ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy gymnastics team will host its annual multi-team Navy Open this Saturday afternoon in Annapolis. An early season staple of the Mids' schedule year-in and year-out, the 2023 Navy Open will feature one of the deepest lineups in the history of the event as No. 2 Penn State, No. 7 Ohio State, No. 9 Springfield, No. 12 William & Mary and No. 13 Simpson College will be competing against the No. 8 Mids. Part of the weekend-long Navy Gymnastics Challenge, the collegiate meet will take center stage beginning at 2 p.m. at Halsey Field House.
Live stats will be provided through the RoadToNationals website, while the Navy Gymnastic Facebook page is scheduled to have live video coverage.
Navy Gymnastics on Facebook
Most Recent Navy Open: January 22, 2022
Competing for the first time at its new facility, Halsey Field House, the Navy gymnastics team had its second straight strong outing in as many weeks as the Mids finished runner-up to the Penn State Nittany Lions as part of the multi-team 2022 Navy Open. At the conclusion of the action on Saturday, the Nittany Lions claimed the team title with 385.85 points, just 1.65 points ahead of the Mids, who recorded a score of 384.20.
The final standings saw Penn State and Navy go one-two, ahead of Springfield College, William & Mary and Temple. The Pride placed third with 372.65 points, while the Tribe and Owls finished with scores of 367.45 and 334.10, respectively.
Navy's lineup was stout throughout the meet and helped the host squad post the highest scores on floor exercise, the rings and the high bar. The Mids' five-man lineups outscored the field by over four points on the floor and over two points on the high bar.
Standout efforts by
Isaiah Drake and
Giovanni Gambatese resulted in first place individual outcomes on the floor exercise and high bar, respectively.
Ronan McQuillan was the third Mid to win an event on Saturday as he held off a pair of Nittany Lions on the pommel horse.
Comparing the Squads
(2022 averages) ...
Note: Simpson College is in its first year of collegiate competition
|
Navy |
Ohio St. |
Penn St. |
Spring. |
W&M |
| A-A |
397.4 |
400.6 |
397.1 |
381.6 |
381.2 |
| FX |
68.1 |
68.2 |
66.5 |
65.3 |
63.8 |
| PH |
63.8 |
65.6 |
64,8 |
61.3 |
60.2 |
| R |
67.0 |
67.2 |
66.5 |
63.2 |
64.2 |
| V |
70.9 |
71.3 |
70.9 |
69.3 |
68.2 |
| PB |
64.7 |
65.8 |
65.4 |
63.9 |
64.4 |
| HB |
65.3 |
65.0 |
64.6 |
62.4 |
61.3 |
Last Time Out: January 13-14 at West Point Open
Navy began its 2023 season with a strong result versus a talented field at the West Point Open on Friday night. Going up against Penn State and Nebraska, two of the top-eight finishers at last year's NCAA Championship, as well as ECAC foes Army and Springfield, Navy finished third overall with 394.5 points. Trotting out a young lineup with three freshmen and three sophomores among its 14 entered gymnasts, the Mids came through with very competitive floor exercise, vault and high bar performances in comparison to their opposition at Christl Arena.
At the conclusion of six events of action on Friday night, Penn State was victorious with 407.60 points. Nebraska was over eight points back of the Nittany Lions in second place at 399.30. In a battle for third place, Navy bested Army by 4.35 points, 394.50 to 390.15, while Springfield rounded out the field with a score of 388.15.
As a team, the Mids tallied 67.35 points on the floor exercise, 63.65 on the pommel horse, 64.7 on the rings, 70.35 on the vault, 64.55 on the parallel bars and 63.9 on the high bar.
Navy's veteran trio of
Connor Van Loo,
Syam Buradagunta and
Ronan McQuillan led the Mids as they each turned in top-six results, respectively to qualify for Saturday night's event final. Additionally, juniors
Erik Engelke and
Caleb Hickey, and sophomore
Sabastian Gordon recorded routines that advanced them into the event finals.
On Saturday night, the team produced six podium-worthy results out of seven performances. Van Loo paced the Midshipmen as he won the floor exercise crown, in addition to finishing third on the vault.
Parking
Vehicle access to the U.S. Naval Academy is limited to those with a Department of Defense identification card ... Spectators may park outside of the USNA grounds and enter the Academy through the visitors' entrance located at Gate One at the corner of King George and Randall Streets (52 King George St.). Anyone under the age of 18, and who does not have a government-issued ID, must be accompanied by an adult. Halsey Field House is located directly to the right of the visitors' entrance.
