ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy gymnastics team had a strong effort start-to-finish on Saturday in an ECAC league meet versus William & Mary. Taking on the Tribe (1-1) in a head-to-head dual, the Mids (1-0) cruised to a 28.8-point victory at the Halsey Field House in their final tune-up before next week's Army-Navy showdown, 393.3 to 365.1. Navy controlled the action throughout and outscored William & Mary in all six events, while Midshipmen gymnasts finished atop the individual standings of all six disciplines, as well.
 
Connor Van Loo (Sr., Freeland, Mich.) led the Mids' individual effort as he secured dominant 0.25-point victories on both the floor exercise and vault. Fellow senior Giovanni Gambatese (Pewaukee, Wisc.) posted the best score on the high bar as he won by 0.15 points. The sophomore class was also well represented on Saturday as Vishal Mandava (Cypress, Texas) and Isaiah Drake (Los Angeles, Calif.) won the pommel horse and rings events, respectively. Mandava's win was the first of his young career, while Drake's margin of victory was an impressive 0.6 points. The fifth individual winner was Caleb Hickey (Jr., Carthage, N.C.), who cruised to a 0.35-point victory on the parallel bars.
 
As a team, Navy scored 65.8 points on the floor exercise, 63.15 on the pommel horse, 64.5 on the rings, 70.85 on the vault, 65.75 on the parallel bars and 63.25 on the high bar. The Mids were more than 4.5-points better than the Tribe on four separate events.
 
"I'm really proud of the team today," remarked head coach Kip Simons. "We're starting to see who this team is after three hard-fought contests. I believe we've tested our plebes and we're ready for a battle next weekend at Army. I'm confident this group is hungry, humble and ready to fight."
 
The Mids jumped out to an 8.3-point lead after the first event and a 12.7-point advantage through two as the hosts cruised to outright victories in the floor exercise and pommel horse competitions. Navy gymnasts occupied each of the top-five positions on both apparatus. Van Loo headlined the floor exercise lineup with a 13.45 effort to hold off junior Ian Dinmore (Odenton, Md.), who posted a 13.2. The duo of Aaron Stein (Fr., Houston, Texas) and Hickey tied for third overall at 13.1, while Danilo Viciana (Fr., Marietta, Ga.) just missed reaching the 13.0-point plateau as he finished fifth with a 12.95.
 
On the pommel horse, Mandava and Erik Engelke (Jr., Henrico, Va.) battled for the top spot as Mandava edged his teammate by 0.05 points, 12.85 to 12.8, respectively. Dinmore posted his second straight top-three result as he came in third place on the pommel horse with a 12.7. Ronan McQuillan (Jr., Katy, Texas) and William Champagne (So., Douglas, Mass.) rounded out the top-five with respective scores of 12.6 and 12.2.
 
Navy received a stiffer challenge from William & Mary on the rings as only three Mids made the top-five. Drake was the class of the field as he dominated with a 0.6-point victory over Viciana and the Tribe's Christian Marsh, 13.75 to 13.15. There was another tie for fourth place as Sabastian Gordon (So., Old Tappen, N.J.) and Zachary Patrick posted matching 12.7 scores.
 
The next two events, the vault and parallel bars, saw Navy gymnasts sweep the top-four spots. Van Loo collected the victory as he hit his 4.9-point vault with the highest execution score of 9.65 for his overall score of 14.55. The sophomore duo of Drake and Champagne finished back-to-back with scores of 14.3 and 14.2, respective. The reigning ECAC Rookie of the Week, Matthew Petros (Fr., Broadview Heights, Ohio) posted a 14.1 for his vault to complete the sweep.
 
A similar formula of an upperclass winner, two sophomores and a freshman played out in the top-four of the parallel bars. Hickey led the way for the Mids on the event as he cleared the field by 0.35 points with a winning result of 13.7. Mandava and Champagne each turned in career-best 13.35 scores to tie for second place. Petros recorded his second straight fourth place result with a 13.1 effort.
 
Navy completed its day with a sweep of the top-three spots on the high bar. The Mids' team captain Giovanni Gambatese spearheaded the high bar lineup with first place score of 13.25. Drake finished top-notch day in the gym with his third top-two result courtesy of a 13.1 score. One turn after his victory on the p-bars, Hickey was strong on the high bar with a third-place 13.05 effort.
 
Following Navy's dominant 28.8-point victory over William & Mary on Saturday, the Mids will turn their attention to their annual Star Meet competition versus the Black Knights of Army West Point. The 2023 Star Meet will be hosted by Army at the Gross Center with the first touch scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 4.