No. 10 Air Force Heads to NCAA Championships
4/13/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
April 13, 2016
FalconVision Interview with Coach Robinson
The 10th-ranked Air Force men's gymnastics team closes out the 2016 season this weekend, as it travels to Columbus, Ohio, for the NCAA Gymnastics Championships on April 15-16. The Falcons, who are making their sixth straight team appearance at the national meet, will open competition in the second of two National Qualifiers on Friday, April 15.
Meet Notes 11: at NCAA Championships 
MEET INFORMATION
The 2016 NCAA Men's Gymnastics National Championships will be held at St. John Arena on campus of Ohio State University. All-session passes are $20 for adults and $12 for youth, students and seniors, while single session tickets are $12 (adults) and $7 (youth/student/seniors). Doors will open at 5:30 p.m., each night, for the 7:00 p.m. meets. Links to live scoring and video will be available via OhioStateBuckeyes.com.
LET'S MEET THE TEAMS
The afternoon session of the NCAA Qualifier will feature No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 4 California, No. 5 Minnesota, No. 8 Penn State, No. 9 Nebraska and No. 12 Navy, while the evening session includes No. 2 Stanford, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 6 Illinois, No. 7 Iowa, No. 10 Air Force and No. 11 Michigan. In addition, event specialists from William and Mary, Springfield, Illinois-Chicago and Army West Point will compete in one of the two sessions.
SCOUTING THE FIELD
Stanford holds the highest National Qualifying Average of the second session, with a score of 443.213. Ohio State is ranked third with a NQA of 438.438, while Illinois and Iowa are ranked sixth (432.850) and seventh (430.525), respectively. Air Force is listed 10th with a 427.500 and Michigan rounds out the session with a #11 ranking and an NQA of 427.100. Four of the nation's individual leaders will also compete in the second session, including Stanford's Akash Modi (all-around, floor exercise), Illinois' Brandon Ngai (pommel horse), Ohio State's Sean Melton (still rings) and Michigan's Anthony McCallum (vault).
AIR FORCE IN THE RANKINGS
Air Force is ranked 10th in the NCAA with a National Qualifying Average of 427.500. It is the third straight season that the Falcons have entered the NCAA Championships with that ranking. Backed by a #6 ranking on the high bar (71.488), the Falcons are ranked among the nation's top 10 in four of the six events. Air Force is listed seventh on both the pommel horse (71.088) and still rings (72.438), while holding a #8 standing on the floor exercise (72.013). Individually, Chase Cannon is ranked second on the high bar (15.263), while Tim Wang is tied for third on the pommel horse (15.338). The Falcons have two additional top-15 gymnasts, as Denis Aurelius is listed 11th on the still rings (15.063) and Arinn Wade is ranked 15th on the pommel horse (14.863).
HISTORY 101
Air Force is making its sixth straight team appearance at the NCAA National Qualifier. Prior to the 2011 season, the Falcons hadn't sent a full squad to any level of the national meet since 1998, when it qualified for the NCAA West Regional (the current national qualifier replaced the regional meets in 2000). Air Force has made nine appearances in the team finals of the NCAA Championships (1961-62-63-64-70-72-73), with its best finish (sixth) coming at the 1972 championship meet.
HISTORY 201
Nine Falcons have claimed All-America status at the NCAA Championships, including Tim Wang, who finished fourth on the pommel horse at the 2014 championships. Jim Weaver (1962 tumbling), Doug Reynolds (1964 tumbling), Terry Higgins (1966 parallel bars), Bill Ritter (1972 floor exercise), John Tomich (1973 vault), Joel Miller (1992 still rings) Tim Hess (1993 floor exercise) and Greg Stine (2008 still rings, 2008 all-around) have also claimed All-America honors at the national meet.
Players Mentioned
