ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy gymnastics team will conclude its 2022 regular season this Saturday afternoon with a tri-meet hosted by Air Force. The action between the eighth-ranked Mids (6-0), the 11th-ranked Falcons (1-7) and the fifth-ranked University of Illinois Fighting Illini (2-3) is slated to start at 3 p.m. (ET) at the Cadet West Gym. Shaking the rust off of a three-week break last Saturday with a road win at William & Mary, Navy will look to ratchet up its execution scores this Saturday with postseason action on the horizon with the USAG Collegiate Championship and the ECAC Championships occurring over the next two weekends. Air Force is scheduled to have a live stream of the action on its YouTube channel, as well as live results available of Saturday's meet.

Most Recent Navy-Air Force matchup: February 12 (All-Academy Championship)
The Mids captured their fourth straight All-Academy Championship with a 12.25 advantage over the field of Army and Air Force on Saturday, February 12. Competing at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Navy outscored its rivals on four events on its way to a 393.5 final score. Army placed second with 381.25 points to hold off Air Force, who recorded a team score of 379.9.
 
Navy's depth was on display on Saturday night as five different Mids staked claim on individual event wins. Team captain Dhiren Lutchman, who was victorious on the parallel bars, was joined by a quartet of underclassmen as sophomores Syam Buradagunta and Ronan McQuillan won the floor exercise and pommel horse disciplines, respectively before the freshmen duo of Isaiah Drake and Riley Rose tied for top honors on the high bar.
 
As a team, Navy scored 68.05 points on the floor exercise, 65.5 on the pommel horse, 65.25 on the rings, 69.5 on the vault, 63.05 on the parallel bars and 62.15 on the high bar.

Comparing the Squads
(2022 4-Score Averages)

	Navy	Individual Leader	Illinois	Individual Leader	Air Force	Ind. Leader
All-Around	391.73	Drake, 77.82	401.22	N/A	379.13	G. Braunton, 75.57
Floor Exercise	65.98	Buradagunta, 13.42	66.58	C. McCool, 13.80	63.78	C. Hickey, 13.20
Pommel Horse	64.28	McQuillan, 13.53	66.40	I. Skirkey, 13.97	62.32	G. Braunton, 12.93
Rings	66.18	Williams, 14.08	65.90	A. Anaya, 13.70	62.68	G. Braunton, 13.47
Vault	70.37	Van Loo, 14.42	71.70	E. Manivong, 14.63	68.80	G. Braunton, 14.02
Parallel Bars	63.62	Lutchman, 13.60	65.17	M. Fletcher, 13.72	63.92	G. Brauton, 13.00
High Bar	64.78	Gambatese, 13.40	66.25	H. Carter, 13.87	60.28	G. Braunton, 13.02

Mids in the Top-20
Navy gymnasts occupy seven top-20 spots in the individual leaderboards for event rankings.
    Rings: Josh Williams (3rd Nationally, 14.083 NQA)
        Alexander Brown (15th, 13.700 NQA)
    All-Around: Isaiah Drake (5th, 77.817 NQA)   
    Pommel Horse: Ronan McQuillan (12th, 13.533 NQA)
    High Bar: Giovanni Gambatese (13th, 13.400 NQA)
    Vault: Connor Van Loo (15th, 14.417 NQA)
    Parallel Bars: Dhiren Lutchman (17th, 13.600 NQA)
    
Last Time Out: At William & Mary on March 12
Navy quickly broke out to a six-point lead through the initial three disciplines on its way to a 389.85-381.85 victory over William & Mary on the road on Saturday afternoon. The Mids (6-0) were led by five individual event winners as they continued to be undefeated in head-to-head competitions this season.
 
Strong individual performances throughout the meet at Kaplan Arena provided Navy with everything it would need to knock off its ECAC league rival, William & Mary in its penultimate regular season tilt. Syam Buradagunta led off the quintet of victors on Saturday as he placed first on the floor exercise. He was followed in quick succession by John Wendeborn and Josh Williams, who placed first on the pommel horse and rings, respectively. A career-best score on the vault by Nehemiah Baker claimed the Mids' fourth win of the afternoon before Cash Buske rounded out the competition with an event-winning result on the high bar.
 
As a team, Navy scored 64.8 points on the floor exercise, 61.8 on the pommel horse, 65.45 on the rings, 70.8 on the vault, 64.25 on the parallel bars and 62.75 on the high bar. The marks on the vault and parallel bars are each the second-highest by a Midshipmen lineup in a meet this season.