ANNAPOLIS, Md. – With the bright lights of a Star Meet matchup versus their service academy rivals Army shining, the Navy men's gymnastics team came out on a mission and jumped out to a 5.2-point lead after just one event. That season-best performance by the Mids' (2-0, 2-0 ECAC) floor exercise lineup, that saw their gymnasts sweep the top-four positions, built the host squad up an advantage that they wouldn't surrender the rest of the competition at Halsey Field House against the Black Knights (0-2, 0-1 ECAC). Strong efforts from throughout its 12-man competitive lineup as well as boisterous support from the entire roster, student body, friends, family and academy administration helped Navy earn the program's eight straight Star over Army by a score of 308.2 to 303.0 on Saturday.

Individual event winners for the Mids on Saturday consisted of Benjamin Thurlow Lam (Jr., San Francisco, Calif.) on the floor, Julian Galvez (Jr., Burtonsville, Md.) on the rings and Matthew Petros (Sr., Broadview Heights, Ohio) on the high bar.

As a team, Navy scored 54.25 points on the floor exercise, 51.7 on the pommel horse, 50.4 on the rings, 53.55 on the vault, 49.0 on the parallel bars and 49.3 on the high bar. The Mids' floor exercise effort was 1.75 points better than the previous season-high, while their lineup for the p-bars was also a season-high besting their mark of 48.65 from the West Point Open on January 16.

"I haven't seen our floor team perform like that in the 10 years that I've been here," exclaimed head coach Kip Simons. "They were amazing! It's kind of like the first quarter in football when the adrenaline is pumping and your nerves are going. Some times you need a few routines to settle everything down; not these guys! They came out guns a-blazing right from the get go. It completely took the wind out of Army's sails. We were able to settle in after that.

"The environment today was awesome. Halsey was packed. The energy was great. We had the Superintendent, the Commandant and our new Athletic Director all out here to support us. It was just a great, great day for Navy Gymnastics."

After a rousing rendition of the national anthem performed by NMG alum Nehemiah Baker's ('22) mother Pamela, the energy kept going with a clean sweep of the top of the leaderboard for the floor exercise. Daniel Gurevich (Jr., Frisco, Texas) led off the entire meet with a score of 13.55 that placed him third overall. Thurlow Lam was next up for the Mids and he turned in a routine that ended up first in the field with a season-high 13.75 score. Team captain Danilo Viciana (Sr., Marietta, Ga.) was the third Navy gymnast to perform on the floor and he posted a 13.35 that was good for fourth. The anchor of the floor exercise team was Colby Prince (Sr., Lithia, Fla.). The senior left his mark in his final Star Meet with a score of 13.6 that put him second in the standings. Army's best floor exercise score came courtesy of Jaden Blank, who was 0.35 points back of Viciana with a 13.0.

Out-scoring the Black Knights by 5.2 points, 54.25 to 49.05, the Mids lost a bit of their lead on the ensuing event, the pommel horse, as Army earned three of the top-four results. Freshman Kody Tokunaga (Palatine, Ill.) performed his best routine of his young career as he netted Navy 13.35 points to rank third. His previous career-high was a 13.3 versus Springfield College. Gurevich rounded out the top five with a score of 13.05. 

"There's nothing harder than being first up on pommel horse, especially in the Star Meet in front of a standing-room only crowd, Kody Tokunaga took on that challenge as a plebe and showed out," remarked Simons. "He has ice water running through his veins. He stepped up and went to work. I was really proud of the way that he went up and answered the call. He gave us a great start on the pommel horse."

With the score now 105.95-102.0, the Mids added just under a point to their lead on the rings with a combined effort of 50.4 versus a 49.55 for the Black Knights. Competing for just the second time this season, Galvez led off the rings lineup for Navy and earned a 9.0-point execution score of his 3.8-point level routine for a 12.8 score that eventually finished as tops in the field. Suiting up in a Star Meet for the first time in his career, senior Garrett Lawless (Grimesland, N.C.) was locked in throughout his routine and recorded a 12.6 score with an additional 0.1 points for a stick bonus. His 12.7 tied him with Army's Carter Beck for second overall. Brian Solomon (Jr., Lynnfield, Mass.) gave the Mids their third gymnast in the top four as he placed fourth with a 12.6 result.

Navy continued expanding its lead on the fourth rotation as its vault lineup bested Army by 1.4 points, 53.55 to 52.15. Consistency bolstered the Mids' cause in this event as the Black Knights took positions one, three and four, but more importantly eighth (2.0 points behind seventh). Jonah Soltz (So., Tacoma, Wash.) led Navy's quartet with a score of 13.75 to finish runner-up to Army's Jaden Blank, who posted a 13.85. Solomon placed fifth for the Mids with a 13.4, while Gurevich and Petros tied for sixth with matching 13.2 marks.

Ahead by 6.2 points and just two events left, the parallel bars and high bar, Navy turned in a season-best score on the p-bars with a score of 49.0 that was countered by a 49.85 from Army. Viciana and Solomon were the top-two performers for the Mids as the duo went back-to-back in the standings with scores of 12.85 and 12.8, that ranked second and third overall.

Up 258.9 to 253.55, Navy clinched the victory with a solid final high bar rotation. In his final Star Meet, Petros was hands down the star of the high bar with a 13.55 score that cleared the field by 0.4 points, the largest margin of victory for an event all day. Following the Black Knights' Cash Johnston, Soltz and Gurevich sealed the win for the Mids with respective 12.9 and 12.4 efforts that placed third and fourth in the field. Soltz' score is a new career-best for the high bar.

"I'm just so proud," commented Simons. "It's Senior Night and it's the last competition at Halsey Field House before moving back to MacD. This group of firsties went 8-0 in dual meets in Halsey over the four years that they've been part of NMG. All of the credit for our success goes to our firsties today. I'm so happy that they get to go out four-for-four in Star meets."

The victory by Navy draws the Mids even closer in the all-times series that currently sits 45-43-2 in favor of the Black Knights in Star matchups.

Saturday saw four different Star competitions held and Navy ended up on the winning side in all four; rifle, men's track & field, gymnastics and women's track & field. For the 2024-25 Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA, the Mids hold a 11-4-1 edge over the Black Knights through 16 events.
 
The Navy men's gymnastics team will be back in action next Friday at the 2026 All-Academy Championship versus Air Force and Army. First touch is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. (ET) on February 15 in Fort Worth, Texas.

"We had some mistakes today, but we were prepared for those mistakes," said Simons in closing. "We knew we were going to have mistakes. We had four falls today, so we're going to have to be better as early as next weekend when we take on Army again and add Air Force to the equation at the All-Academy Championship."