Falcons Have Solid Showing at Sooner Triangular

NORMAN, Okla. – Hitting 35-of-36 routines, the 12th-ranked Air Force men's gymnastics team had a strong showing at the Oklahoma Triangular on Saturday, Jan. 19, in Norman. The Falcons, who improved their team score by over 12 points from last week's season opener, posted a total of 397.050 to split with second-ranked Oklahoma (418.550) and 11th-ranked Arizona State (392.500).

For the second-straight meet, senior Lukas Texeira earned a first-place finish on the high bar, as he tied for first with a mark of 14.100. Texeira also paced the Falcons on the still rings, as he finished sixth with a career-high score of 13.800. Fellow senior Jonah Urlaub and sophomore Frankie Valentin joined Texeira within the top-half of the event standings, as the pair finished seventh (13.700) and ninth (13.350), respectively.

Air Force had an exceptionally strong outing on the pommel horse – placing four within the top 10 and improving their season's total by nearly five points. Sophomore Scott McMurray paced the lineup with a third-place mark of 13.450, while Valentin and Urlaub added another pair of top-10 finishes, placing sixth (13.150) and seventh (13.000), respectively. Sophomore Zach Polen rounded out the Falcons' quarter of top-10 finishers with a career-best, 10th-place score of 12.750.

In addition to his finishes on the still rings and pommel horse, Urlaub also placed among the top 10 on the remaining three events. Leading the Falcons with a career-best matching 14.450 to finish fifth on the vault, the senior also recorded matching scores of 13.400 to tie for seventh on the parallel bars and 10th on the floor exercise.

Sophomore Ethan Esval was the Falcons' top finisher on the parallel bars, as he tied for fourth with a score of 13.650, and senior Ryan Girouard paced the squad on the floor exercise with an eighth-place mark of 13.600. Polen joined Esval and Urlaub among the top-10 of the parallel bars after posting a mark of 13.400 to tie for seventh, while senior Christian Kalustian earned a top-10 mark on the vault with a 13.950 (10th).

The Falcons return to action on Saturday, Feb. 9, when they travel to Annapolis, Md., to face Army West Point and Navy at the annual All-Academy Championships.

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