Ninth-Ranked Falcons Head to NCAA National Qualifier
4/12/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
April 12, 2011
The ninth-ranked Air Force men's gymnastics team will travel to Columbus, Ohio, for the 2011 NCAA Gymnastics Championships on April 14-16. The Falcons, who are making their first appearance as a team in NCAA post-season competition since 1998, will compete in the first session of the national qualifier on Thursday, April 14. The three-day meet will take place at St. John's Arena on Ohio State's campus.
Meet Notes 11: at NCAA National Qualifier 
LET'S MEET THE TEAMS
The first session of the NCAA Qualifier will feature three of the top five teams, including top-ranked Oklahoma. The session will also feature fourth-ranked Illinois and fifth-ranked Penn State, as well as No. 8 Minnesota, No. 9 Air Force and No. 12 Illinois-Chicago. The second session will feature second- and third-ranked teams in Stanford and California, respectively, as well as No. 6 Michigan (the defending NCAA champions), No. 7 Ohio State, No. 10 Nebraska and No. 11 Iowa. In addition, both sessions will feature six individuals per event from Army, Navy, Springfield, Temple and William & Mary.
HOW THIS WORKS
The national qualifier, which consists of two sessions, will be held on Thursday, April 14. The top three teams, the top three all-around competitors not on an advancing team and the top three individuals from each session that are not on an advancing team or as a qualifying all-arounder, will advance from each session to the national championships. The team competitions will take place on Friday, April 15, while the individual event finals will be held on Saturday, April 17.
THURSDAY, APRIL 14
10:00 a.m. - Session 1 Open Gym
11:16 a.m. - Session 1 Timed Warm Up
1:00 p.m. - Session 1 NCAA Qualifier
4:00 p.m. - Session 2 Open Gym
5:16 p.m. - Session 2 Timed Warm Up
7:00 p.m. - Session 2 NCAA Qualifier
FRIDAY, APRIL 15
4:00 p.m. - Team Finals Open Gym
5:15 p.m. - Team Finals Timed Warm Up
7:00 p.m. - Team Finals
SATURDAY, APRIL 16
5:30 p.m. - Event Finals Open Warm Up
7:00 p.m. - Event Finals
HISTORY 101
Air Force last appeared as a team in NCAA post-season action during the 1998 season, when they qualified to the NCAA Western Regional Championships (the current national qualifier replaced the regional meets following the 1999 season). The Falcons have made seven appearances in the team championships in its history (1961-62-63-64-70-72-73) with its best finish (sixth) coming at the 1972 meet.
HISTORY 201
Eight Falcons have claimed All-America status at the NCAA Championships, including Greg Stine - the first Air Force gymnast to claim multiple certificates (2008 still rings, all-around). Also earning All-America honors for the Falcons were Jim Weaver (1962 trampoline), Doug Reynolds (1964 tumbling), Terry Higgins (1966 parallel bars), Bill Ritter (1972 floor exercise), John Tomich (1973 vault), Joel Miller (1992 still rings) and Tim Hess (1993 floor exercise).
IT'S NOT TOO DIFFERENT
Although it is the first team appearance for the Falcons in 13 years, seven current gymnasts have competed at the NCAA National Qualifier. In 2010, Dan Klimkowski (still rings), Devin Menefee (still rings, vault), Nash Mills (all-around), James Okamoto (pommel horse) and Matt Thorne (parallel bars) were five of the nine Falcons that competed at the national qualifier. Menefee (vault), Mills (all-around), Jacob Houder (pommel horse) and Aaron Zaiser (floor exercise, vault) were two of the six to qualify, while Zaiser also competed at the 2008 meet on the floor exercise and parallel bars.
WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU?
Tory Brown matched the Academy vault record of 15.950 to finish seventh on that event at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships on April 2. With a personal improvement of 0.050, Brown tied Devin Menefee's 2010 mark.
MORE NEWS FROM THE CONFERENCE MEET
Nash Mills claimed a pair of top-10 finishes during his final home competition. He scored a 14.900 to place seventh on the parallel bars, while collecting the same score to tie for 10th on the still rings. Air Force accounted for a team score of 344.800 - the fifth-highest score in program history - to finish fifth at the MPSF Championships.
Players Mentioned
