No. 12 Falcons Travel to UIC for Two Meets
3/2/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
March 2, 2011
The 12th-ranked Air Force men's gymnastics returns to action this weekend, when it travels to Chicago, Ill., for a pair of quad meets against several of the nation's top teams. The Falcons will face second-ranked Stanford, third-ranked Illinois and 13th-ranked Illinois-Chicago on Friday, March 4, at the UIC Physical Education Building, before taking on UIC, ninth-ranked Ohio State and 11th-ranked Temple on Sunday, March 6.
Meet Notes 06: at Illinois-Chicago 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Illinois-Chicago, the host team that Air Force will face during both meets, is currently ranked 13th in the GymInfo national rankings, based on a three-score average of 333.667. Friday night's meet will also feature No. 2 Stanford (355.883) and No. 3 Illinois (353.933). Air Force and UIC will also face No. 9 Ohio State (343.700) and No. 11 Temple (340.100).
FALCONS CLAIM ALL-ACADEMY TITLE
With the second-best overall score in Academy history (345.000), Air Force easily won the All-Academy Championship title on Feb. 20. Backed by a share of four event titles, the Falcons improved their season-best team score by over 10 points to defeat Navy (334.550) and Army (331.350) and claim their first win at the service academy championship since 2000.
MILLS EARNS WEEKLY AWARD TRIFECTA
Nash Mills picked up three weekly awards, after pacing the Falcons to their first All-Academy Championship on Feb. 20. Mills was named the Air Force Athlete of the Week, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Gymnast of the Week and the College Gymnastics Association National Gymnast of the Week (Collegiate Division). Mills claimed a share of two event titles and won the all-around outright at the All-Academy Championships.
MORE ON MILLS
Against his service academy counterparts, Nash Mills tied for first on both the still rings (career-best matching 14.800) and parallel bars (season-best 14.300). With a third-place finish on the vault (15.600) and a fourth-place tie on the high bar (13.800), Mills collected a season-high combined score of 85.800 to win the all-around.
FIRST-PLACE FINISHERS
Four Falcons contributed to at least a share of first-place titles at the All-Academy Championships. Nash Mills earned a share of first on the still rings and parallel bars, en route to winning the all-around. Mills tied with Devin Menefee for the top spot on the still rings, while sharing first-place honors on the parallel bars with Colton Wulf. Tory Brown won the vault, outright, while tying for first on the high bar.
MENEFEE WINS STILL RINGS
Devin Menefee won the still rings, as the Falcons accumulated their second-highest score of the season (331.300) at Minnesota on Feb. 18. The junior tallied a season-high score 14.500 to win the event, pacing Air Force to two of top three scores on the rings. Nash Mills collected a season-best 14.300 to finish third.
RANK YOU VERY MUCH
As a team, the Falcons are ranked among the nation's top 10 in a pair of events. Air Force is ranked ninth on the vault (61.967 (three-score average) and 10th on the floor exercise (56.717). Individually, Tory Brown is ranked 14th on the vault with a three-score average of 15.783, while Nash Mills is ranked ninth in the all-around with an average of 83.517.
WHAT'S AHEAD FOR THE FALCONS
Air Force returns to action next weekend with an East Coast road swing. The Falcons will face Brockport and Minnesota in Brockport, N.Y., on Friday, March 11, before traveling to Springfield, Mass., for a dual meet with Springfield on Sunday, March 13.
