Tory Brown Leads Falcons at Winter Cup Challenge

Feb. 3, 2011

LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Backed by three top-four finishes and two career-best scores, sophomore Tory Brown paced members of the 12th-ranked Air Force men's gymnastics team during the preliminary round of competition at the 2011 Winter Cup Challenge today (Feb. 3) in Las Vegas, Nev. Brown, senior Nash Mills and sophomore James Okamoto all accounted for at least one top-10 finish during the morning session.

Brown's best finish of the day came on the high bar, where he placed third behind a career-best score of 13.650. He also added fourth-place scores on the vault (15.100) and parallel bars (career-best 13.750), while tying for 16th on the floor exercise (12.650). His high bar mark is a personal improvement by .250 and the 14th-best high bar score in Academy history, while his parallel bars tally is a .200 improvement and ranked 18th on the program's all-time record book.

Competing in five of the six events, Mills picked up a pair of seventh-place finishes. The senior team captain scored a 13.300 to take seventh on the still rings, while earning the same placement on the high bar with a score of 12.950. Mills narrowly missed a top-10 finish on the vault, as he tied for 11th on the apparatus with a score of 14.000. Mills rounded out his day with scores of 11.000 on the parallel bars (17th-tie) and 12.600 on the floor exercise (18th).

Okamoto made his debut at the prestigious Winter Cup Challenge, scoring a 12.200 on the pommel horse to tie for ninth.

Check out videos of Brown and Mills below.

Overall finishes were announced once all three sessions were completed and Brown picked up a pair of top-20 finishes in a meet that featured over 100 of the nation's top gymnasts. Brown's score on the vault was tied for the 17th-best of the day, while his high bar mark was matched for 19th. In addition, he placed within the top half of the field on the parallel bars, tying for 34th.

Mills' best overall finish came on the rings, as he placed 31st in the field of 81. He also finished within the top half of the field on the high bar, capturing a 41st-place score. Okamoto rounded out the Air Force contingent, as he finished in a tie for 34th on the pommel horse.

Air Force will be off from competition until Friday, Feb. 18, when it travels to Minneapolis, Minn., for a dual meet with the seventh-ranked Gophers. It will be a busy weekend for the Falcons, as they will also travel to Aliso Viejo, Calif., on Sunday, Feb. 20, for the annual All-Academy Championships against service academy rivals, Army and Navy.

Winter Cup Challenge Results

Footer

The appearance of hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the u.s air force of non-u.s. government sites or the information, products, or services contained therein. Although the u.s. air force may or may not use these sites as additional distribution channels for department of defense information, it does not exercise editorial control over all of the information that you may find at these locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this website.