Feb. 20, 2009
The No. 14 Air Force men's gymnastics team will face some of the nation's top teams on Saturday, Feb. 21, at the prestigious Pacific Coast Classic in Oakland, Calif. The meet, which features five of the top six teams in the national rankings, will begin at 7:30 p.m., at the Oakland Convention Center.
Meet Notes 05: at Pacific Coast Classic 
LOOKING AT THE FIELD
The Falcons will be facing off against five of the top six teams in the nation at the Classic, including No. 2 California, No. 3 Stanford, No. 4 Michigan, No. 5 Minnesota and No. 6 Illinois. Stanford boasts the individual leaders on the floor exercise, still rings, vault and parallel bars. This will be the first time this season that Air Force has faced any of these opponents, although they will face Cal and Stanford at the conference championships in March.
LAST YEAR AT THE PACIFIC COAST CLASSIC
Last year, the Falcons finished sixth at the Pacific Coast Classic. Top-ranked Stanford won the meet, while fellow MPSF programs, No. 3 Oklahoma and No. 4 California, finished second and third, respectively. Fourth-ranked Michigan placed fourth, while No. 6 Illinois finished fifth. Then-senior Greg Stine led Air Force on five of the six events, highlighted by a third-place score in the all-around.
FALCONS TAKE SECOND AT ALL-ACADEMY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Air Force tallied its highest team score of the season to finish second at the annual All-Academy Championships on Feb. 14. The Falcons posted a combined score of 330.800, bettering their season-high by nearly two points. Navy rallied to win its second consecutive title with 335.050 points, while Army finished third with a score of 312.900.
CAUTION ... FALLING RECORDS
Two Academy records fell at the All-Academy Championships. Freshman Jacob Houder tallied a career-best mark of 13.850 to reset the program standard, while classmate Joel Uptmor improved his own Academy mark on the vault at 15.600.
SCHONIG DOES IT AGAIN
Tallying a score of 14.700, Jake Schonig won his third consecutive still rings title at the All-Academy Championships. The senior, who also won the event title as a sophomore and junior, led an Air Force sweep of the top three spots. Classmate Josiah Loeser finished second with a score of 14.250, while sophomore Nash Mills placed third with a score of 14.150.
FALCONS VAULT TO NEW TEAM SCORE
For the second straight meet, the Falcons set an Academy record on the vault. Posting a team total of 61.000, Air Force upped its previous mark of 60.950 that it set against Army at the Academy.
GOING BY RANK
Air Force's roster boasts two national leaders, as senior Jake Schonig and freshman Jacob Houder lead the USAG national rankings on the still rings and parallel bars, respectively. Schonig holds an average 14.650 on the rings, while Houder averages 13.817 on the bars. Schonig's score on the rings is also ranked 13th in the nation.
GETTING OUT ON TOP
The Falcons have accounted for 17 top-10 placements in the Feb. 16 national USAG rankings. Freshman Jacob Houder, sophomore Nash Mills and classmate Aaron Zaiser are each listed in three categories. Houder's best finish is a division-leading spot on the parallel bars, while Zaiser has a pair of third-place marks on the floor exercise and vault.
WHAT'S AHEAD FOR THE FALCONS
The Falcons will close out the second month of the season in Tempe, Ariz., on Friday (Feb. 27) at the annual Southwest Cup against Arizona State and Washington. The meet will run in conjunction with the Sun Devils' women's meet.
