No. 10 Falcons Head to NCAA Championships

The 10th-ranked Air Force men's gymnastics team wraps up the 2022 campaign this weekend (April 15-16), when it travels to Norman, Okla., for the NCAA Men's National Collegiate Championships. The Falcons, who are making their first team appearance at the championships since 2018, will open competition at the National Qualifier on Friday evening at the Lloyd Noble Center.

MEET INFORMATION
Two national qualifying sessions (1:00 p.m., 7:00 p.m. CT) will be held on Friday, April 15, while the team and individual event finals will take place at 6:00 p.m. (CT) on Saturday, April 16. All-session tickets are $25 for adults and $10 for youth (2-18) and seniors (55+) and can be purchased online at SoonerSports.com, while single-session tickets will be available at Lloyd Noble Center box office beginning on Friday. A main broadcast, as well as separate feeds for each apparatus, will be available for all three sessions at SoonerSports.tv, while Saturday's championship session will also be televised by Stadium College Sports Central. Air Force will begin on the high bar.

LET'S MEET THE TEAMS
Air Force will compete in the evening session with second-ranked host Oklahoma, third-ranked Michigan, sixth-ranked Ohio State and the Falcons' service academy counterparts from seventh-ranked Navy and 11th-ranked Army West Point. Two-time defending champion and top-ranked Stanford will headline the afternoon session, along with fourth-ranked Nebraska, fifth-ranked Illinois, eighth-ranked Penn State, ninth-ranked California and 12th-ranked Springfield. Individual gymnasts from William and Mary will be separated throughout both sessions.

HISTORY 101
A total of 12 Falcons have claimed All-America status at the NCAA Championships, including Denis Aurelius (2016 still rings), Tim Hess (1993 floor exercise), Terry Higgins (1966 parallel bars), Joel Miller (1992 still rings), Doug Reynolds (1964 tumbling), Bill Ritter (1972 floor exercise), Greg Stine (2008 still rings, 2008 all-around), Lukas Texeria (2019 high bar), John Tomich (1973 vault), Arinn Wade (2016 pommel horse), Tim Wang (2014 pommel horse, 2016 pommel horse, 2017 parallel bars, 2017 all-around), and Jim Weaver (1962 trampoline).

HISTORY 201
Air Force has made 16 team appearances to the final site of the NCAA Championships (1961-62-63-64, 1970, 1972-73, 2011-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-22), with its highest finish (sixth) coming at the 1972 championship meet. The Falcons made a program-record eight-straight team appearances to the NCAA Qualifier (2011-18), before that streak was snapped in 2019.

AIR FORCE IN THE FINAL RANKINGS
With a National Qualifying Average of 388.825, Air Force finished the 2022 season ranked 10th in the national standings. The Falcons were ranked a team-high eighth on the floor exercise (67.725), while Garrett Braunton (79.338 NQA – fourth in the all-around; 13.588 NQA – 16th on the still rings) and Collin Hickey (13.750 NQA – 17th on the floor exercise) are ranked among the nation's top 20.

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Players Mentioned

Garrett Braunton

Collin Hickey

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