Navy Gymnastics Travels to Army for Star Meet

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The No. 12 Navy gymnastics team will look to continue its upturn in performance as the squad heads north to West Point for the 2017 Star Meet against No. 13 Army on Saturday. After starting their 2017 campaign on Jan. 13 with a score of 391.25, the Mids (6-4) have increased their scoring output to a season-high 409.4 last weekend. Winners of two of the last three Star Meets with Army (4-4), Navy is aiming to earn another star this Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Gross Center. 

The meet will be broadcast on Army's Knight Vision and is available on a pay-per-view basis of $6.95. Click here to watch live ... WATCH LINK

Last year in Annapolis, Navy won the 2016 Star with a 419.3-413.75 victory over Army. Coming into the matchup separated by 0.792 points in the standings for season scoring average, the Mids started strong during the first two events and took the lead for good after a 5.2-point swing during the rings and vault rotations. During those two turns, Navy gymnasts swept the top five scoring positions over Army West Point's top point-earner.

Over the six events, Midshipmen finished with the top score on four with Mitchell Larios placing first on the floor exercise, vault and parallel bars. Connor Gonzales won the fourth event, the rings. Jonny Tang scored a then- career-high 84.4 in the all-around.

The two teams met earlier this season at the West Point Open on the first weekend of action, January 13-14. The host Black Knights came in third place in the seven-team field with 393.55 points, while the Midshipmen notched 391.25 points to rank fifth.

Last Time Out

Navy used a strong start last Saturday to lead wire-to-wire over William & Mary in a home ECAC conference meet. The No. 13 Mids jumped out to a 6.45-point lead over the No. 15 Tribe after the floor exercise and pommel horse rotations to build themselves up an advantage that they would hold over the entire contest for a final of 409.4-401.3. Navy's floor exercise, pommel horse, rings and high bar lineups all out-pointed William & Mary and Midshipmen gymnasts finished first in four of the six events.

In the all-around competition, Jonny Tang edged teammate Tanner West for top honors by an 83.05 to 82.25 final score. The senior closed strong with a combined 28.3 points over the parallel bars and high bar versus 27.4 points for West.

Individual event winners on Saturday started with Tang on the floor exercise before Wyatt LaPointe was the high-scorer on the rings. Tang placed first on the parallel bars and Noah Beeman closed the meet with a first-place routine on the high bar.

As a team on Saturday, Navy posted a 69.4 on the floor exercise, 66.2 on the pommel horse, 68.2 on the rings, 69.4 on the vault, 68.15 on the parallel bars and 68.05 on the high bar. All six scores were highs for the 2017 season.

Event Comparisons

Individuals to Watch