ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy gymnastics team will conclude its home regular season slate on Saturday with a star-studded tri-meet versus service academy rival Air Force and Stanford, the three-time defending NCAA Champions. All three teams come into Saturday's contest ranked in the top-nine in the nation led by the No. 2 Cardinal (5-1) and No. 8 Midshipmen (4-1) with the Falcons (4-2) one spot back in ninth. First touch at the Halsey Field House Gymnastics Facility is set for 2 p.m. Following the tri-meet, Navy will have more home meet when it hosts the 2023 ECAC Championship on April 1.

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-Air Force matchup: February 18, 2023 at All-Academy Championship in Frisco, Texas
Navy battled throughout Saturday night's All-Academy Championship and fell just short of defending its title for the fifth straight year as a fast start by Air Force stood up for a 3.55-point victory. The service academy tri-meet at The Ford Center at The Star was action-packed start-to-finish and saw the Mids rally in the second half making up nearly one point on the Falcons and over four points on the Black Knights of Army.
 
At the conclusion of the contest, Air Force was victorious with a final score of 396.55. Navy came-from-behind to overtake Army for second place down the stretch, 393.00 to 389.15.
 
Navy's individual performance on Saturday night was led by six top-three results, including event wins by Matthew Petros on the vault and Isaiah Drake on the high bar. Additionally, Drake posted the third-best result on the vault. Giovanni Gambatese and Caleb Hickey aided the Mids' comeback with a tie for second on the high bar, while Syam Buradagunta was strong for Navy in the first half with a third-place score on the floor exercise.
 
As a team, Navy scored 65.7 points on the floor exercise, 62.65 on the pommel horse, 64.6 on the rings, 70.3 on the vault, 65.9 on the parallel bars and 63.85 on the high bar.

Most Recent Navy-Stanford matchup: February 17, 2021 in a Virtual Meet
In matchup of two teams ranked in the preseason top-10, the defending NCAA Champions, the Stanford Cardinal defeated the Navy Midshipmen, 398.25 to 384.30 in a virtual meet on February 17. Competing through the Virtius platform, the Mids at Macdonough Hall and the Cardinal at Burnham Pavilion, the teams mixed-and-matched their lineups in a unique mid-week matchup. Resting some of their leading gymnasts, who led them to the 2021 All-Academy Championship on Saturday, Navy had six freshmen in action on Wednesday as the program's depth was on display.
 
Individually, sophomore Giovanni Gambatese led the youthful lineup with an event win on the high bar. Amongst, the freshmen in action, Caleb Hickey turned in a pair of top-five results on the floor exercise and the parallel bars. Additionally, Erik Engelke placed third on the rings, while John Wendeborn ranked fourth on the pommel horse and Matthew Rosendahl was fifth on the vault.

Comparing the Squads
    (2023 Averages)

	Navy	Individual Leader	Stanford	Individual Leader	Air Force	Individual Leader
All-Around	393.48	N/A	411.50	N/A	391.47	N/A
Floor Exercise	66.28	Van Loo, 13.68	68.50	Hong, 14.13	64.82	Upton, 13.50
Pommel Horse	62.70	McQuillan, 13.55	65.47	Lasic-Ellis, 13.48	64.77	Hoopes, 13.80
Rings	64.60	Drake, 13.50	71.07	Hong, 14.38	63.63	Braunton, 13.10
Vault	70.50	Van Loo, 14.57	71.72	Young, 14.77	70.30	Braunton, 14.27
Parallel Bars	66.18	Mandava, 13.38	69.83	Hong, 14.63	65.15	Upton, 13.83
High Bar	64.15	Gambatese, 13.17	66.32	Lasic-Ellis, 13.22	60.13	Braunton, 13.08

Last Time Out: vs. William & Mary, Sunday, March 5
Competing in its home gym for the first time in over a month, the No. 9 Navy men's gymnastics team was firing on all cylinders on Sunday afternoon with a wire-to-wire win over No. 12 William & Mary. The Mids (4-1) outscored the Tribe (1-6) by 2.5 or more points on three events to help the squad pull away by a final score of 393.1 to 379.7 at the Halsey Field House Gymnastics Facility.  
 
Navy received strong individual efforts from across its roster as six different gymnasts grabbed first-place results over William & Mary opponents. Ian Dinmore claimed first place on the floor exercise with a score of 13.55, while Ronan McQuillan did the same on the pommel horse courtesy of a 13.9. Erik Engelke and Connor Van Loo earned top honors on the rings and vault with respect scores of 13.1 and 14.7. The final two individual winners on Sunday were Isaiah Drake on the parallel bars with a 13.95 result and Matthew Petros on the high bar with a dominant 13.2 score.
 
As a team, Navy registered 65.5 points on the floor exercise, 61.85 on the pommel horse, 63.0 on the rings, 71.15 on the vault, 66.9 on the parallel bars and 64.7 on the high bar. All six totals surpassed William & Mary's respective aggregates.

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.