Air Force Sets Two Records on the Floor Exercise

USAF ACADEMY, Colo. – The 11th-ranked Air Force men's gymnastics team had another stellar day of competition on the floor exercise this afternoon (March 19), as it tallied individual and team records on the event during the regular season finale at the Academy.

Sophomore Oliver Zavel scored a career-best 14.600 to win the floor and improve the previous program standard of 14.550 that had stood for the last five years. With that tally, Zavel also led the Falcons to an Academy-best team total of 70.750 – a mark that was a half-point improvement over the previous record they set last week. Senior Collin Hickey and freshman Erich Upton matched the personal-best marks that they first registered seven days ago to contribute to the team score, as Hickey matched his best of 14.250 – the sixth-best mark in program history – to finish seventh and Upton tied for eighth after equaling his career-best of 14.100 – the ninth-best score in Academy history.

In addition to his score on the floor exercise, Upton also accounted for the fifth-highest vault tally in Air Force history on Saturday, as he registered a personal-best 14.550 to finish third on the event and help the Falcons to the eighth 70-point vault outing in program history (70.250). Air Force accounted for half of the top-six scores on that event, as sophomore Garrett Braunton finished fifth with a 14.400 – just 0.50 off his career best – and Hickey tied for sixth with a season-high score of 14.350.

Braunton, who scored a 79.450 to finish second in the all-around, was Air Force's top finisher on the still rings (13.500) and high bar (13.450), as he picked up third-place finishes on both events. Senior Noah Everett was the Falcons' top finisher on the remaining two events, as he and freshman Bryan Woffinden tied for sixth on the pommel horse (13.100 – career-best for Woffinden) and he added a career-high 13.350 to place seventh on the parallel bars. Upton and Zavel each added another pair of top-10 finishes on the day, as the duo tied for eighth on the parallel bars (13.150) and finished 10th on the pommel horse (career-best 12.800) and high bar (12.650), respectively.

Air Force scored a 392.600 – its second-highest tally of the season – to finish third in its final meet of the regular season. Fifth-ranked Illinois tallied a 416.000 – the second-highest score of the year in the NCAA – to easily win the meet, while service academy rival Navy scored a 397.100 to take second. Members of the Rocky Mountain Pride team finished fourth with a score of 318.200.

The Falcons will face Navy again next week, as they travel to Annapolis, Md., for the USAG Collegiate Nationals on Friday, March 25, and Saturday, March 26.

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