Garrett Braunton Leads Falcons in Qualifier

NORMAN, Okla. – Air Force sophomore Garrett Braunton accounted for the highest all-round score of the night on Friday (April 15), as the 10th-ranked men's gymnastics team wrapped up a successful round of competition at the NCAA National Qualifier in Norman. The Falcons, who matched their highest finish ever at the qualifying event, advanced three Falcons into tomorrow's NCAA Championships.

The sophomore, who scored an 80.665 for the session's highest all-around total, was the Falcons' top finisher on four events. Braunton finished within the top-six of the full 33-gymnast field on the high bar (second, 14.133), pommel horse (fifth, 13.533) and still rings (sixth, 13.833), while adding a team-leading 13th-place score of 14.033 on the vault.

As the session's top all-arounder, Braunton earned a spot in tomorrow's NCAA Championships. He is one of three Falcons to advance to the finals, as senior Noah Everett and sophomore Oliver Zavel earned finalist positions being one of the top three finishers on their respective events that were not on an advancing team or as one of the three advancing all-arounders.

Everett earned a pair of qualifying finishes, placing 15th on the parallel bars (13.400) and 16th on the pommel horse (12.800), while Zavel also advanced on the parallel bars after scoring a 13.766 to finish seventh in the overall field – the top score of the three individual qualifiers on that event.

Zavel added a top-20 finish on the still rings (20th, 13.166) during tonight's qualifying session, while freshman Patrick Hoopes joined Braunton and Everett among the top-20 of the overall finishers on the pommel horse after scoring a 12.566 in his first meet since the season-opener. Sophomore Jake Sampier was the Falcons' top finisher on the floor exercise (16^th, 13.533), while freshman Erich Upton, who tallied a 75.664 to finish fifth in the all-around, added top-20 marks on the parallel bars (19th, 13.166) and high bar (20th, 12.866).

Air Force tallied a 384.822 to finish fifth in the evening qualifying session. Third-ranked Michigan won the Qualifier with a score of 412.890, while sixth-ranked Ohio State (407.956) and second-ranked host Oklahoma (407.290) also advanced to tomorrow's team championship. Seventh-ranked Navy scored a 399.023 to finish fourth in the preliminary round, while Air Force's 384.822 easily distanced itself from No. 11 Army West Point, who rounded out the field with a sixth-place score of 376.691.

The fifth-place finish is the Falcons' best Qualifier placement since 2013, when that team also registered a fifth-place finish. Overall, Air Force placed 10th in the combined 12-team qualifying session – the program's best overall finish since its return to the team lineup in 2011.

Braunton, Everett and Zavel will return to Oklahoma's Lloyd Noble Center tomorrow (April 16) for the finals of the NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships. Action is slated to begin at 7:00 p.m. (CT).

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Players Mentioned

Garrett Braunton

Noah Everett

Patrick Hoopes

Jake Sampier

Erich Upton

Oliver Zavel

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