Air Force Closes Out Season at NCAA Championships

Eight members of the 13th-ranked Air Force men's gymnastics team wrap up the 2019 campaign this weekend, when they travel to Champaign, Ill., for the NCAA Men's National Collegiate Gymnastics Championships on April 19-20. The Falcons' contingent will open competition in the first of two National Qualifiers on Friday, April 19.

MEET INFORMATION
The 2019 NCAA Men's National Collegiate Gymnastics Championships will be held at the State Farm Center on the University of Illinois' campus. Two national qualifying sessions will be held on Friday, April 19, while the team and individual event finals will take place on Saturday, April 20. All-day session passes are $30 for adults and $25 for youth, while single-session tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for youth. Direct links to live stats for all three sessions and video of the Qualifier can be found on the team's schedule page at GoAirForceFalcons.com, while the finals will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network.

LET'S MEET THE FIELD
Air Force's individuals will compete in the afternoon (1:00 p.m. CT) session of the NCAA Qualifier with teams from No. 2 Stanford, No. 3 Michigan, No. 6 Minnesota, No. 7 Nebraska, No. 10 Navy and No. 11 California, as well as individuals from Springfield. The evening session, which begins at 6:00 p.m. CT, will feature top-ranked Oklahoma, No. 4 Illinois, No. 5 Penn State, No. 8 Iowa, No. 9 Ohio State, No. 12 Army West Point and individuals from Illinois-Chicago and William & Mary.

WHO'S WHO
Eight Falcons were selected to compete in the NCAA Qualifier, with two others earning a spot as an alternate. Below is the list of Air Force competitors and their events, as well as the teams they will be competing with.

NAME - EVENT(S) | COMPETING WITH
Ethan Esval - Still Rings, Parallel Bars| Stanford
Ryan Girouard - Floor Exercise| Navy
Christian Kalustian - Floor Exercise, High Bar (Vault)| Stanford
Scott McMurray - Pommel Horse| Navy
Zach Polen - Parallel Bars (Still Rings)| Navy
Allen Shadan - Parallel Bars| Minnesota
Lukas Texeira - Still Rings, High Bar| Navy
Frankie Valentin - Floor Exercise, Pommel Horse, Still Rings, Vault (High Bar)| Minnesota

Collin Hickey (floor exercise) and Max Stergiades (still rings) were named alternates for their respective events, while Kalustian, Polen and Valentin were named alternates on the events listed in parentheses.

HISTORY 101
Air Force has made 15 team appearances to the final site of the NCAA Championships (1961-62-63-64, 1970, 1972-73, 2011-12-13-14-15-16-17), with its highest finish (sixth) coming at the 1972 championship meet. Air Force made a program-record eight-straight team appearances to the NCAA Qualifier (2011-18). The Falcons saw its program-record streak of eight team appearances at the NCAA Qualifier snapped this year.

HISTORY 201
A total of 11 Falcons have claimed All-America status at the NCAA Championships, including Jim Weaver (1962 tumbling), Doug Reynolds (1964 tumbling), Terry Higgins (1966 parallel bars), Bill Ritter (1972 floor exercise), John Tomich (1983 vault), Joel Miller (1992 still rings), Tim Hess (1993 floor exercise), Greg Stine (2008 still rings, 2008 all-around), Tim Wang (2014 pommel horse, 2016 pommel horse, 2017 parallel bars, 2017 all-around), Denis Aurelius (2016 still rings) and Arinn Wade (2016 pommel horse).

AIR FORCE IN THE RANKINGS
With a National Qualifying Average of 392.375, Air Force finished the season ranked 13th in the NCAA. The Falcons were listed among the nation's top 10 on the still rings (67.438, eighth), while Lukas Texeira was ranked second on the high bar with a National Qualifying Average of 14.375. Ethan Esval also finished the season ranked among the nation's top 25, as he recorded a NQA of 13.963 on the still rings (18th).

Air Force Closes Out Season at NCAA Championships

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ethan Esval

Ryan Girouard

Collin Hickey

Christian Kalustian

Scott McMurray

Zach Polen

Allen Shadan

Max Stergiades

Lukas Texeira

Frankie Valentin

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