WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The Navy gymnastics team got a glimpse of its future on Saturday as seven underclassmen got a chance to perform in a late-season conference matchup at William & Mary. Competitive throughout the meet at Kaplan Arena, the host Tribe (1-6, 1-4 ECAC) were able to edge the Mids (4-3, 2-2 ECAC) late and secure the 310.85-308.60 victory.

Navy received strong individual efforts from throughout its lineup, but battled a bit of inconsistency as William & Mary recorded 23 of 24 scores of 12.1 or better during the meet. Led by Jonah Soltz' (So., Tacoma, Wash.) first-place results on the pommel horse and vault, four different Mids won events Saturday as Benjamin Thurlow Lam (Jr., San Francisco, Calif.), Aaron Stein (Sr., Houston, Texas) and Matthew Petros (Sr., Broadview Heights, Ohio) finished first on the floor exercise, rings and parallel bars, respectively.

As a team, Navy scored 52.95 points on the floor exercise, 50.75 on the pommel horse, 52.35 on the rings, 53.05 on the vault, 49.50 on the parallel bars and 50.0 on the high bar. The Mids' rings output was a season-high far surpassing its previous high of 50.85 set on January 24 at the Navy Open.

"We used this afternoon to rest some of our top guys and give some of our younger, less experienced competitors the opportunity to go out and battle against a conference opponent," remarked head coach Kip Simons. "We came up short today, but overall I'm pleased with where we are as we prepare for the postseason and more importantly, the future of Navy Gymnastics looks bright."

Competing in two-event cycles, Navy held a slight 103.70-102.75 advantage at the conclusion of all of the floor exercise and pommel horse routines. A 1.15-point edge in the pommel horse helped the Mids overcome a 0.2-point deficit from the floor exercise. A run of three of the top-four outcomes on the pommel horse led Navy's effort as Soltz posted the best score with a 13.4 effort. Petros was right behind him in the standings with a 13.3 score of his own. In his first competition of the season after dealing with an offseason injury, Saran Alexander (So., Tavares, Fla.) recorded a mark of 12.65 to place fourth overall.

Thurlow Lam highlighted Navy's floor exercise performance on Saturday as he tied his career-high with a 14.1 score. William & Mary gymnasts occupied the next two spots in the standings before Soltz turned in a 13.25 to rank fourth. In his first-ever collegiate meet, McKinley Michel (So., Columbia, Md.) tied his teammate Colby Prince (Sr., Lithia, Fla.) in sixth at 12.8.

The back-and-forth action continued over the next two events as Navy held a 2.0-point edge on the rings, while William & Mary took the vault by 1.1 points to make it a 209.10-207.25 competition through four apparatus. The Mids had a stronghold at the top of the leaderboard for the rings as Stein and Zachary Silao (Fr., Lutherville, Md.) went one-two with respective scores of 13.3 and 13.25. Silao's performance crushed his previous career-high of 12.55. The Tribe's Jonathan Irwin snuck into the third position to break up Navy's complete effort as Alexander and Misha Romo (So., Los Alamitos, Calif.) turned in identical scores of 12.9 to tie for fourth place. Both scores were personal career-highs for the sophomore duo.

The top of the leaderboard for the vault was split down the middle with each team having two gymnasts in the top four. Soltz was the ultimate winner with a score of 14.0 that cleared the field by 0.25 points. Thurlow Lam tied the Tribe's Ricky Pizem for third place at 13.6. William & Mary took fifth and sixth place to help the hosts win the overall event.

Trailing by 1.85 points through four events, William & Mary turned in an effort on the parallel bars that was over three points above its season average and capped the come-from-behind victory with a 1.55 advantage on the high bar to defeat Navy by 2.25 points. Petros was the individual champion on the parallel bars with a score of 13.45 that narrowly finished ahead of William & Mary's Nicholas Kosarikov as the Tribe's freshman posted a 13.4. Two more William & Mary gymnasts came in third and fourth before Cody Phillips (Fr., Coopersburg, Pa.) registered a 13.0 in his first-ever collegiate routine.

Luke Tully captured the Tribe's only event win as he was the class of the high bar with a 13.6 effort. Romo led the Mids' high bar lineup with a third-place result of 13.05. Soltz rounded out his day as an all-arounder with a score of 12.5 that placed him fifth overall.

Competing in six events for just the second time in his career on Saturday, Soltz posted his best all-around score of 76.8 courtesy of a 13.25 on the floor exercise, a 13.4 on the pommel horse, a 12.2 on rings, a 14.0 on the vault, a 11.45 on the parallel bars and a 12.5 on the high bar.
 
Navy will close out its regular season next Saturday afternoon with a road meet at Springfield College. First touch is set for 1 p.m. at Blake Arena.