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COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY

The College of William and Mary claimed

the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference

team title at the league’s championship hosted

by Navy on Friday afternoon. In doing so, the

squad secured an automatic bid to the NCAA

Championships, which will be hosted by

Michigan from April 10-12.

W&M earned the program’s fourth ECAC

championship with a winning score of 424.05

and was followed by No. 13 Army (419.1),

No. 14 Navy (413.8), Springfield (407.1),

Temple (406.85) and Illinois-Chicago

(399.45).

In addition to the team portion of the com-

petition, the individual all-around finals were

held as Daniel Potemski (85.1) and J.J. Jindra

(82.85) both earned all-conference honors by

placing second and fourth, respectively.

Additionally, eight Tribe gymnasts com-

bined to qualify for 17 individual event finals

spots. Potemski qualified in a team-high four

events: floor (14.4), rings (14.5), vault (14.9 –

career high) and parallel bars (14.4 – season

high), while Jindra (rings, 14.6; parallel bars,

13.85; high bar, 13.9) and Neal Courter

(floor, 14.85; vault, 14.9; high bar, 14.4) both

advanced in three events.

Landon Funiciello (floor, 14.6; rings,

16.25) and Michael Deitz (vault, 14.55; high

bar, 14.55) also quali-

fied in two events

apiece. Funiciello’s

score on rings ranks as

the second-best mark in

school history and

nearly matched the

program’s standard

(16.4) that he estab-

lished earlier this sea-

son.

S a m P a t t e r s o n

(parallel bars, 14.05),

Jason Wang (pommel

horse, 14.6) and Peter

Ten Eyck (pommel

horse, 14.6) all ad-

vanced in one event.

U. S. MILITARY ACADEMY

Army placed runner-up at the ECAC Cham-

pionships for its highest finish since 2005

Friday evening at Macdonough Hall. Jesse

Glenn highlighted Army's performance cap-

turing the all-around title along with qualify-

ing in five events as seven Black Knights

advanced to Saturday individual finals in 13

events.

Glenn posted an 87.45 laying claim to the

all-around title as Army won this event for the

second straight year. Kip Webber, a senior on

this year's squad, claimed last year's crown.

Glenn is the fifth Black Knight to be crowned

the champion in the all-around scoring.

Glenn was among the top eight gymnasts in

five of the six events advancing to Saturday's

individual event finals where he looks to

claim a title or two. He met the standard on

pommel horse (3rd/14.4), still rings

(4th/14.7), vault (3rd/15.0), parallel bars

(5th/14.0) and high bar (1st/15.35).

Freshman Sam Kusnitz also headlined

Army's contingent advancing to Saturday's

individual finals after qualifying in three

events posting a 14.15 in floor exercise, a

14.55 on vault (tied ninth) and 14.2 on high

bar (fifth).

Also qualifying for the finals and seeking a

title is Kip Webber on vault (2nd/15.1), Ian

Howard on floor exercise (6th/14.25), along

with freshman Joe Pritts in floor exercise

COLLEGE GYMNASTICS ASSOCIATION

Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships HOST: U.S. Naval Academy

March 28/29, 2014

By Jerry Wright

COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY

JESSE GLENN: ARMY

2014 ECAC ALL AROUND

CHAMPION POTEMSKI

FUNICIELLO

(3rd/14.6), Jacob Davies, parallel bars

(6th/13.9) and Leo Genders, high bar

(6th/14.15).

U. S. NAVAL ACADEMY

The U. S. Naval Academy finished in third

place versus a strong ECAC field on Friday at

Macdonough Hall.

Navy was led by 14 performances that qual-

ified for event finals on Saturday. Mitchell

Larios the Mids' top qualifier as he finished

second on the parallel bars with a 14.3. Chris

Junghans followed up Larios' effort with a

13.75 score, that also earned him a spot in

Saturday's event finals.

The third-place finisher in the all-around,

Junghans claimed three more spots for Satur-

day with a 14.1 in the floor exercise, a 13.8

on the pommel horse and a 14.95 on the rings.

His performance on the rings was the third-

best amongst the field.

Larios backed up his parallel bar effort with

the sixth-best result in the floor exercise at

14.2. He has followed closely by teammate

Jonny Tang who finished with a 14.1.

Navy's top pommel horse athlete was An-

drew Potts, who posted a 13.85 score.

Junghans and Eric Morrison completed the

trio of Mids, who qualified for Saturday;

Morrison scored a 13.6.

On the rings, Junghans and Thomas Goodell

both finished top-six in the field. Junghans'

14.95 was 0.4 points better than Goodell's

14.55.

The duo of Eric Viscardi and Joshua Steves

posted matching 14.65 scores to tie for fifth

place in a hotly-contested vault race that saw

15 gymnasts earn scores of 14.5 or higher.

Potts and Tang were Navy's top two finish-

ers on the high bar with qualifying scores of

14.35 and 13.8, respectively.

SPRINGFIELD COLLEGE

Springfield College finished fourth at the

2014 ECAC Championships on Friday at

Macdonough Hall after registering 407.100

points.

Jon Zirna (Buffalo, N.Y.) competed in the

all-around and totaled 80.00 points.

The Pride will have five student-athletes

compete on Saturday in the individual cham-

pionship portion of the competition, which

begins at 2:00 pm.

On the rings, Ryan Ponce produced a score

of 15.150, and will be joined in the event on

Saturday by Pat Hanley who tallied a 14.400.

Ponce will also compete on the parallel bars

after notching a team-best mark of 13.700.

Desmond Carr had a sensational showing

on the vault and registered the highest score

of the afternoon, a 15.150.

Springfield will also have a pair of competi-

tors on Saturday on the pommel horse, with

both Zirna and Pat Ryther representing the

Pride. Ryther earned a mark of 13.900, while

Zirna was credited with a 13.750.

Springfield's best score on the high bar

came from Derek Taranto who was credited

with a mark of 13.700, while Andy

Grabowski delivered a 13.95 on the floor ex-

ercise. Both just missed out on advancing to

the individual championships.

TEMPLE UNIVERSITY Temple University finished fifth in the

ECAC Championships with a score of 406.85

on Friday evening as William and Mary came

in first with a score of 424.05. Army was sec-

ond (419.1), host Navy came in third (413.8),

Springfield was fourth (407.1), and Illinois-

Chicago (399.45) was behind Temple for

sixth place.

Temple's highest scoring event came on

vault with an event score of 70.35. Pat Hen-

ley had the top score for Temple in that event

with a 14.45. Evan Eigner once again led

Temple on the still rings, Eigner's specialty.

His score of 14.5 lead Temple on rings.

Jon Rydzefski had a 13.7 to lead the Owls

on high bar, on parallel bars, Jakob Welsh had

a routine that earned a 13.7.

Blaise Cosenza had the top score for Tem-

ple on floor exercise with a 13.9. Brendan

Williams and Welsh both scored a 13.85.

Williams garnered a 13.8 on his routine on

the pommel horse.

Welsh placed sixth for the all-around with a

score of 81.10 from all six events combined.

Rydzefski finished right behind Welsh in sev-

enth place with 80.00.

UNIV. OF ILLINOIS-CHICAGO The UIC men’s gymnastics team rounded

out the ECAC Championships Saturday after-

noon at Macdonough Hall, hosted by the US

Naval Academy. The Flames placed sixth in

the team competition with a final score of

399.450.

In all-around competition on Friday, Junior

Jason Gaides took fifth with his score of

82.55. As a team, UIC placed fourth on paral-

lel bars with their score of 67.400.

“Jason finishing

fifth in the all-

around sets him up

very nice for the

NCAA champion-

ships in Ann Arbor

in two weeks,”

stated head coach

Charley Nelson.

“Some of these

guys are brand

new competitors

and it is hard to

walk into that high

-pressure confer-

ence atmosphere

and perform at

your best,” continued Nelson. “We will have

a few guys qualifying for the NCAA Champi-

onships in Ann Arbor and the work will start

immediately for the 2015 season.”

Individual competition took place on Satur-

day afternoon as UIC finished in the top six in

four out of six events.

Gaides wowed on rings barely missing first

with his score of 14.800. He also tied for fifth

on floor exercise with his final score of

14.200.

Senior Lukasz Adamczyk took fourth on

pommel horse when he scored 14.350.

Brett Valin’s score of 14.600 was good for

fourth place on vault.

JUNGHANS ZIRNA

EIGNER

GAIDES

COLLEGE GYMNASTICS ASSOCIATION EASTERN COLLEGE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

INDIVIDUAL EVENT RESULTS March 28/29, 2014

HOST: U.S. Naval Academy

Compiled by Jerry Wright

ALL AROUND

1. Jesse Glenn, Army 87.45

2. Daniel Potemski, William/Mary 85.10

3. Chris Junghans, Navy 83.35

4. J. J. Jindra, William/Mary 82.85

5. Jason Gaides, Illinois-Chicago 82.55

6. Jacob Welsh, Temple 81.10

7. Jon Zirna, Springfield 80.00

7. Jon Rydefski, Temple 80.00

FLOOR EXERCISE

1. Neal Courter, William/Mary 14.95

2. Landon Funiciello, William/Mary 14.65

3. Sam Kunitz, Army 14.50

4. Jonny Tang, Navy 14.25

5. Ian Howard, Army 14.20



8. Joe Pritts, Army 13.95

POMMEL HORSE

1. Jason Wang, William/Mary 14.85

2. Peter Ten Eyck, William/Mary 14.80


4. Lukasz Adamczyk, Ill-Chicago 14.35

5. Eric Morrison, Navy 14.10

6. Jon Zirna, Springfield 13.90

7. Andrew Potts, Navy 13.85


RINGS

1. Landon Funiciello, William/Mary 16.00


3. Evan Eigner, Temple 14.75

3. Thomas Goodell, Navy 14.75

5. Ryan Ponce, Springfield 14.65


7. Pat Hanley, Springfield 14.35


VAULT



3. Eric Viscardi, Navy 14.65

4. Brett Valin, Illinois-Chicago 14.60

5. Sam Kusnitz, Army 14.50


7. Kip Webber, Army 14.00

8. Desmond Carr, Springfield 13.90

PARALLEL BARS

1. Mitchell Larios, Navy 14.15

2. Sam Patterson, William/Mary 14.05


4. J. J. Jindra, William/Mary 13.75


6. Ryan Ponce, Springfield 13.65


8. Jacob Davies, Army 13/50

HORIZONTAL BAR


2. Mitchell Deitz, William/Mary 14.45


4. Jonny Tang, Navy 14.15

5. Andrew Potts, Navy 14.10

6. Sam Kusnitz, Army 14.00


8. J. J. Jindra, William/Mary

GLENN

COURTER

WANG

FUNICIELLO

LARIOS

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