William and Mary Men’s Gymnastics Completes Season at NCAA Championships

Nine Tribe Individuals Compete in Six Events

04/13/07 7:11PM

State College, Pa. - The College of William and Mary’s men’s gymnastics squad ended its competitive schedule for the 2007 season by having nine student-athletes compete as individuals during Thursday evening’s action at the NCAA Championships being held at Penn State University.

While no member of the Tribe team advanced on to the individual event finals, the evening was highlighted by freshman all-arounder Derek Gygax (Stevensville, Md.), who set his career high with a 47.75 six-event point total. The score placed him 12th overall at the event and made him the ninth highest individual.

The high score for the Tribe on the evening was posted by sophomore James Prim (Hendersonville, N.C.), who turned in a solid mark of 9.2 on the rings, which placed him sixth amongst individuals and 14th overall. Prim also competed on the pommel horse (7.95, 12th-place among individuals).

Senior Dave Ridings (Parkton, Md.) literally saved his best for last, as he set his career high on the parallel bars in his last career routine, scoring a 8.70. Sophomore Sloan Crawford (Burlington, Ontario) had a notable performance on the floor exercise, as the scored an 8.9 and finished ninth amongst individual performers.

The NCAA brings in the top eight individuals who aren’t competing as part of a team for the Championship event. Athletes qualify by virtue of their season average for a particular discipline. The individuals competed on Thursday evening in a separate rotation during the two team qualifying sessions. Each session featured six teams, with the top three teams is each session moving onto today’s team championship. The top three individuals, who didn’t advance as part of the team competition, also advanced to Saturday’s individual event finals.

The following are the remainder of the Tribe’s individuals who competed at the NCAAs.

Name (Event), Score, Place Amongst Individual, Overall Place
Dave Locke (FL), 8.15, 16th, T37th
Locke (Vault), 7.55, NA, 39th
Dave Pearson (pommel), 7.1, 17th, 36th
Aaron Ingram (rings), 8.75, 12th, 28th
Andrew Hunt (Parallel Bars), 8.2, NA, 28th
Hunt (High Bar), 8.1, 11th, 29th