Six Falcons Head to NCAA Championships
4/16/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
April 16, 2008
Six members of the gymnastic team will close out the season at the 2008 NCAA Championships this week (April 17-19) in Palo Alto, Calif. Action begins on Thursday, April 17, with a pair of national qualifying sessions. The top teams and individuals will advance to the team and event finals on Friday-Saturday, April 18-19. All action will be held at Stanford's Maples Pavilion.
THE LINEUP
Senior Greg Stine, junior Josiah Loeser and freshman Aaron Zaiser will compete in multiple events. Stine will participate in the all-around and Loeser will compete on the still rings and parallel bars, while Zaiser will take part on the floor exercise and parallel bars. Senior Brian Boardman (vault), junior Jacob Schonig (still rings) and sophomore Brennan Wolford (floor exercise) will compete as individual event specialists.
ALTERNATING STATUS
Senior Tyler Sickles is an alternate for the national meet on the pommel horse, parallel bars and high bar. In addition, Brian Boardman is one of the alternated on the floor exercise and parallel bars, while Josiah Loeser is an alternate on the vault.
SCHEDULING 101
Freshman Aaron Zaiser will compete on the floor exercise and parallel bars in the first session, which will begin at 1 p.m. The other five - Brian Boardman, Josiah Loeser, Jacob Schonig, Greg Stine and Brennan Wolford - will compete in the second session, which is scheduled for 7 p.m.
GOING BY RANK
Greg Stine and Jacob Schonig are ranked second in the nation on the still rings. With matching national qualifying averages of 15.520, the duo is tied for second. In addition, Stine is ranked fourth in the all-around with a NQD of 86.880. As a team, the Falcons' still rings national qualifying score of 58.270 is ranked ninth.
ALL-AMERICA ACCOLADES
During the 52-year history of the men's program, seven Falcons have earned NCAA All-America certificates. Jim Weaver was the program's first-ever All-American, earning the honor on the trampoline in 1962. (A complete list of Air Force All-Americans is located on page 1 of the post-season guide.)
Players Mentioned
