3/27/2001 - Men's Gymnastics
Navy Men's Gymnastics Qualifies Five for NCAA Championship

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ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy men's gymnastics team qualified five gymnasts for the 2001 NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championship, April 5-7 in Columbus, Ohio, including two in the all-around competition.

Dan Finnegan (Jr./Richmond, Va.) will compete in the all-around competition for the second straight year, while Joe Brading (So./Sugar Land, Texas) will be making his first appearance at the NCAA Championship. Finnegan and Brading turned in strong performances at the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championship last weekend in the all-around, tying for fourth overall with a score of 51.05.

Team captain Tripp Glasgow (Jr./Orlando, Fla.), the ECAC Champion on the parallel bars, qualified with a score of 8.70 in addition to qualifying on the high bar, floor exercise and pommel horse. Glasgow competed on the parallel bars at the NCAA Championship last year.

On the vault, Navy will have Andy Helchinger (Jr./Stockton, Calif.) and Nick Willet (Jr./Westminster, Md.) competing on the vault. Helchinger placed 38th on the vault at the NCAA Championship last season.

All five gymnasts will compete in the NCAA Qualification Meet on Thursday, April 5. The top six in each event and the all-around will advance to the finals on Friday and Saturday.

"I hope they can represent us very well at the meet," Navy head coach Sho Fukushima said. "I think they are ready, and I am hoping the group performance from the ECAC meet will carry over to the qualification meet. Even though some guys have very little shot at making the individual final, they should give it their best shot."