ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy gymnastics team will host its annual multi-team Navy Open this Saturday afternoon in Annapolis. An early-season staple of the Mids' schedule year-in and year-out, the 2024 Navy Open will feature one of the deepest lineups in the history of the event as No. 5 Penn State, No. 6 Ohio State, No. 11 Springfield, No. 14 William & Mary and Temple will be competing against the No. 7 Mids. Part of the weekend-long Navy Gymnastics Challenge, the collegiate meet will take center stage beginning at 2 p.m. at Halsey Field House.

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 Open: January 21, 2023
Navy kicked off the home portion of its 2023 schedule with the Navy Open. Taking on a field that included two Big Ten opponents and three other ECAC foes, the Mids placed third overall with 386.05 points. Ohio State was the class of the field and won with the third-highest team score of the young 2023 season with 405.35 points.
 
The entire standings on Saturday consisted of Ohio State on top followed by Penn State, who netted 395.45 points and Navy. The fourth and fifth positions were tight with William & Mary holding off Springfield by 3.05 points, 370.35 to 367.30. The first-year Simpson College program under the direction of former Navy assistant coach Colin Payne scored 337.90 points to round out the standings.
 
Individually, Navy gymnasts recorded three top-five results led by Ronan McQuillan's third-place finish on the pommel horse. Sophomores Isaiah Drake and Sabastian Gordon also turned in top-five results as Drake was fourth on the vault, while Gordon was fifth on the high bar.

For the event, Navy scored 62.7 points on the floor exercise, 62.3 on the pommel horse, 62.3 on the rings, 69.7 on the vault, 64.35 on the pommel horse and 64.7 on the high bar.

Comparing the Squads
(2024 averages) ... 
    Note: Temple competes in the GymAct club circuit

	Navy	Ohio St.	Penn St.	Spring.	W&M
A-A	394.50	395.00	397.55	381.85	359.35
FX	66.15	65.20	64.83	61.70	57.00
PH	68.55	61.45	65.50	63.35	59.00
R	61.75	68.10	66.30	61.60	57.30
V	69.40	70.15	69.58	69.60	68.70
PB	65.75	65.25	65.15	64.05	60.05
HB	62.90	64.85	66.20	61.55	57.30

Last Time Out: January 12-13 at West Point Open
Navy finished its season-opening competition in strong fashion on Friday night as it rallied to secure second place at the 2024 West Point Open with a dramatic comeback over the host Army Black Knights. After an up-and-down start to its competition over the first three events at Army's Christl Arena, the Mids overtook the Black Knights down the stretch as part of a six-point swing over the high bar, floor exercise and pommel horse rotations.

At the completion of the team event, Penn State reigned supreme with 401.3 points, while Navy was 6.8 points back in second place with 394.5 points and Army claimed third at 388.65. Fellow ECAC rivals, Springfield College and William & Mary rounded out the field of varsity competitors with scores of 381.85 and 359.35, respectively.

As a team, Navy scored 66.15 points on the floor exercise, 68.55 on the pommel horse, 61.75 on the rings, 69.4 on the vault, 65.75 on the parallel bars and 62.9 on the high bar. The Mids' pommel horse score was the highest in over five years as the 2019 team posted a 68.25 on Jan. 26, 2019 at William & Mary.

The 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 in the floor exercise, Caleb Hickey on the parallel bars and Isaiah Drake on the high bar.

After finishing top-three on the floor exercise (first place with 14.25 points), pommel horse (second place with 14.2 points) and the high bar (third place with 13.4 points), Buradagunta was recognized as the ECAC Gymnast of the Week.

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.