Feb. 9, 2008

Results

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Navy's Brandon Cook (Sr./Longmont, Colo.) won two events to lead the Midshipmen to a convincing 340.75-322.6 victory over Army in the Star Meet on Saturday afternoon in Macdonough Hall. The Mids improved to 6-3 on the year and claimed the N-Star, while the Black Knights saw their overall mark drop to 2-5.

With Saturday's N-Star triumph in gymnastics, Navy's athletic program improved to 11-3 this year in its Star competitions against Army and is guaranteed to at least a split of the Star series title with eight sports left to battle head-to-head for the Star this year.

"Our training this week heading into today's meet was so great and intense," stated Navy head coach Sho Fukushima. "I knew that we were going to do well, but not how well it would be in scoring more than 340 points. These guys always seem to find another gear against Army. I'm very proud of our guys and the teamwork they showed today."

Navy boasted a two-plus-point margin than Army in all-six events to win its second-straight N-Star in Annapolis. The Mids set season highs on the still rings (57.05 points) and high bar (57.3 points) to top its previous team-high score by nearly four points. Among the six events, the Midshipmen registered the highest individual score in five of the six disciplines.

Cook opened his afternoon on the floor exercise, where he earned a 14.9 from the judges to finish a full point ahead of Army's top gymnast. One hour later on the vault, the Navy senior registered a 15.35 to win his second event, this time 0.80-point above the top performance by a Black Knight competitor.

Navy all-around gymnasts Dylan Parrott (Fr./Rockwell, N.C.) and Christopher Tam (Sr./Draper, Utah) each produced season highs and won an event to finish 1-2 in the all-around. Parrott recorded a 14.1 on the parallel bars and totaled 84.55 points in the all-around, both tops on the day. The Navy freshman also bested his season-high marks on the floor exercise (14.55 points), still rings (14.2 points), vault (14.85 points) and high bar (14.4 points).

Tam led all gymnasts on the still rings with an impressive 14.4-point routine, a season high, and only finished behind Parrott in the all-around with an 84.25. The Navy senior notched season highs on the floor exercise (14.25 points), vault (14.85 points) and parallel bars (13.75 points).

Navy's other individual event title came on the pommel horse, where Adam Stanton (Jr./Centennial, Colo.) delivered a stellar 14.5-point performance. Stanton would also place second on the still rings (14.25 points) and parallel bars (13.95 points). Joseph Atzenbeck (Jr./Broomfield, Colo.) came in second on the pommel horse with a score of 14.3 points and Grant Waldron (Fr./Columbia, Md.) earned a 15.05 from the judges on the vault to land in second place behind Cook.

The Midshipmen return to action on Sunday, Feb. 17, when they head to Laguna Beach, Calif., to compete against Army and Air Force in the All-Academy Championship. The action is slated for a 7 p.m. PT (10 p.m. ET) start.