ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The annual battle for the gymnastics Star between Army and Navy is on the slate for this Saturday afternoon in West Point. The visiting Mids (1-0) will be looking to earn their fifth straight Star Meet victory over the Black Knights (1-1) in a head-to-head competition beginning at 1 p.m. at Army's Gross Center. Saturday's gymnastics meet is one of four Star competitions as part of a busy day for the 2022-23 Star Series presented by USAA; rifle and men's and women's track & field will also be in action.
Navy and Army have met earlier this season at the multi-team West Point Open on January 13. One of five teams competing at Army's Christl Arena, the Mids outpaced the Black Knights, 394.50 to 390.15. Navy bested Army on the floor exercise, rings, vault and high bar disciplines, while the Black Knights edged the Mids on the pommel horse by 0.35 points and the parallel bars by 0.55.
Most Recent Navy-Army Star matchup: February 5, 2022
Navy dominated Army from start-to-finish on its way to a 17.7-point victory in the 2022 edition of the Star Meet before a raucous crowd at Halsey Field House. Coming into Saturday's contest against their service academy rival with a season-high of 391.45 points, the Mids were hitting in all facets of its game plan this afternoon and posted a 397.25 score versus a 379.55 for the Black Knights. Navy outscored Army in all six events as a team, including 3.0-plus point advantages on the pommel horse, rings and high bar. This win by the Mids was the fourth straight in their series versus the Black Knights.
Strong throughout their lineup, five different Mids placed first in their individual events. Competing for a Star for the first time in his career, freshman
Isaiah Drake relished the added pressure and dominated all meet with an all-around score of 82.15 and first place results on the floor exercise, parallel bars and high bar. That all-around score is the second highest by any collegiate gymnast this season. Additionally, he was second on both the pommel horse and vault, and fifth on the rings. His breakout performance was backed up by individual wins by
Ronan McQuillan on the pommel horse,
Josh Williams ('22) on the rings and
Connor Van Loo on the vault. Fellow freshman
Riley Rose helped Navy seal the victory as he joined Drake atop the leaderboard of the high bar in his only event of the day.
As a team Navy posted 66.95 points on the floor exercise, 64.85 on the pommel horse, 66.4 on the rings, 71.1 on the vault, 63.55 on the parallel bars and 64.4 on the high bar.
Comparing the Squads
(2023 averages)
|
Navy |
Individual Leader |
Army |
Individual Leader |
| All-Around |
391.28 |
-- |
383.33 |
Buselmeier, 74.64 |
| Floor Exercise |
65.28 |
Buradagunta, 14.10 |
64.58 |
Almeida, 13.43 |
| Pommel Horse |
63.03 |
McQuillan, 13.31 |
61.97 |
Pabellon, 13.34 |
| Rings |
63.83 |
Drake, 13.45 |
62.57 |
Buselmeier, 12.97 |
| Vault |
70.30 |
Van Loo, 14.48 |
68.73 |
Pinc, 14.13 |
| Parallel Bars |
64.88 |
Hickey, 13.33 |
63.83 |
Kennedy, 13.03 |
| High Bar |
63.95 |
Gordon, 13.25 |
61.65 |
Pace, 12.40 |
Last Time Out: vs. William & Mary, January 28
The Navy gymnastics team had a strong effort start-to-finish last 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, 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 led the Mids' individual effort as he secured dominant 0.25-point victories on both the floor exercise and vault. Fellow senior
Giovanni Gambatese 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 and
Isaiah Drake 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, 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.
