Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
Navy
Dominant Performances Earn Gymnasts Star Victory Over Navy
February 14, 2015 | Men's Gymnastics
WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army men’s gymnastics team captured a Star Meet victory over service academy rival Navy, defeating the Midshipmen by a score of 421.600-414.550 from Gross Sports Center on Saturday afternoon.
The win marks the third time Army has topped Navy on the season and earns the Black Knights their first Star since 2013.
The team mark is the highest of the season for the Black Knights, besting their previous high of 416.150 against Penn State in the season opener.
Army earned four of six individual event victories, with first place finishes on floor exercise, pommel horse, parallel bars and high bar.
“Today was great,” said head coach Doug Van Everen. “We had all of our guys and we were in a good position going into the event, but sometimes it makes it a little more stressful knowing that you’re stronger. It always comes down to making it happen and doing it. I was really happy that the guys ended up stepping up and they really did very well. It was a good day to do it.”
Junior Jesse Glenn captured the all-around title with a season-best mark of 86.800, besting Navy’s Jonathan Tang (83.550) and Noah Beeman (79.400). In addition, he claimed two individual event victories, taking first on both parallel bars and high bar.
Sam Kusnitz got things started with a season-best mark of 15.000 on floor exercise to take the top spot. He was followed by teammate Glenn in second (14.900).
Also competing on floor for the Black Knights was Leo Genders (14.200), Nathan Goff (14.000), Seth Cannon (13.400) and Joe Pritts (12.300).
Army took three of the top five spots on pommel horse, led by a first place mark of 14.500 and career-best from Goff. Glenn and Connor Venrick tied for second with scores of 14.450 and Cannon earned fifth with a mark of 14.050.
Also competing for Army on pommel horse was Andre Hufnagel (13.950) and Chris Short (13.100).
Army’s team score of 71.400 set a new Academy record, besting the mark of 70.450 set against Springfield last season.
Two Black Knights cracked the top five on still rings with Glenn taking third (13.950) and Venrick tying for fourth (13.900). Pritts earned sixth with a mark of 13.800 and Ryan Wilson claimed seventh with a score of 13.700.
Also competing on rings was Goff with a score of 13.450 and Short with a mark of 13.000.
The team score of 68.800 earned Army a new season-best, besting the previous mark of 68.250 set at the West Point Open.
Army placed three in the top five on vault, with Kusnitz posting a season-best 14.850 to claim second. Glenn took third with a mark of 14.800 and Genders earned fifth with a score of 14.550.
Canon tied for eighth with a score of 14.000, Pritts tied for 10th with a mark of 13.900 and Nick McAfee earned 12th with a score of 13.300.
The Black Knights went one-two on parallel bars, en route to a season-best team mark of 68.850. Glenn took first with a score of 14.150 and was followed by Short in second with a score of 14.100. Goff tied for fourth with a score of 13.850 and was followed by Kusnitz in sixth (13.750).
Also competing for the Black Knights on parallel bars was McAfee (13.000) and Pritts (12.150).
Glenn captured his second individual title of the afternoon with a score of 14.500 on high bar. He was followed by teammate Kusnitz’s mark of 14.400 in second place.
Genders placed sixth with a score of 13.550 and was followed by Short in eighth (13.250), Goff in ninth (13.200) and Cannon in 11th (13.050).
The win over Navy is the 48th in program history and the 15th under Van Everen.
“At this point, everyone is healthy so we just have to continue to do what we’ve been doing,” said Van Everen. “I was a little worried coming off of the two away trips with a lot of travel that the guys would be tired, but what we did was we really slowed down this past week to give them a chance to rest and recoup and they clearly did a good job. All in all, happy times and we’ve just got to keep moving forward.”
The Black Knights will return to action on Feb. 28 when they host Springfield and William & Mary in a tri-meet from Gross Sports Center. They’ll then travel to both schools over the following two weekends before returning home to host the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championships on March 27-28.
Visit www.goARMYsports.com for up-to-date information and follow the Black Knights on Twitter @Army_Gymnastics.
Players Mentioned
