ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy men's gymnastics program will begin its 2022 season this weekend with two days of competition at the West Point Open. Continuing their assent up the ranks nationally since
Kip Simons took over as head coach prior to the 2016 season, the Mids will look to once again showcase their prowess in both regional ECAC meets and challenging non-conference matchups across the country with the goal of reaching the NCAA Championship in April. In total, Navy is slated to participate in eight regular season competitions and two postseason championships with a spot in the NCAA Championships within its reach at the end of the season. The talented Midshipmen squad has earned annual bids to the NCAA Championship in five of Simons' first six seasons, with the only outlier being 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly curtailed the Mids march to the NCAAs. After dealing with a fluid schedule and an array of virtual meets in 2021, Navy will be looking to return to its regular in-person schedule this season. This weekend's action at the 2022 West Point consists of the team event on Friday night with individual event titles up for grabs on Saturday night. Both nights of competition start at 7 p.m.
Who's Back
The 2022 roster is filled with familiar faces as 18 of the 24 members of the team are returning from 2021. The split between the upperclass and underclass is fairly even as eight seniors and three juniors dot this year's team, while seven sophomores and six freshman make up the underclass. The senior class consists of team captain
Dhiren Lutchman,
Nehemiah Baker,
Alexander Brown,
Cash Buske,
Dan Clark,
Brendan Fritz,
Henry Greene and
Josh Williams. The three-man junior class also brings back a plethora of experience in the form of
Giovanni Gambatese,
Alexander Kramer and
Connor Van Loo. Navy's sophomores will be competing in their first full season of competition after an augmented 2020 campaign. That class is made up of
Syam Buradagunta,
Ian Dinmore,
Erik Engelke,
Caleb Hickey,
Ronan McQuillan,
Matthew Rosendahl and
John Wendeborn.
In total, five of the 18 returners earned at least one ECAC All-Conference honor for their performance at the year-end conference championship last April. Additionally, Buske and Van Loo have All-ECAC honors from the 2019 and 2020 campaigns. At the sports' grandest stage, Gambatese, Van Loo and Williams all qualified for and competed as individuals on the final night of the NCAA Championships
2021 ECAC All-Conference (Top-6)
Josh Williams: 3rd Place (Floor Exercise); 3rd Place (Vault)
Dan Clark: 2nd Place (Pommel Horse)
Ronan McQuillan: 4th Place (Pommel Horse)
Dhiren Lutchman: t-3rd Place (High Bar); 5th Place (Rings)
Giovanni Gambatese: 1st (High Bar)
Previous ECAC All-Conference Honors (2019 & 2020)
Cash Buske: High Bar (2019, 2020)
Connor Van Loo: 2020 ECAC Rookie of the Year
2021 NCAA Championship Finals Qualifiers
Giovanni Gambatese: t-14th (High Bar); 5th in Qualifying Session 1
Connor Van Loo: t-22nd (Vault); t-7th in Qualifying Session 1
Josh Williams: 31st (Rings) and 42nd (Floor Exercise); 16th (R) and t-8th (FX) in Qualifying Session 1
Who's New
Kip Simons and his assistant coaches
Craig Holt and
Mike Reid have been busy this preseason bringing a talented six-man class up to speed with the collegiate gymnastics world.
The class comes from across the nation with
William Champagne from Massachusetts and
Sabastian Gordon from New Jersey representing the Northeast,
RJ Spears hailing from the Midwest and the state of Ohio, while the Southwest and West is represented by Texan
Vishal Mandava, Nevada native
Riley Rose and California's
Isaiah Drake.
International/National/State Championship Highlights ...
Champagne – Fifth in All-Around at 2019 Massachusetts State Championship; fifth in VT and sixth on HB
Drake – Member of the U.S. Senior National Team during 2021 season; four years with U.S. Junior National Team (2015-16 through 2019-20); only non-Olympian or collegiate to place in the top-10 in the All-Around at the 2020 Winter Cup
Gordon – 2019 New Jersey State All-Around Champion; placed second on the R and third in All-Around in the finals of the 2021 Men's Development Program Nationals
Mandava – Competed with the U.S. Junior National Team in 2017 and 2018; 2021 Men's Junior Elite National All-Around Champion; placed first on the PB and second on the rings
Rose – Three-time Region I All-Around Champion (2013, 2014 & 2021); chosen to the Region I International Select Team camp
Spears – Placed fifth in the All-Around at the 2021 Ohio State Championship; fifth also on the PB and HB
2022 Season at a Glance
This weekend's action at the West Point Open will be the first of five straight weeks of early season action. This early run of competition includes the 2022 Navy Open on Jan. 22, the annual Army-Navy Star Meet on Feb. 5 in Annapolis and the All-Academy Championship in Dallas, Texas on Feb. 12. After a brief break for the Winter Cup (Feb. 25-26), the Mids' regular season closes with head-to-head competitions at William & Mary (March 12) and Air Force (March 19).
In addition to the previously mentioned Navy Open and Star Meet home dates, the Mids will also host the Tribe of William & Mary on Jan. 29. All home action in 2022 will be held in the program's new venue in Halsey Fieldhouse.
Following the conclusion to the regular season, Navy will host the 2022 USAG Collegiate Championships in Halsey on the weekend of March 25-26 before heading to Williamsburg, Va. the following Saturday for the ECAC Championship meet. This year's NCAA Championship will be hosted by the University of Oklahoma on the weekend of April 15-16.
