WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The No. 9 Navy men's gymnastics team used a fast start to withstand a strong comeback attempt by No. 11 William & Mary and continued its run of undefeated ECAC conference action with a 312.40-311.80 victory on Saturday afternoon. Going head-to-head at the Tribe's Kaplan Arena, the Mids broke out to a 1.9-point lead after two rotations and expanded it out to 2.6 points through four events. That advantage held up for a final 0.6 margin of victory for Navy as William & Mary shaved 2.0 points off its deficit over its respective turns on the parallel bars and high bar.

Isaiah Drake (Sr., Los Angeles, Calif.) led the Mids' individual effort on Saturday as he placed first on the high bar and tied with fellow Navy teammate Aaron Stein (Jr., Houston, Texas) on the rings. The underclass duo of Daniel Gurevich (So., Frisco, Texas) and Jonah Soltz (Fr., Tacoma, Wash.) played a pivotal role in the Mids' fast start as Gurevich secured the floor exercise crown, while Soltz held off his fellow Mid Matthew Petros (Jr., Broadview Heights, Ohio) for the pommel horse title on Saturday.

As a team, Navy scored 52.4 points on the floor exercise, 50.9 on the pommel horse, 52.6 on the rings, 55.25 on the vault, 50.95 on the parallel bars and 50.3 on the high bar. The Mids' pommel horse, rings and vault results were all season-highs.

Gurevich got the Mids going early as he turned in a score of 13.85 from a 9.15 execution of his 4.7-level routine. The effort was a career-best score for the sophomore. William Champagne (Sr., Douglas, Mass.) gave Navy two gymnasts in the top-five as he posted a 13.2 to rank fifth overall.

A sweep of the top-three positions vaulted the Mids into the lead through two events as Soltz, Petros and Gurevich went one, two, three. Soltz held off Petros by 0.1 points, 13.15 to 13.05, as he garnered the highest execution score on the horse with an 8.75 score and a 4.4 starting value. Gurevich rounded out the top-three of the leaderboard with a 12.6 mark.

The duo of Drake and Stein were the story of the rings competition as both Midshipmen netted their team 13.7 points. Drake secured his score with a 9.1 execution grade of his 4.6-level routine, while Stein dropped just 0.7 points on his execution for a 9.3 score to go with his 4.3 difficulty value. Julian Galvez (So., Burtonsville, Md.) was the third Navy gymnast in the top-five as he tallied a 13.1 score, that was fifth-best on Saturday. Stein and Galvez' scores were new career-highs.

While not atop the individual standings for the vault rotation, the Mids' lineup turned in a strong performance with a run of second, third and fourth place finishes from Petros, Riley Rose (Sr., Las Vegas, Nev.) and Gurevich, respectively. The trio were closely packed in the scoring column too with respective efforts of 13.95, 13.9 and 13.8.

A William & Mary gymnast finished first on the ensuing event, the parallel bars, as well, as Zachary Patrick garnered top honors. Navy didn't give up many points though as its lineup posted three of the top-five scores. Soltz led the Mids' quartet with a second-place result of 13.3. Petros and Vishal Mandava (Sr., Cypress, Texas) tied for fourth place with matching 12.9 scores.

After tying for first place on the rings, Drake was the outright winner of the high bar on Saturday. Beginning with the highest start value of anyone on the apparatus, 4.5, the senior recorded an 8.7 execution score for an overall mark of 13.3. After William & Mary's Luke Tully came in second at 13.25, Mandava and Rose tied for third with identical 13.1 results. All three of the above mentioned Navy's gymnasts earned extra 0.1 stick bonuses.

The Mids will conclude their 2025 regular season next Friday with a home matchup versus Greenville University. The team's Senior Day Meet versus the Panthers is set for a 1 p.m. first touch at the Halsey Field House Gymnastics Facility.