William and Mary Men’s Gymnastics Captures Sixth-Straight USAG Collegiate Championship

Tribe’s Ramon Jackson Takes Home All-Around Title, Qualifies for Five Individual Event Finals

04/15/06 2:00PM

Ithaca, NY - The College of William and Mary’s 10th-ranked men’s gymnastics squad captured its sixth-consecutive USA Gymnastics Collegiate Championship on Friday evening by posting a solid team score of 203.275 at the five-team event hosted by Cornell University.

The Tribe’s score edged out the United State’s Naval Academy, which placed second with a score of 202.775. Springfield College placed third (183.725), while Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was fourth (178.85) and James Madison’s total of 174.80 rounded out the field.

One week removed from earning his third career All-America honor, senior Ramon Jackson (Orlando, FL) paced the field in the all-around competition, compiling a six-event total of 50.55 to claim his second career USAG All-Around title. Jackson, the Tribe’s co-captain, joins 2004 graduate Jamie Northrup as the only other W&M gymnast to captured the USAG’s all-around crown (Northrup took home the crown in 2003). For his career, Jackson has earned a school record 12 total USAG All-American honors, including a school-record six individual USAG National titles. This is a figure that is sure to grow even further this afternoon at the individual event championships, as he has quali-fied to compete in five events(FX, PB, HB, V, R). He brings the meet’s top qualifying score in two events into to-day’s action, including a career best mark of 9.500 in the vault, the event he finished sixth at last week’s NCAA event. He will be the prohibitive favorite to take home his fourth-straight USAG National Title on the parallel bars as well, as his qualifying score of 9.00 in the event is more than a half-point higher than the next closest competitor.

The top six from today’s action earn the designation as USAG Collegiate All-American and only two people per school can compete in any one individual event. Jackson will compete with junior Gustav Lindquist (Old Greenwich, CT) on both the floor exercise and vault events, while senior Jeff Jaekle (Stratford, CT) will compete on the rings alongside Jackson. Sophomore Andrew Hunt (Upper Black Eddy, PA) is qualified on both the parallel bars and high bar, while classmate Aaron Ingram (Paxton, MA) is the Tribe’s lone competitor on the pommel horse.

This afternoon’s action is the last event for the College in the 2006 season which has seen the team make is fourth appearance in the NCAA Championships in the last five years, captured its first ECAC Title since 1994 and earn its 33rd-straight Virginia State Championship.