ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy gymnastics team defended its title at the USAG Collegiate Championship on Friday with a season-high 400.45-point score at the Halsey Fieldhouse Gymnastics Facility. Taking on a field of No. 11 Air Force, No. 12 Springfield and No. 13 William & Mary, the eighth-ranked Mids started out strong on the pommel horse and never looked back as they outscored their opponents on five of the six events to lead wire-to-wire.

The final scoreboard showed Navy on top with 400.45 points, 6.40 ahead of second-place Air Force, who tallied 394.05 points. William & Mary finished in third place with 381.05 points, while Springfield College ended in fourth with 375.95 points.
 
This USAG Collegiate Championship title is the second straight for Navy and is the program's fourth in the history of competition that dates back to 1983. The competition is open to Division I, II or III, four-year institutions with gymnastics as a varsity sport that provide two or less full scholarships, as well as the military academies. Additionally, gymnasts from the GymACT club division were in action on Friday representing GymACT East and GymACT West. The top-eight scorers on each apparatus, with a maximum of two gymnasts per team or rotation group of GymACT competitors, advanced to Saturday's individual event finals.
 
The senior trio of Dan Clark (Avon, Mass.), Alexander Brown (Lafayette, La.) and Dhiren Lutchman (Beltsville, Md.) led the Mids on Friday as all three finished in first place; Clark on the pommel horse, Brown on the rings and Lutchman on the parallel bars. Isaiah Drake (Fr., Los Angeles, Calif.) and Josh Williams (Sr., Cypress, Texas) also played leading roles in Navy's success as Drake placed second in floor exercise, while Williams did the same on the rings. Participating in the all-around competition, Drake came in second place by just 0.30 points.
 
As a team, Navy scored 68.35 points on the floor exercise, 64.9 on the pommel horse, 66.85 on the rings, 71.15 on the vault, 67.25 on the parallel bars and 61.95 on the high bar.
 
The Mids' day began on the pommel horse and the team's lineup was ready to go as Navy gymnasts occupied three of the top-five positions amongst a field of 31. Clark was a standout on Friday as he posted a 13.75 that was first by 0.15 points over Air Force's Garrett Braunton. Ronan McQuillan (So., Katy, Texas) just close behind Braunton as he registered a score of 13.5. Drake rounded out the top-five as he scored 13.35 points for his routine.
 
Navy improved on its fast start with three gymnasts in the top-four on its next apparatus, the rings. Brown and his fellow senior Williams went one-two on the rings with respective scores of 13.8 and 13.7. Drake bolstered the Mids' effort with 13.4 points, that ranked him fourth overall. Lutchman made it four Navy competitors in the top-10 as he tied for tenth place with Air Force's Oliver Zavel with a 13.0 score.
 
Strong from top-to-bottom, the Mids' vault lineup turned in five scores between 14.4 and 13.95. Nehemiah Baker (Sr., Oak Ridge, N.C.) was the first Midshipmen in the standings as he tied for fifth with Springfield's Andrae Butler and Air Force's Erich Upton with a 14.4 effort. Williams and Drake were 0.1 points back in a tie for eighth place courtesy of matching 14.3 scores. Connor Van Loo (Jr., Freeland, Mich.) ranked 13th with a 14.2, while Syam Buradagunta (So., Westborough, Mass.) tied for 19th with a 13.95 to give Navy a grand total of 71.15 points on the vault, its second-best score of the season.
 
The Mids' run of high-scoring performances continued on the parallel bars as all five members of its lineup finished in the top-nine. Lutchman was the class of the field as he cleared all of his opponents by 0.45 points with a final score of 14.15. Caleb Hickey (So., Carthage, N.C.) was the next Navy gymnast in the standings as he placed fourth with a 13.6. Giovanni Gambatese (Jr., Pewaukee, Wisc.) was the third Mid in the top-five as he tied with Springfield's Dominic Ramalho for fifth at 13.4. The freshmen duo of Drake and Vishal Mandava (Cypress, Texas) were separated by 0.1 points and came in eighth and ninth respectively with scores of 13.3 and 13.2. The lineup's 67.25 combined score was over two points better than its previous season-high.
 
Though not at the top of the individual standings, Navy performed well on the high bar and had four gymnasts place between fifth and tenth. Drake was the leading scorer on the apparatus with 12.7 points that was good for fifth overall. The Wisconsin pair of Gambatese and Buske were next up for the Mids in sixth and eighth place. Gamabatese turned in a 12.65 routine, while Buske was a tenth of a point back with a 12.55. Buradagunta finished in a three-way tie for tenth at 12.45.
 
Navy sealed its victory with a quartet of top-eight results on the floor exercise. All four classes were represented in this high-level performance as Drake and Buradagunta showcased the freshman and sophomore classes and finished 0.05 points apart with scores of 14.1 and 14.05. The underclassmen ranked second and third, respectively. The Mids' upperclass came through next as Van Loo posted the fifth-best score on Friday at 13.8 ahead of Williams, who placed eighth with a 13.6 score.
 
In the all-around competition, Drake recorded scores of 14.1 points on the floor exercise, 13.35 on the pommel horse, 13.4 on the rings, 14.3 on the vault, 13.3 on the parallel bars and 12.7 on the high bar. He placed top-10 in all six of the individual standings for each event. He was edged by Air Force's Garrett Braunton for the all-around crown by 0.30 points, 81.45 to 81.15.
 
Navy is slated to have two gymnasts in all six of the event finals on Saturday. March-on for the event finals is scheduled for 1:45 p.m. at Halsey Fieldhouse.
 
Event Finalists
FX – Drake, Buradagunta
PH – Clark, McQuillan
R – Brown, Williams
VT – Baker, Williams
PB – Lutchman, Hickey
HB – Drake, Gambatese