Falcons Fall to Second-Ranked Stanford

STANFORD, Calif. – The 13th-ranked Air Force men's gymnastics team dropped a 415.750-392.500 decision to second-ranked Stanford this evening (March 8) at the Cardinals' Burnham Pavilion. Sophomore Frankie Valentin paced the Falcons with three top-five finishes in the squad's only conference dual meet of the year, while senior Lukas Texeira paced the team with a runner-up finish on the high bar.

Valentin recorded a career-best score of 14.100 – the 10th-highest mark in program history – to finish third on the still rings, while posting a team-high mark of 13.200 on the pommel horse (fifth) and adding a top-five mark on the high bar (12.800, fifth).

Surpassing the 14-point mark for the fourth time in six meets, Texeira accounted for the team's best finish of the night, as he placed second on the high bar with a mark of 14.100.

Senior Christian Kalustian led the team on the vault with a season-best, fourth-place score of 13.950, while freshman Collin Hickey and the sophomore duo of Ethan Esval and Allen Shadan recorded fifth-place finishes to lead the team on the remaining events. Hickey matched the eighth-highest floor exercise score in program history – 14.100, while Esval notched a career-best 13.900 on the still rings and Shadan tallied a 13.400 on the parallel bars.

The Falcons close out a busy 24-hour stretch tomorrow (March 9) afternoon, when they travel to Tempe, Ariz., for the ASU Invitational against fourth-ranked Penn State, ninth-ranked Navy, 14th-ranked Arizona State and the NorCal United club team. Action is slated to begin at 4:00 p.m. (MT), inside the Sun Devil Fitness Center.

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Players Mentioned

Ethan Esval

Collin Hickey

Christian Kalustian

Allen Shadan

Lukas Texeira

Frankie Valentin

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