10th-Ranked Air Force Set to Host USAG Championships
3/18/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
The 10th-ranked Air Force men's gymnastics team opens the championship portion of its season this weekend, when it welcomes eight teams to the Academy's Cadet West Gym for the 2015 USA Gymnastics Collegiate National Championships. The two-day event will feature the team and all-around finals on Friday, March 20, and the individual event finals on Saturday, March 21.
MEET INFORMATION
The USAG Championships will feature four varsity teams (Air Force, Navy, Springfield, William & Mary) and four club programs (Arizona State, SC United, Temple, Washington). Friday's competition, which will include the team and all-around finals, as well as the event preliminaries, will begin at 4:00 p.m., while Saturday's combined event finals is slated for a 2:00 p.m., start.
IF YOU CAN'T MAKE IT TO THE MEET
The Falcons will have a live webcast available at GoAirForceFalcons.com.
ROUND AND ROUND WE GO
The opening rotation will have Arizona State on the floor exercise, SC United on the pommel horse, Air Force on a bye, Temple on the still rings, William & Mary on the vault, Springfield on the parallel bars, Navy on a bye and Washington on the high bar.
LOOKING AT THE FIELD
Ranked 10th nationally with a four-score average of 426.850, Air Force currently leads the USAG field. Among the varsity teams the Falcons will face this weekend, Navy is 13th with a 412.400 average, while William & Mary is ranked 14th (410.300) and Springfield is listed 15th (409.967). Among the club teams, Arizona State is ranked 16th with a four-score average of 407.150, while Temple (18th, 403.700), Washington (19th, 392.150) and newcomer SC United (20th, 370.867) round out the field.
HISTORY 101
Air Force has won the last five USAG national team titles, while accounting for 16 individual championships and 51 USAG All-America certificates during that span. Three members of the current squad - Denis Aurelius (2014 floor exercise), Nick Gaudlip (2013 high bar, 2014 high bar), Josh Ramos (2012 parallel bars, 2014 parallel bars) - have captured individual USAG national titles, while seven have combined for 19 USAG All-America awards. Since they began competing at the USAG meet in 1994, the Falcons have totaled five team championships, 32 individual titles and 155 USAG All-America distinctions.
MAKING NOISE ON THE POMMEL HORSE
The Falcons boast a pair of top-eight gymnasts on the pommel horse, as Tim Wang is ranked fifth with a four-score average of 15.017 and Arinn Wade is listed eighth with a mark of 14.850. The Falcons, who have one additional top-25 gymnast in Fletcher Braunton (25th, 14.567) are ranked third in the national team standings with an average of 71.683.
AIR FORCE IN THE RANKINGS
In addition to their #3 ranking on the pommel horse, the Falcons are ranked among the nation's top 10 in four events. Air Force is listed ninth on the vault with a four-score average of 72.767, while holding #10 marks on the floor exercise (72.350), still rings (70.967) and parallel bars (71.133). Individually, Denis Aurelius is tied for 19th on the still rings with an average of 14.900, while Josh Ramos is ranked 20th on the parallel bars with a score of 14.783.
HOW THE RANKINGS WORK
Beginning with the March 9 rankings, the national average is determined by selecting the four highest scores, (counting no more than two home meets), dropping the highest and averaging the three remaining marks.
AIR FORCE DEFEATS ARIZONA TO CLOSE OUT REGULAR SEASON
Highlighted by five event titles and 10 additional top-three finishes, the Falcons closed out the regular season with a 425.650-408.250 road victory over Arizona State on March 13. Josh Ramos took first on the floor exercise and parallel bars, while Arinn Wade (pommel horse), Denis Aurelius (still rings) and Chase Cannon (high bar) added additional first-place finishes. Cannon's victory on the high bar featured the second-highest score in Academy history (15.100).
WADE NAMED NATIONAL GYMNAST OF THE WEEK
Following his record-breaking performance on the pommel horse, Arinn Wade was named the Collegiate Gymnastics Association's National Gymnast of the Week (USAG Division) on March 13. It is the first CGA award for the Air Force gymnastics team this season.
WHAT'S AHEAD FOR THE FALCONS
The Falcons remain at the Academy next weekend, when they host the 2015 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships on Saturday, March 28. Air Force will welcome top-ranked Oklahoma, third-ranked Stanford and eighth-ranked California to the Cadet West Gym for the 5:00 p.m. meet.
Players Mentioned
