Air Force Heads To West Point
2/25/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
Feb. 25, 2004
After a week off from competition, the Air Force men's gymnastics team heads to the East Coast for a pair of meets. The Falcons will take on Army at West Point on Friday (Feb. 27), before traveling to Springfield, Mass., for a tri-meet with Springfield College and Navy on Sunday (Feb. 29). This will be the second time this season that Air Force has gone up against its service academy rivals.
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CHECKING OUT ARMY
Army is led by junior Brian Lee, who is currently ranked second nationally, among all still rings competitors with an average score of 9.734... Lee won the still rings, pommel horse and high bar at the All-Academy Championships... as a team, the Black Knights are ranked No. 12 in the national GymInfo rankings, with a season average of 207.356...Army is coming off of a 208.100-203.450 victory over Navy last weekend.
CHECKING OUT SPRINGFIELD COLLEGE
Springfield College is just one spot ahead of the Falcons in the GymInfo rankings, with a No. 16 spot...the Pride averages a score of 197.294...most recently, the team split a tri-meet with Temple and MIT...the Pride posted a team score of 199.950, falling to Temple, while easily defeating MIT... there are currently no members of the team listed in the national top-20.
CHECKING OUT NAVY
The Midshipmen they are ranked No. 15 in the latest team rankings with an average score of 201.860...in the USAG standings, Navy is ranked third with that average...Navy doesn't have a gymnast that is ranked among the nation's top-20...as a team, their highest ranking is a No. 12 spot on the high bar...recording its highest team score of the season (203.450), the Mids fell to Army last weekend.
YOU LOOK FAMILIAR
This weekend will be the second time in three weeks that the Falcons have faced Army and Navy. The three service academies met on Feb. 14 at the All-Academy Championships in Houston, Texas.
HITTING OVER 200
With a score of 201.250, the Falcons recorded their first score of over 200 at the All-Academy Championships. Air Force has steadily improved over the course of the season, raising their team totals in every meet. After a 192.850 at the Rocky Mountain Open, they score a 195.275 at Oklahoma. Air Force continued its climb with a 199.800 at a tri-meet with Cal and Stanford, prior to topping 200 at the All-Academy Championships.
NATIONWIDE NETWORKING
Jeff Andersen and Greg Stine are among the nation's best on the still rings. Both gymnasts are currently ranked in the Top-20 for that event. Andersen is narrowly on the outside of the Top-10, ranked No. 11 with an event average of 9.285. Stine is ranked No. 16, with an average of 9.170.
LOOK CLOSELY
Although Air Force has been on the lower side of the score compared to their NCAA Division I competition this season, you have to stop and see the top-ten teams that the Falcons have been competing against. Air Force has faced the two-time defending national champions from Oklahoma - currently the second-ranked team in the country - twice this season. The Falcons have also taken on top-ranked California, as well as top-10 teams, Iowa (currently No. 7), Nebraska (currently No. 8) and Stanford (currently No. 10).
LAST TIME OUT
The Falcons recorded a season-high score of 201.250 at the 2004 All-Academy Championships in Houston, Texas, on Feb. 14. The Falcons finished behind Army and Navy, who totaled scores of 208.500 and 206.500, respectively. Houston-native, sophomore Greg Stine won the all-around competition with a six-event total of 52.650. It is the highest all-around score of the season - topping the previous high that Stine set at California by nearly two points. Stine also won the floor exercise with a season-best score of 9.150. Senior Jeff Andersen posted the squad's highest finish of the night on the pommel horse, with an 8.700 to finish fourth. The co-captain also tied for fourth on the still rings with 9.200, en route to a fourth-place finish in the all-around (50.900). Stine registered the highest score by a Falcon on the vault (8.950), as well as the parallel bars (8.800). Andersen added the team's top score on the high bar with an 8.400
NEWS FROM THE MPSF
Jeff Andersen is ranked third in the conference on the still rings, with an average of 9.285. His season-best score of 9.475 came at Oklahoma on Jan. 23.
SEASON HIGHS
Jeff Andersen holds the top five scores of the season for the Falcons on the pommel horse...Andersen and Greg Stine share for the top scores on the high bars and still rings...the Falcons set new season-high marks on every event at the All-Academy Championships, except for the pommel horse...the season-high mark on that event was set at California.
COMING UP
After six consecutive road meets, the Falcons finally return to the friendly surroundings of the Academy for a weekend home stand. Air Force will host Illinois-Chicago at 7:30 p.m., on Friday, March 5, in the Cadet West Gymnasium. They continue at home on Sunday, March 7, hosting UIC and California at 1 p.m.
SENIOR SALUTE
The Falcons' upcoming meet against Illinois-Chicago and California will be the final time that five Air Force seniors take to the floor of the Cadet West Gymnasium. Join us in honoring co-captains Jeff Andersen and Mike Berry, as well as Julian Benton, Matt Joseph and Noah Rich in their final competition at the Academy.
Players Mentioned
