Air Force Academy
USAG Team Finals
Air Force Claims Sixth Straight USAG National Title
3/20/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
USAF ACADEMY, Colo. - Backed by the second-highest team score in Academy history, the Air Force men's gymnastics team captured its sixth straight USAG national team title this evening (March 20), during the opening night of competition at the 2015 USA Gymnastics Collegiate National Championships, which are being held at the Academy's Cadet West Gym.
The 10th-ranked Falcons tallied a season-best 432.850 to earn its sixth consecutive team title at the USAG Collegiate National Championships. The Falcons separated themselves from the field by over 20 points, as No. 13 Navy (412.450), No. 14 William and Mary (410.100) and No. 15 Springfield (402.400) rounded out the varsity field. In the only individual championship that was contest tonight, Navy's Jonathan Tang won the all-around with a score of 83.750.
In the collegiate club division, No. 16 Arizona State captured its 17th title in 18 years with a score of 404.800, while No. 18 Temple (401.900) and No. 19 Washington (400.350) finished second and third, respectively. No. 20 SC United rounded out the field with a score of 375.450, while the new program's Douglass Johnson scored an 82.050 to win the club division's all-around title.
Highlighted by an Academy record performance on the parallel bars from senior Josh Ramos, Air Force swept the top-two placements on five of the six events. Ramos finished nearly a point ahead of the field on the parallel bars, as he tallied a 15.600 to shatter the previous program standard and record the fourth-highest score in the nation so far this season.
Ramos was one of five Falcons to take first-place honors during the team finals/individual event preliminaries this evening. Sophomore Chase Cannon matched his career-high of 15.100 to take first on the high bar, while classmate Aaron Nubine earned the top spot on the floor exercise with a 15.150. Freshman Arinn Wade paced the field on the pommel horse (15.400), while junior Denis Aurelius finished first on the still rings with a 15.200.
Cannon paced Air Force to the top three scores on the high bar, as senior Nick Gaudlip took second with a 14.700 and Ramos finished third with a tally of 14.550. Ramos and Gaudlip also helped the Falcons to three of the top-four scores on the parallel bars and floor exercise. In addition to his first-place finish on the parallel bars, Ramos added a runner-up score of 14.950 on the floor exercise, while Gaudlip placed fourth on both events (14.650 on floor, 14.400 on bars). Fellow senior Greg Chaput matched his season-high of 14.800 to finish second on the parallel bars to round out the Falcons' top-four finishers.
Featuring the only gymnasts to break the 15-point mark on the pommel horse and still rings, the Falcons claimed the top two placements on both events. Wade and sophomore Tim Wang finished first (15.400) and second (15.150), respectively, on the pommel horse, while freshman Fletcher Braunton recorded a career-high 15.050 to finish second to Aurelius (15.200) on the rings.
Junior Josh Pyne was the squad's top performer on the vault, as he placed seventh with a score of 14.450.
The Falcons close out the USAG Collegiate National Championships tomorrow (March 21) with the individual event finals. The top eight finishers from each event (with no more than two gymnasts per program) will begin competition at 2:00 p.m. Air Force qualified the maximum two in every event.
Players Mentioned
