championship. The qualifying meet for the nation's top-12 teams is set for Friday, April 16 in Minneapolis, Minn. with the top-three programs from each of the two qualifying sessions advancing to the championship finals on Saturday, April 17.

The Mids came in the ECAC Championship ranked 10th nationally, 12.667 points ahead of 12th-ranked William & Mary (383.800). The Tribe stands 0.167 points clear of Air Force, the nation's number 13 team. The final field for the NCAA Championship will be announced this week.