WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Navy men's gymnastics team had a stellar conclusion to its weekend of action at the 2024 West Point Open with Saturday night's event finals. With nine gymnasts competing for individual glory, the team came away with 12 top-six podium finishes, including event titles by
Syam Buradagunta (Sr., Westborough, Mass.) in the floor exercise,
Caleb Hickey (Sr., Carthage, N.C.) on the parallel bars and
Isaiah Drake (Jr., Los Angeles, Calif.) on the high bar.
The floor exercise was Navy's most successful event of the evening at Christl Arena as the Mids' three entrants, Buradagunta,
Benjamin Thurlow Lam (Fr., San Francisco, Calif.) and
Colby Prince (So., Lithia, Fla.) swept the top-three positions on the podium. Buradagunta was the class of eight competitors with a score of 13.8, while Thurlow Lam and Prince, two first-time event finalists, were separate by 0.1 points at 13.25 and 13.15, respectively. Prince's 13.15 was tied by Penn State's Kacper Garnczarek for third place.
On the ensuing event, the pommel horse, Navy once again had three medalists as Buradagunta,
Ronan McQuillan (Sr., Katy, Texas) and
Matthew Petros (So., Broadview Heights, Ohio) all finished in the top-six. Buradagunta paced the Mids with a second-place result of 12.9, while McQuillan was one spot back in third with a 12.55 effort. Petros battled his way onto the podium with a sixth-place score of 11.2.
Two more Mids finished top-six on the rings as the upperclass duo of Drake and
Erik Engelke (Sr., Henrico, Va.) placed third and sixth, respectively. Drake turned in a 13.3 score to grab the bronze as he held off Penn State's Luke Esparo for the position. Engelke had his hands full as he slid in-between a pair of Army gymnasts, Blake Kennedy, who placed fifth at 12.9 and Jaden Blank, who was seventh at 12.8. Engelke earned 12.85 points on Saturday night to earn sixth place.
Petros was the only Navy competitor in the event finals of the vault and he turned in a 13.3 result that ranked fourth overall.
Navy got back on top of the podium on the final two events, the parallel bars and high bar. Hickey dominated the field in the parallel bars final as he recorded a score of 13.6 that was 0.45 points better than Army's Kennedy, who was second at 13.15.
Danilo Viciana (So., Marietta, Ga.) gave Navy its second top-three result on the event as he was awarded a 13.05 score on Saturday.
Drake had a much more challenging task ahead of him in the finals of the high bar as the top-four combatants were separated by just 0.2 points. Drake grabbed the gold with a 12.9 as Penn State's Garnczarek was just 0.05 points back. Buradagunta continued the run of closely-packed results as he claimed bronze with 12.8 points.
Following Saturday night's competition, Navy will head home for three straight weeks of home meets. First up with be the 2024 Navy Open on Saturday, Jan. 20. A talented field of Ohio State, Penn State, Springfield and William & Mary will be welcomed for Navy's annual multi-team home opener.
