Tribe Downs Army in Dual Meet Action

W&M Posts Season-High Team Score

03/02/08 5:40PM

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - Operating on the notion that “There is noplace like home”, the College of William and Mary’s 13th-ranked men’s gymnastics squad posted a season-best team score of 348.60 and defeated Army (331.950) in what was the College’s first home meet of the season Sunday afternoon in Kaplan Arena.

The home crowd was treated to an impressive display by the Tribe, as the score represented nearly a full seven-point improvement over the squad’s previous season-best (341.650 - posted on Friday evening in a win at Navy). The win improves the Tribe’s season record to 5-3, while Army falls to 0-8 on the year.

This afternoon’s score was especially important to W&M, as the formula the NCAA uses to determine its 12-team Championship field factors in two home scores, along with a representative ‘road’ average, to generate a team season average score. With the College hosting just two meets this season, it was imperative to put its best foot forward, which it did with a flourish.

While the team set season highs on five of the six individual events, the most significant gains were made on the pommel horse (57.450) and high bar (58.150) events, as each represented nearly a two-point leap from the squad’s previous high coming into the meet.

Individually, the Tribe claimed five of the six event titles, led once again by senior tri-captain Andrew Hunt (Upper Black Eddy, Pa.), who claimed gold on both the high bar (15.00) and parallel bars (14.15) for the second-straight meet. His mark on the high-bar was a personal and team-season best. Fellow senior tri-captain Dave Locke (Natick, Mass.) and junior James Prim (Hendersonville, N.C.) also had a standout afternoons, as Locke captured the floor exercise with a season-best tying mark of 15.300, while Prim swung his way to a golden score of 15.05 on the rings. Locke also placed second on the vault event with a score of 15.30, while Prim registered a third-place showing on the pommel horse (14.20).

Sophomore Derek Gygax (Stevensville, Md.) has what could have been the most impressive individual performance for the squad on the afternoon, as he flowed to a large personal best mark of 14.70 (his previous best was 14.05).

He led the Tribe’s sweep of the top four positions in the event, as each of the four Tribe athletes set personal bests. Gygax also added a silver finish on the parallel bars to his afternoon, as his mark of 14.10 was just
.05 off Hunt’s gold standard.

The Tribe’s next action will next Saturday, March 8th, as the squad will travel up to face current national No. 2 Penn State University in a dual meet. The action is set to begin at 2:00 pm.