ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The No. 9 Navy gymnastics team kicks off its run of postseason action this weekend with two days of action at the 2023 USAG Collegiate Championships in Central Massachusetts. Hosted by Springfield College at Blake Arena, the Mids will first compete in the team event on Friday afternoon at 1 p.m. before the event finals are held on Saturday afternoon at the same time. Navy has won each of the past two USAG postseason competitions (2019 and 2022) after finishing third three straight years, 2016 through 2018.
Navy will be one of five teams competing for the team title on Friday joining Air Force, Simpson College, Springfield and William & Mary. The competition is open to Division I, II or III, four-year institutions with gymnastics as a varsity sport that provide two or less full scholarships, as well as the military academies.
The Virtius platform will be used to broadcast and score the two-day competition. The multi-functional website will host live video of the routines, as well as up-to-date scoring results. USAG will be charging admission for the in-person portion of event, the prices are $10 per session.
Last Five USAG Collegiate Championships
2022 (in Annapolis): Navy 400.45 ... Air Force - 394.05 ... William & Mary - 381.05 ... Springfield - 375.95
2019 (in Annapolis): Navy - 400.7 ... Air Force - 384.8 ... William & Mary - 384.5 ... Army - 383.2 ... Springfield - 377.05
2018 (in Colorado Springs): Air Force - 396.4 ... William & Mary - 388.75 ... Navy - 388.7 ... Springfield - 371.9
2017 (in Everett, Wash.): Air Force - 396.95 ... William & Mary - 388.4 ... Navy - 379.7 ... Springfield - 373.85
2016 (in Springfield, Mass.): Air Force - 425.35 ... Army - 413.85 ... Navy - 412.85 ... William & Mary - 405.1 ... Springfield - 402.6
Most Recent USAG Collegiate Championship: March 25 & March 26, 2022 in Annapolis
The Navy gymnastics team defended its title at the USAG Collegiate Championship on Friday, March 25 with a season-high 400.45-point score at the Halsey Fieldhouse Gymnastics Facility. Taking on a field of No. 11 Air Force, No. 12 Springfield and No. 13 William & Mary, the eighth-ranked Mids started out strong on the pommel horse and never looked back as they outscored their opponents on five of the six events to lead wire-to-wire.
The senior trio of
Dan Clark,
Alexander Brown and
Dhiren Lutchman led the Mids on Friday as all three finished in first place; Clark on the pommel horse, Brown on the rings and Lutchman on the parallel bars.
Isaiah Drake and
Josh Williams also played leading roles in Navy's success as Drake placed second in floor exercise, while Williams did the same on the rings. Participating in the all-around competition, Drake came in second place by just 0.30 points.
As a team, Navy scored 68.35 points on the floor exercise, 64.9 on the pommel horse, 66.85 on the rings, 71.15 on the vault, 67.25 on the parallel bars and 61.95 on the high bar.
With 10 individual gymnasts competing across the six apparatus in the event finals, the Mids came away nine medal-winning performances, including five outright victories.
Syam Buradagunta (floor exercise),
Dan Clark (pommel horse),
Josh Williams (rings),
Dhiren Lutchman (parallel bars) and
Giovanni Gambatese (high bar) all collected gold medal for their individual efforts. Buradagunta and Gambatese will be returning this weekend to defend their event titles.
Comparing the Squads
(2023 Four-Score Averages; the top-four teams are listed)
|
Navy |
Individual Leader |
Air Force |
Individual Leader |
Springfield |
Ind. Leader |
W&M |
Ind. Leader |
| All-Around |
393.95 |
-- |
394.50 |
-- |
386.67 |
D. Ramalho, 76.98 |
382.57 |
A. Cuy, 74.58 |
| Floor Exercise |
66.43 |
Buradagunta, 13.80 |
65.12 |
E. Upton, 13.68 |
64.93 |
F. Kriedemann, 13.50 |
64.77 |
W. Harrington, 13.37 |
| Pommel Horse |
63.15 |
McQuillan, 13.55 |
65.52 |
P. Hoopes, 14.22 |
62.92 |
J. Laubstein, 12.97 |
61.42 |
S. Smith, 13.07 |
| Rings |
65.02 |
Drake, 13.62 |
64.18 |
G. Braunton, 13.10 |
64.45 |
D. Handron, 13.48 |
62.38 |
C. Marsh, 13.32 |
| Vault |
70.53 |
Van Loo, 14.57 |
70.70 |
E. Upton, 14.32 |
69.88 |
D. Ramalho, 14.32 |
69.10 |
E. Sikra, 14.02 |
| Parallel Bars |
66.18 |
Drake, 13.58 |
66.13 |
E. Upton, 13.83 |
63.67 |
S. Kaplan, 13.38 |
63.82 |
A. Cuy, 13.55 |
| High Bar |
64.15 |
Gambatese, 13.22 |
60.93 |
G. Braunton, 13.08 |
61.88 |
F. Kriedemann, 12.93 |
62.45 |
R. Pizem, 12.95 |
Last Time Out: at Simpson on March 16
The No. 9 Navy men's gymnastics team wrapped up its regular season with a road victory over No. 15 Simpson College by a score of 381.85-346.40 on Thursday night. Going head-to-head with their ECAC league foe for the first time in program history, the Mids (6-2) swept all six events on their way to the win versus the Storm (0-10) at Cowles Field House.
Syam Buradagunta led the long list of individual winners on Thursday night as he placed first on the floor exercise and pommel horse. Sophomores
Riley Rose and
Sabastian Gordon tied for top billing on the rings, while
Connor Van Loo posted the best vault of the evening.
Vishal Mandava and
Giovanni Gambatese rounded out Navy's group of top achievers as the duo won the parallel bars and high bar events, respectively.
As a team, Navy scored 66.15 points on the floor exercise, 58.9 on the pommel horse, 63.3 on the rings, 68.05 on the vault, 62.65 on the parallel bars and 62.8 on the high bar.
