Eight Falcons Selected to NCAA Qualifier

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Eight members of the Air Force men's gymnastics team were selected to compete in the National Qualifier at next week's NCAA Championships, the selection committee announced today (April 9) from the national office in Indianapolis. At least one Falcon will be represented on every event at the NCAA event, which will be held April 19-20 at the University of Illinois.

Sophomore Frankie Valentin was selected as an individual qualifier in four events (floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault), while classmate Ethan Esval (still rings, parallel bars), senior Christian Kalustian (floor exercise, high bar) and senior Lukas Texeira (still rings, high bar) all qualified in two events.

Fellow senior Ryan Girouard (floor exercise) and the sophomore trio of Scott McMurray (pommel horse), Zach Polen (parallel bars) and Allen Shadan (parallel bars) also earned a spot as event specialists in the National Qualifier.

Two Falcons are ranked among the nation's top 20 of their respective events, including Texeira, a national finalist in 2017, who is currently ranked second on the high bar with a National Qualifying Average of 14.375. Esval, who advanced to the NCAA finals on the still rings last season as a freshmen, is currently ranked 18th on that event with a NQA of 13.963.

Valentin (high bar), Kalustian (vault) and Polen (still rings) also earned "alternate" spots at the national meet, along with freshmen Max Stergiades (still rings) and Collin Hickey (floor exercise).

Championship weekend begins with two qualifying sessions on Friday, April 19, at State Farm Arena on the University of Illinois campus. The top three individual finishers on each event from each qualifier, who are not on an advancing team or as an advancing all-around competitor, will qualify into the finals, which will be held on Saturday, April 20.

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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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