Mids to Compete at ECAC Championship This Weekend

Navy finished second at last year's ECAC Championship in Macdonough Hall

	Sean Blackman is a two-time medalist on the still rings at the ECAC Championship

March 29, 2007

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Following its second-place performance at the USAG Collegiate Division Championship last weekend, the Navy gymnastics team will head to Philadelphia to compete for the ECAC Championship this weekend at Temple's McGonigle Hall. The team and all-around competition will take place on Saturday at 3 p.m., with the top-eight gymnasts in each discipline advancing to the individual event finals on Sunday at 2 p.m.

In last year's ECAC Championship at Macdonough Hall in Annapolis, the Midshipmen posted their highest finish since 1997, placing second with a team score of 203.775 points.

Navy is coming off a 198.0-point showing last weekend in Williamsburg, Va., finishing less than two points behind host William & Mary's championship-winning score of 199.85 points.

Navy junior Christopher Tam (Draper, Utah) will look to earn a medal in the all-around in high bar for the second-straight year in the ECAC Championship. Ranked 15th nationally in the all-around, Tam recorded a 48.85-point showing over the six events to finish second last weekend. He also placed second during the event finals last Sunday with an 8.9 on the high bar, an apparatus where he is ranked 17th in the country. In addition to the high bar, he qualified for the finals of the floor exercise, pommel horse and still rings last weekend, landing among the top-six scores in two of the three events.

Classmate Brandon Cook (Longmont, Colo.) also earned multiple ECAC Championship medals last season, placing among the top-six gymnasts in both the floor exercise and vault disciplines. Those two events have again proved to be Cook's strongest events in 2007, as he has led the team in the floor exercise and the vault eight times. He posted a 9.15 in the floor exercise and an 8.35 on the vault during the first day of last week's championship before registering two top-five finishes during the event finals.

Senior team captain Sean Blackman (Fayetteville, Ga.) is aiming for his third-straight top-six finish on the still rings at the conference championship this season. Blackman has worked his way back from an injury to produce some solid scores on the apparatus, as he scored an 8.9 during the prelims before placing fourth in the finals with an 8.75 from the judges.

Sophomore Joseph Atzenbeck (Broomfield, Colo.) claimed the title on the pommel horse last weekend with season-best score of 8.5 Last year's ECAC Co-Rookie of the Year has recorded an 8.25 or higher in each of his last-five performances in the event. At last year's conference championship, he scored higher than an 8.0 in three disciplines and advanced to the parallel bars finals.

Junior Isaac Olson (Spokane, Wash.) joined Atzenbeck as an event championship in Williamsburg, Va., last Sunday, taking home first-place honors on the high bar. He topped the field during both day's action, scoring a 9.0 during the prelims before earning the right to stand at the top of the podium with an 8.95.

Following this weekend's conference championship, the Midshipmen will either compete as a team or send selected gymnasts to the NCAA Qualifying Meet in University Park, Pa., on April 12. Navy gymnasts that advance out of that round will partake in the NCAA Championship on April 13-14. The team and all-around competition takes place on the first day, with the individual event finals rounding out the championship on the second day.