WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Navy gymnastics team had a successful start to its 2022 season with a second-place result at the West Point Open on Friday night. One of six teams competing at Army's Christl Arena, the Mids turned in a score of 391.45 that challenged Penn State for the team title as the Nittany Lions netted 393.65 points. Navy had strong efforts from across its lineup on Friday as 10 different gymnasts posted top-eight efforts that advanced them into Saturday's event finals.
 
At the conclusion of the six events, the podium for the team standings consisted of Penn State in first, Navy in second and the host Army Black Knights in third with 388.65 points. Springfield College was solidly in fourth place with a score of 378.55. William & Mary and Temple rounded out the standings with respective 362.40 and 337.05 scores.
 
In a testimonial to the depth, talent and balance of the Mids' 2022 roster, four gymnasts from four separate academic classes qualified for the event finals on a pair of apparatus each. The quartet of Josh Williams (Sr., Cypress, Texas), Giovanni Gambatese (Jr., Pewaukee, Wisc.), Syam Buradagunta (So., Westborough, Mass.) and Isaiah Drake (Fr., Los Angeles, Calif.) will all be in action multiple times on Saturday after strong efforts in the team contest.

"I'm really proud of the guys after a hard fought battle tonight," remarked head coach Kip Simons. "We have lots of areas to improve upon, but our guys prepared well and have bought into the game plan for the season. We saw how we stack up against our conference rivals, including Army. I like where we stand this early in the season. Our plebes stepped into collegiate competition for the first time and came out swinging. The youth of this team along with the leadership of our seniors makes for a well-balanced squad."
 
Unlike past years where early-season action consisted of six-up, five-count scoring before transitioning to five-up, five-count scoring in the second half and postseason, it was decided this offseason that teams will compete in five-up, five-count scoring from day one. Navy's team competition on Friday began with action on the pommel horse. With no room for error, the Mids turned in a 62.0 combined score that was second-best amongst the six teams. With the underclass occupying four of the five spots in Navy's lineup on Friday, the Mids had four scores of 12.15 or better, led by Ronan McQuillan's (So., Katy, Texas) 13.7 score that ranked second overall in a field of 38 gymnasts. Drake just missed the 13.0-mark as he earned a 12.95 score that was good for eighth. Buradagunta made it three Navy gymnasts in the top-10 as he ranked ninth with a 12.7.
 
The Mids' next turn was on the rings and their cumulative score was first by nearly two points as they netted 66.7 points courtesy of four gymnasts with results over 13.0 points. Williams was the flag-barer for the entire field as his 14.0-point score was first overall. Fellow senior Alexander Brown (Sr., Lafayette, La.) was 0.15 back of Williams with a 13.85 score that ranked third. In his first collegiate competition, Vishal Mandava (Fr., Cypress, Texas) clinched a spot in the event finals as he placed sixth with a 13.2. Team captain Dhiren Lutchman (Sr., Beltsville, Md.) made it four Mids in the top-eight as he tied for seventh place with a 13.15 result.
 
Navy followed up this performance with a score of 69.55 on the vault and three individual marks over 14.0 points. Connor Van Loo (Jr., Freeland, Mich.) led the Midshipmen effort as he registered the day's fifth-highest score of 14.35. Drake and Buradagunta also scored over the 14-point threshold as Drake hit a 14.1 vault, while Buradagunta scored 14.05 points. They finished back-to-back in 10th and 11th place.
 
The Mids' upperclass guided the lineup for the parallel bars on Friday night as Lutchman and Gambatese posted top-eight results. Lutchman's routine earned him a 13.2 score from the judges that ranked fourth overall. Gambatese was four spots back in eighth after turning in a 12.75 effort. Navy's score for the parallel bars was a 62.2.
 
The Mids' five-man high bar team was the class of the evening at Army with a combined score of 65.4 that was 1.9 points ahead of Penn State. Gambatese repeated his strong effort from the previous event as he netted 13.55 points that was good for second overall. He was 0.15 shy behind Penn State's Matt Cormier, who ranked first on Friday night. Buradagunta and Drake joined their junior teammate in qualifying for the event finals as the young duo finished within 0.05 points of each other as Buradagunta tied for fifth with a 13.1, while Drake was seventh with a 13.05. Freshman Riley Rose (Las Vegas, Nev.) tied for 10th in the field with a 12.9, while senior Cash Buske (Madison, Wisc.) was 0.1 points back with a 12.8 in 13th place.
 
Navy closed out it first action of 2022 with another strong event, the floor exercise. Four of the Mids that raised their hand on the floor recorded scores of 13.1 or better as the overall lineup earned 65.6 points. Buradagunta and Williams turned in nearly identical scores of 13.55 and 13.50 that placed the pair in fourth and fifth place, respectively. Caleb Hickey (So., Carthage, N.C.) made it three Mids advancing to Saturday as he posted a 13.2 score that left him eighth in the standings.
 
Navy will have representation in all six of the event finals on Saturday with Buradagunta, Williams and Hickey in the floor exercise field, McQuillan and Drake in the eight-man pommel horse field, and Williams, Brown and Mandava in the finals of the rings. Van Loo will be the only Mid in the event finals of the vault. Multiple Mids will represent Navy in the finals of the parallel bars and high bar events with Gambatese competing in both. He'll be joined by Lutchman on the p-bars, while Buradagunta and Drake will be entered in their second respective event finals. The action on Saturday night kicks off at 7 p.m.