COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Navy gymnastics team wrapped up its regular season with a strong 397.1-point effort at the Air Force Academy on Saturday. Taking on the fifth-ranked University of Illinois Fighting Illini (4-3) and the 11th-ranked Air Force Falcons (1-9), the eighth-ranked Mids (7-1) turned in their second-highest scoring performance of the year and finished second overall amongst a three-team varsity field at Cadet West Gym. Illinois placed first with 416.0 points, while Air Force was third with 392.6 points.
 
The Mids had a host of top-level individual results as three different Navy gymnasts collected event wins on Saturday. Josh Williams (Sr., Cypress, Texas) was the first Midshipmen to place atop the leaderboard as he posted a 0.7-point victory over the field of 20 gymnasts on the rings with a 14.4 score. Isaiah Drake (Fr., Los Angeles, Calif.) was equally as impressive as he earned a pair of event wins as he was the leading scorer on the vault with a career-best 15.0 score before repeating the task and pacing the field on the high bar with another career-best, a 13.65. The third event winner on Saturday was team captain Dhiren Lutchman (Sr., Beltsville, Md.), who held off a quartet of Illinois gymnasts for top honors on the parallel bars with a 14.2 score.
 
As a team, Navy scored 70.45 points on the floor exercise, 62.75 on the pommel horse, 66.45 on the rings, 71.85 on the vault, 63.15 on the parallel bars and 63.45 on the high bar. The Mids' scores on the floor exercise and vault were both season-highs; their previous best on the floor was a 68.05, while their next best vault result was 71.1.
 
"We found ourselves in a tough battle today on the road," remarked head coach Kip Simons. "The guys overcame a rough start and fought to the end for an impressive win over a surging Air Force team."
 
As part of the multi-team meet, Navy's day began on the pommel horse. On their first rotation, the Mids were led by the sophomore trio of Ronan McQuillan (Katy, Texas), Erik Engelke (Henrico, Va.) and Syam Buradagunta (Westborough, Mass.). After Illinois took the top-five positions, McQuillan ended in a three-way tie for sixth place with a 13.1 score. Engelke came in 0.35 points back in 11th with a 12.75 effort. Buradagunta nearly equaled Engelke's output with 12.7 points for his routine, that ranked 13th.
 
Williams spearheaded a strong next event for Navy as four Mids placed in the top-10 on the rings. Williams dominated the field and tied his career-high with 14.4 points. That point total is the fourth-highest by an individual during the 2022 NCAA season. Illinois' Josh Cook was the next closest gymnast as he turned in a 13.7. Drake and Lutchman were tightly grouped together in sixth and seventh place with respective scores of 13.4 and 13.35. Vishal Mandava (Fr., Cypress, Texas) rounded out the group of top-10 finishers for Navy as he netted 13.05 points to tie for tenth with Illinois' Logan Myers.
 
Invigorated by Williams' effort on the previous rotation, Drake came out and nailed his vault to the tune of a 15.0 score. That result is the fourth-highest individual score in all of the NCAA this year on the vault. Nehemiah Baker (Sr., Oak Ridge, N.C.) and Caleb Hickey (So., Carthage, N.C.) posted nearly the same score as Baker earned 14.35 points for his vault, while Hickey was 0.05 points back with a 14.3. Baker finished in a three-way tie for sixth. Hickey ranked ninth overall for his career-best score. Williams scored 14.2 points to finish 11th in the field.
 
Lutchman was the leading performer on the parallel bars on Saturday as he shattered his previous career-best of 13.95 with a 14.2 score in Cadet West Gym. Unfortunately for the Mids, the Fighting Illini and Falcons occupied the next nine positions in the standings. Dan Clark (Sr., Avon, Mass.) and Hickey were the next two Navy gymnasts on the leaderboard as Clark was 11th with a 13.05 and Hickey was 13th with a 12.85.
 
A similar story occurred on the high bar as Drake took top honors with a career-high 13.65 before a long list of Illinois gymnasts followed closely behind. Buradagunta interrupted the run of Illini in the standings as he tied for seventh overall with a 13.25 performance. Riley Rose (Fr., Las Vegas, Nev.) was edged out of the top-10 and finished 11th with a 12.45 score.
 
On the final rotation, the floor exercise, the high-scoring trio of Buradagunta, Williams and Drake rounded out their day with top-eight results. Buradagunta was the top-finisher as he placed third with a 14.45 score. Williams ended his meet with a sixth-place effort of 14.3. Drake was the third Mid near the top of the scoreboard as he finished in eighth with a 14.1.
 
"We still haven't hit our full potential, which gives me confidence in the potential for a stronger postseason," said Simons in closing. "We capitalized on a solid week of road training and competition. We'll begin preparations on Monday for the USAG Nationals. The details are everything as we enter the postseason and the guys are hungry to take Navy gymnastics to the finish line strong."
 
A month-long run of postseason events begins on Friday for Navy with the 2022 USAG Collegiate National Championship. The two-day event is scheduled to start on March 25 at 4 p.m. with the team and all-around event. On Saturday, the event finals will be contested beginning at 2 p.m. All of the action at the championship will be hosted at Navy's Halsey Fieldhouse Gymnastics Facility.