Feb. 18, 2008

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. - Behind the all-around effort from Dylan Parrott (Fr./Rockwell, N.C.), the Navy gymnastics team defeated Air Force and Army to capture the 2008 All-Academy Championship for the first time in program history on Sunday night.

Navy (8-3) tallied 330.85 points to finish 8.05 ahead of Air Force's (3-5) 322.8-point, second-place total. Army (2-7) placed third with 318.7 points. The Midshipmen boasted the highest score on the floor exercise (57.4 points), pommel horse (50.95 points), parallel bars (54.3 points) and high bar (54.25 points).

Parrott, the nation's 19th-ranked gymnast in the all-around, topped all gymnasts with a combined score of 82.95 points among the six events. The Navy freshman delivered a stellar 15.25-point performance on the floor exercise to win the event. He also placed third on the parallel bars with a score of 13.65 points.

Navy's other event victory came on the pommel horse, where Joseph Atzenbeck (Jr./Broomfield, Colo.) led the way with a 13.4 from the judges. Classmate Adam Stanton (Jr./Centennial, Colo.) followed in second with a 12.75-point routine.

The Midshipmen tallied three addition second-place performances on Sunday night. Grant Waldron (Fr./Columbia, Md.) came through with a solid 15.15-point score on the vault, while Jon-Michael Chombeau (Sr./Beaverton, Ore.) earned a 13.7 on the parallel bars and Isaac Olson (Sr./Spokane, Wash.) racked up 13.8 points on the high bar.

All-around gymnast Christopher Tam finished among the top-three gymnasts in two events. He placed third on the still rings with a score of 14.3 points and tied for third on the high bar with a 13.7-point showing.

The Midshipmen will return to action on Friday, Feb. 29, when they host William & Mary in a dual meet at Macdonough Hall, starting at 7 p.m.