ANN ARBOR, Mich. – History was made on Saturday night at the NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championship as Isaiah Drake (Sr., Los Angeles, Calif.) earned his second career All-American honor. One of four Midshipmen competing in the championship finals at Michigan's Crisler Center, Drake proved himself as one of the nation's most complete and versatile gymnasts as he placed eighth overall in the all-around contest.

After entering the program record book in 2023 alongside Syam Buradagunta as Navy's first NCAA Championship All-Americans since 1973, Drake became just the seventh-ever Navy gymnast to garner two All-American honors. Eric Swanson, the Midshipmen that previously earned the last All-American award, did so in back-to-back years on the pommel horse in 1972 and 1973.

Competing in the all-around at the NCAA Championship Finals for the third time in his storied career, Drake had a methodical build for his ultimate prize as he posted scores of 13.3 and 12.266 on his first two rotations, the floor exercise and pommel horse. A strong turn on the rings saw him record the 20th-highest score of the meet with a 13.333 result. An uncharacteristically wild vault saw him garner just a 13.566 score from the judges.

Standing with a combined score of 52.465, Drake knew that he had to turn up the execution down the stretch to claim his spot as one of the nation's best all-around gymnasts. Exhibiting the calm, cool and controlled nature of his gymnastics that Navy fans have grown to know and trust over the past four years, Drake did what he needed to do over the final two rotations. First up was an 8.833 execution score of his 4.5 valued parallel bars routine for a 13.333 cumulative mark before closing with his highest-placing result of the day, a 17th place on the high bar courtesy of a 13.233 score. Drake earned 4.4 points for his start value and 8.833 for his execution; that was second-highest E-score on the event among the 36 gymnasts who competed on the high bar on Saturday night.

His combined six-event score of 79.031 surpassed Cal's Tyler Shimizu for the final spot on the podium by 0.833 points as the Golden Bear placed ninth with a 78.198. Drake's strong finish saw him come within 0.5 points of Air Force's Erich Upton, who placed seventh overall at 79.531. 2024 U.S. Olympians Fred Richard and Paul Juda from Michigan went one, two atop the leaderboard for the all-around competition with scores of 84.264 and 82.164, respectively.

"The legacy of Isaiah Drake was cemented tonight," exclaimed head coach Kip Simons about Drake's performance. "Earning two All-American honors in the all-around is a legendary accomplishment!"  
 
Drake wasn't the only Midshipmen competing in the all-around as sophomore Brian Solomon (Lynnfield, Mass.) earned the opportunity to showcase his talents across six apparatus, as well on Saturday night. Solomon out-scored Drake on both of his floor exercise and pommel horse routines as he registered 13.366 points on the floor and 12.6 on the pommel horse. Additionally, Solomon scored 12.766 points on the rings, 13.533 on the vault, 11.866 on the parallel bars and 12.266 on the high bar. In contention for that eighth and final spot on the podium until late, Solomon posted a combined score of 76.397 for his all-around effort.

Navy's top individual event placement came on the high bar from Matthew Petros (Jr., Broadview Heights, Ohio), who tied with Oklahoma's Brandon Zepeda-Orth for 13th overall with identical scores of 13.366. Both gymnasts performed 4.6 level routines with 8.766 execution on Saturday night. Petros came within 0.234 points of securing his first career NCAA Championship All-American honor as Nebraska's Max Odden grabbed the final podium position with a 13.6 effort.

Senior William Champagne (Douglas, Mass.) rounded out his collegiate career with his second appearance in the NCAA Championship Finals. After earlier in his career suiting up in the finals of the parallel bars in 2023 at Penn State, Champagne got the chance to demonstrate his skills on the floor exercise in front of the fans at Michigan. Once again, he thrived for the Mids under the bright lights and turned in a score of 13.133 from a 4.6 start score and 8.533 execution. Champagne placed 30th overall in the field.

"This was a great way to conclude our time at this year's NCAA Championship," remarked Simons. "The guys bounced back with really strong performances across the board tonight. They represented the Naval Academy and our program extremely well.

"I'm so proud to coach these guys. For our seniors, who will graduate and commission next month, they've left an indelible mark on our program. And now, they're off to do great things in the Marine Corps and the Navy."

In the team finals, Michigan short-circuited Stanford's run of five straight NCAA Championships with a minute 0.163 margin of victory, 332.224 to 332.061. Oklahoma rounded out the top three with a score of 327.891. The rest of the leaderboard saw Nebraska finish in fourth at 326.222, Penn State take fifth at 317.258 and Illinois place sixth with a 316.293 effort.