ECAC Men’s Gymnastics Week 5 Preview: Dual conference battles continue, Simpson returns to action

The ECAC men’s gymnastics dual battles continue, with a couple of big rivalry meets happening on Saturday. Navy will be taking on Army at home, and Simpson will be taking on Greenville. You can expect some tough competitions this weekend, with each team giving it their all for an upset. 

William & Mary and Springfield are both on a bye and will return in a head-to-head dual competition at Springfield next Sunday.

Here’s what we can expect going into Week 5.

#12 Army @ #7 Navy

Week 5 Matchup: Saturday, February 3 @ 2 p.m. ET | Army @ Navy | Army Video – (Facebook Live) | Navy Video – (Facebook Live)

Army

Army will likely need a season-high score and a few mistakes from Navy to take the win this weekend. They have yet to score a 390, which Navy has hit each week, with Army’s highest score being a 388.650. They saw some improvements on their weakest event, floor, last week, and if they are able to get started with a season-high score nearing 65, they have the potential to put the pressure on Navy, especially if they can hit pommel horse, which has the potential to be a very strong event for them. 

Routines to watch:

• Jaden Blank’s floor: Blank had a great routine on Saturday where he nailed his 3.5 opening pass. He continued with a big step on his double front and finished with a small step on his triple full dismount. If he can clean up the landing on his second and last pass, you can expect a high-scoring, unique routine from him.
• Steve Manolakis’ parallel bars: As ECAC Gymnast of the Week, Manolakis had a great performance at home. He had a few struggles on one event, parallel bars, where he was a tad short on his Stutz to handstand and had a couple of hops on the dismount. Manolakis will surely be aggressive for a stronger score this weekend.

Navy

Coming off of a big team score at home, the Navy will have their sights set on breaking 400 for the first time this season. With the exception of pommel horse, the Midshipmen stuck only 32% of their dismounts last weekend, something that could easily push them over 400 if they could increase that number. They also had misses on some big routines from Ian Dinmore on pommel horse and Erik Engelke on high bar. This will be their last home meet of the season, so the time to do it would be now to keep building for the ECAC Championships.

Routines to watch:

• William Champagne’s rings: Champagne took the title last weekend against William & Mary with a clean, hit set. If he can find the landing on his full-twisting double back dismount, he will be looking to break into the 13s for a career high.
• Isaiah Drake’s floor: Drake earned a 13.75 for his routine last week. He was a bit under-rotated and squatty on his front layout to double front opening pass and should reach 14 with improvement on his opening pass.

#11 Greenville @ #15 Simpson

Week 5 Matchup: Saturday, February 3 @ 2 p.m. ET | Greenville @ Simpson | Video – (Virtius)

Greenville

After just a week off from competition, Greenville returns to take on Simpson. The Panthers have gone against three Big Ten opponents, and this will be their first ECAC dual meet of the year. They do not yet have an outright win under their belt and will be looking for their first team title on Saturday. 

Routines to watch:

• Mac Pollock’s floor: Pollock has struggled a bit on this event, as he is yet to have a hit routine this season. He has had difficulty on his triple full dismount but will be looking for that landing this weekend.

• Sergey Popov’s rings: Popov has been a reliable hit for the Panthers this season, averaging a 13.2 for his routine featuring a difficult kip to Maltese and a nice Yamawaki to Jonasson combination. He’ll be eyeing his first collegiate title this weekend. 

Simpson

After two weeks off of competition, it will be interesting to see the improvements and changes that are made in the Simpson lineups. The biggest breakthrough may come on pommel horse. Their highest execution score on that event at the Windy City Invitational was only a 7.45, and they could easily hit their program record if they hone in on that event. With everyone rested up from meets and travel, we will also be looking for increased endurance and controlled landings, which would help them tremendously in their fight against Greenville. 

Routines to watch:

• Sterling Pariza’s floor: Pariza has the most difficult set of the team, opening with a nice flared tucked full-out and ending with a big triple twist. He wasn’t able to find the landings last meet, but if he can minimize the deductions on his landings, he could challenge for the title this weekend.
• Alex Catchpole’s parallel bars: Catchpole had the highest score for the Storm in the opening meet, but had a big form break on his opening Honma and was very short on his Stutz hand at Windy City. If he can hit like he did in Week 1, he could help boost the team score and challenge for a win.