ANNAPOLIS, Md. - After a brief break for individual action at the 2026 Winter Cup, the Navy men's gymnastics team will pick up the second half of its schedule this Saturday afternoon with a three team competition hosted by the University of Illinois. A regular participant in the team finals portion of the NCAA Championship, the No. 7 Illini (0-5-1) will welcome the No. 9 Mids (4-0) and the No. 10 Greenville Panthers (6-5) to Huff Hall on the campus of the University of Illinois. The competition will kick off a four-meet in four-week stretch for Navy as the program looks to begin tightening up its lineups in preparation for postseason action that begins on March 20. First touch for the Mids on Saturday is set for 1 p.m. (ET), noon-local in Champaign.

Live stats will be available via StatBroadcast. Additionally, BigTen-Plus is slated to provide live streaming coverage online. BIG10+ is a subscription-based streaming service that requires patrons to sign-up for monthly or yearly plans prior to tuning into the contest. 

Navy vs. Illinois & Greenville
This will be the first matchup between the Mids and Fighting Illini in over 80 years as the programs last met in a regular season contest on February 7, 1942 in Annapolis. In that matchup, Illinois was victorious 25-20. The teams have met as part of NCAA Championship fields multiple times since.

Navy and Greenville are both members of the ECAC and had their first-ever head-to-head matchup in 2025 as Panthers initially debuted in 2023. The Mids edged the Panthers late for the victory, 312.5 to 311.9 on March 14.

Most Recent Navy-Greenville Matchup: March 14, 2025 in Annapolis
The No. 8 Navy gymnastics team closed out its regular season with a gutsy come-from-behind victory at home versus No. 11 Greenville on Friday, March 14. Separated by just 2.4 points in the national leaderboard coming into the day, the Mids (6-1, 5-0 ECAC) ran into a game Panther (4-7, 3-1 ECAC) squad that pushed the hosts to their limit at the Halsey Field House Gymnastics Facility. After leading through the first four rotations by a slim 0.4-point margin, Navy dropped 2.3 points to Greenville on the parallel bars to set the scene for a dramatic turn on the high bar that saw the Mids swing the final decision back in their favor by 0.6 points, 312.50-311.90.

Competing in his final home regular season meet, Isaiah Drake was a standout for the Mids with first place results on all three events in which he posted scores, the rings, vault and high bar. He dominated the rings with a 0.75-point margin of victory and was strong on the high bar with a 0.6-point differential. The vault rotation was hotly-contested as he edged the field by 0.15 points. Additional flag-bearers for Navy on Friday were Benjamin Thurlow Lam on the floor exercise and Saran Alexander on the pommel horse.

As a team, Navy scored 51.75 points on the floor exercise, 51.5 on the pommel horse, 52.7 on the rings, 54.75 on the vault, 49.7 on the parallel bars and 52.1 on the high bar. The Mids' rings performance resulted in a season-best score.

Comparing the Squads
    (2026 Averages)

	Navy	Individual Leader	Illinois	Individual Leader	Greenville	Individual Leader
All-Around	307.570	Solomon, 76.82	310.613	Ngai, 77.40	306.870	Hinson, 76.65
Floor Exercise	52.77	Prince, 13.40	51.10	Whitaker, 14.03	51.09	Clapper, 13.44
Pommel Horse	51.73	Soltz, 13.16	52.14	Dang, 13.88	51.01	Hinson, 13.23
Rings	50.31	Galvez, 12.70	51.80	Aydogdu, 13.30	50.16	Popov, 12.76
Vault	54.12	Petros, 13.74	53.66	Schooley, 14.26	54.28	Watterson, 14.05
Parallel Bars	48.69	Viciana, 12.70	51.99	Kaplan, 13.33	51.50	Clapper, 13.24
High Bar	49.95	Petros, 12.86	49.93	Phillips, 13.17	48.82	Watterson, 12.60

Last Time Out: Navy at All-Academy Championship, February 14 in Fort Worth, Texas
Just six days after securing a win in the 2026 Star Meet over Army, the Navy men's gymnastics team added to its tab of service academy conquests this season as the Mids pulled off a dramatic 0.05-point victory over the Air Force Falcons at the three-team All-Academy Championship. Hosted as part of the Horton Challenge at the Fort Worth Convention Center, the Mids edged the Falcons in as close of a margin as you can have in the sport, 310.15 to 310.10. The Black Knights were slightly off the pace and came in third at 301.60 on Friday night.

The team victory was the first for Navy at the All-Academy Championship since 2022 as Air Force had captured the three most recent titles.

Junior Benjamin Thurlow Lam led a standout floor exercise performance by Navy as he placed first in the event with a career-high score of 14.0. Matthew Petros also turned a strong individual effort as he tied Army's Nick Lester for the title of best vault on Friday night. Additionally, Colby Prince and Daniel Gurevich tied for runner-up honors on the floor exercise, the same as Garrett Lawless on the rings and Boone Washburn on the high bar.

As a team Navy scored 55.45 points on the floor exercise, 51.5 on the pommel horse, 50.15 on the rings, 54.35 on the vault, 49.4 on the parallel bars and 49.3 on the high bar. The Mids' combined efforts on the floor and p-bars were new season-highs.