Falcons Take Second at USAG Collegiate Nationals

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The 13th-ranked Air Force men's gymnastics team opened the postseason with a runner-up finish at the 2019 USA Gymnastics Collegiate Nationals, which were held this afternoon (March 29) in Annapolis.

Navy, ranked 10th in the NCAA, scored a 400.700 to win the Varsity championship and snap the Falcons' nine-year run of team titles. Posting a mark of 384.800, Air Force edged 14th-ranked William & Mary (384.500) for second, while 12th-ranked Army West Point (383.200, fourth) and 16th-ranked Springfield College (377.050, fifth) rounded out the Varsity field.

No. 15 Arizona State won the Club title with a tally of 393.550, while 17th-ranked Washington (374.600) and 19th-ranked Temple (337.050) finished second and third, respectively, and No. 21 SC United (336.250, fourth), No. 22 New York Alliance (316.550, fifth) and No. 20 NorCal United (284.600, sixth) completed the list of club competitors.

Frankie Valentin had a strong showing during the team finals, as he posted the highest overall Varsity score on the pommel horse (13.400) and led the Falcons on the vault (14.400, second) and floor exercise (13.600, sixth). The sophomore, whose career best on the vault is the eight-highest score in program history, also placed amongst the top half of the 25-gymnast Varsity field on the still rings (13.100, seventh) and high bar (12.550, 11th).

Classmate Zach Polen tallied a 13.600 to lead all Varsity gymnasts on the parallel bars, while fellow sophomore Ethan Esval and senior Lukas Texeira earned runner-up finishes on the still rings (13.700) and high bar (14.000), respectively, to round out the Falcons' list of event leaders.

In addition to his meet-leading score on the parallel bars, Polen also finished fifth on the still rings (13.200) and sixth on the pommel horse (12.600), while Esval added a fifth-place score of 13.400 on the parallel bars to his team-high mark on the rings.

Senior Ryan Girouard tallied a seventh-place finish on the floor exercise (13.550), while collecting top-12 finishes on both the vault (14.000) and high bar (12.450), and freshman Collin Hickey placed within the top half of the field on the floor exercise (13.500, eighth).

The top performers from today's competition – regardless of Division – will return to Macdonough Hall tomorrow (March 30) afternoon for the individual event finals of the USAG Collegiate Nationals.

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