TAMPA, Fla. - Sophomore Isaiah Drake (Los Angeles, Calif.) continued his standout summer of performances on the national circuit with action at the 2022 U.S. Gymnastics Championships this past weekend. Suiting up alongside 44 of the nation's best gymnasts at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Drake placed 14th overall in the all-around competition and garnered one of the highly sought after positions with the United States' Senior National Development Team.

He is the first member of the Navy men's gymnastics team in modern history to earn on spot on either the United States' Senior National Team or the United States' Senior National Development Team.

The two-day event consisted of action on Thursday and Saturday night in front of a national television audience on the Olympic Channel, CNBC and Peacock networks. The stage was not too much for Drake as the sophomore turned in an all-around score of 79.2 to rank 16th after the first day and then improved his standing to 14th overall at the conclusion of the second day courtesy of a score of 79.6 for a cumulative total of 158.8. The first day saw him register 13.85 points on the floor exercise, 11.75 on the pommel horse, 13.4 on the rings, 14.1 on the vault, 13.5 on the parallel bars and 12.6 on the high bar before coming back and posting respective scores of 13.7 on the floor exercise, 12.6 on the pommel horse, 13.55 on the rings, 13.9 on the vault, 13.5 on the parallel bars and 12.35 on the high bar. Drake's combined floor exercise, rings and parallel bars routines ranked 13th overall in each of the individual leaderboards.

In the all-around competition, Drake was the first gymnast in the standings that was not a previous member of the U.S. Olympic, Senior Team, Junior Team or currently competing at Stanford University or the University of Michigan. 2022 Olympian Brody Malone won the all-around title. He was followed in the standings by Donnell Whittenburg, a multi-time U.S. national champion and alternate on the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team and Asher Hong, the bronze medalist at the 2022 Winter Cup and a seasoned gymnast on the international scene.

"This was my first championship as a senior athlete and to describe it in one word it was just fun," remarked Drake. "I've found that I usually perform best when I'm just enjoying the competition and cheering for all of my friends competing alongside me; I was able to do that over the weekend. I truly enjoyed the train up for this meet at Navy and could not have gotten through it without the support of my coaches, athletic trainers, teammates and members in the hall.

"In regards to the Senior Development Team, I'm looking forward to being able to enjoy the absolute privilege of training with some of the best gymnasts this nation has to offer. While I get to be surrounded by some of most dedicated and hard working people I've ever met everyday by being at Navy, being on the Senior Development Team gives me a new opportunity to learn from other Elite level athletes and learn from the members of the National Team who have competed in competitions like Olympics and World Championships. This will help me in so many aspects of future competitions and leadership opportunities."

As a member of the U.S. Senior National Development Team, Drake will participate in multiple training camps throughout the year with the potential of competing for the United States in international meets. He's also automatically qualified for the 2023 Winter Cup and U.S. Championships.