Eight Falcons Selected to NCAA Championships

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Eight members of the Air Force men's gymnastics team were selected to compete in the national qualifying round of next week's NCAA Championships, the selection committee announced this afternoon (April 6) from the national office in Indianapolis. At least one Falcon will be represented on every event during the two-day meet, which will be held April 16-17 at the University of Minnesota.

Freshman Garrett Braunton and senior Frankie Valentin both qualified in the all-around, while freshman Oliver Zavel (still rings, parallel bars, high bar) and senior Allen Shadan (still rings, parallel bars) earned selections in multiple events. Junior Noah Everett and senior Scott McMurray both qualified on the pommel horse, while junior Collin Hickey and senior Brandon Bzoskie were selected to compete on the floor exercise and vault, respectively.

In addition, Shadan is the first alternate on the high bar and junior Sam Metzler is the only alternate on the floor exercise. Gymnasts from Air Force and Army West Point made up the entire list of individual qualifiers, as the two squads ranked 13th and 14th, respectively, in the national rankings.

It will be the third time in as many opportunities that McMurray, Shadan and Valentin have qualified to the NCAA Championships, as the trio also competed in the national meet as freshmen and sophomores (the 2020 NCAA Championships were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic). McMurray competed on the pommel horse in each of his first two years and advanced to the championship round as a sophomore, while Shadan competed on the high bar in 2018 and the parallel bars in 2019. While 2021 will mark the first NCAA all-around for Valentin, he competed in three events as a freshman and four events as a sophomore, advancing to the finals of the vault that year.

Championship weekend begins with two qualifying sessions on Friday, April 16, at Maturi Pavilion on the University of Minnesota campus. The top three individual finishers on each event from each session of the NCAA Qualifier, who are not on an advancing team or as an advancing all-around competitor, will qualify into the NCAA Championships, which will he held on Saturday, April 17.

Footer

The appearance of hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the u.s air force of non-u.s. government sites or the information, products, or services contained therein. Although the u.s. air force may or may not use these sites as additional distribution channels for department of defense information, it does not exercise editorial control over all of the information that you may find at these locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this website.

Players Mentioned

Garrett Braunton

Brandon Bzoskie

Noah Everett

Collin Hickey

Scott McMurray

Sam Metzler

Allen Shadan

Frankie Valentin

Oliver Zavel

Related Videos

Footer