© Air Force Athletics
ANNAPOLIS, Md., March 22, 2014 – he U.S. Air Force won four of the six event finals at the 2014 USA Gymnastics Men’s Collegiate National Championships, held at Macdonough Hall of the U.S. Naval Academy. The College of William and Mary picked up the remaining two titles. The four champions from Air Force are: Denis Aurelius of Plain City, Ohio, floor exercise; Nick Owen of Grayson, Ga., pommel horse; Josh Ramos of Broken Arrow, Okla., parallel bars; and Nick Gaudlip of Colorado Springs, Colo., horizontal bar. William and Mary’s Landon Funiciello of Baldwinsville, N.Y., and Neal Courter of Baton Rouge, La., took the top honors for the still rings and vault, respectively.
Aurelius earned a 15.225 to win the floor exercise crown. Courter was second at 14.800, with Arizona State University’s Zackery Mollett of Billings, Mont., in third at 14.675.
Owen claimed his second straight pommel horse title when he posted a 14.950, edging out teammate Tim Wang of Riverside, Calif., at 14.925. Jason Wang of Tigard, Ore./College of William and Mary, rounded out the top three at 14.475.
Funiciello successfully defended his still rings title, with a 16.000 that was the day’s highest score for any event. Ryan Ponce of Tolland, Conn./Springfield College, finished in second place with his 15.525, followed by Gared Chapman of Casselberry, Fla./U.S. Air Force Academy, in third at 15.075.
Courter continued to dominate the vault, following up on his 2013 victory. Courter scored a 15.150, with Kip Webber of Boxborough, Mass./U.S. Military Academy, and Ty Loughridge of Novosibirsk, Russia/Arizona State University, placing second (14.875) and third (14.525), respectively.
On the parallel bars, Ramos outscored runner-up Mollett, 14.250 to 14.150. Third place went to Jesse Glenn of Porter Ranch, Calif./U.S. Military Academy, with 14.100.
Gaudlip also returned as the horizontal bar champion, slipping by Glenn, 15.050 to 15.025. Michael Deitz of Manassas, Va./College of William and Mary, took home the bronze at 14.825.
At the men’s USA Gymnastics Collegiate Championships, the team competition is divided into two categories, varsity and collegiate. The varsity competition is for Division I, II, or III, four-year institutions with gymnastics as a varsity sport which provide two or less full scholarships as well as the military academies, and the collegiate club team category is for two-year or four-year degree-granting schools with gymnastics as a club sport.
The schools in this year’s field are: Varsity Division Acaa College of William and Mary, Springfield College, U.S. Air Force Academy, U.S. Military Academy and U.S. Naval Academy; and Collegiate Club Division Acaa Arizona State University and University of Washington. The College at Brockport has gymnasts entered in the individual events.