March 11, 2010
The Air Force men's gymnastics team, which moved up to 12th in the national poll following a record-setting weekend at the Academy, will head to the East Coast for a pair of meets this weekend. The Falcons will open the weekend in West Point, N.Y., at service academy rival Army on Friday, March 12, before traveling to Springfield, Mass., for a tri-meet with Springfield College and William and Mary.
Meet Notes 08: at Army (March 12); at Springfield, withWilliam and Mary (March 14) 
FRIDAY'S COMPETITION
Army is currently ranked 15th with a three-score average of 329.483. The Black Knights are coming off of a 335.900-325.000 loss to Springfield on March 7. The Black Knights are ranked among the top-10 nationally on the pommel horse, with an average of 54.050 (10th). Like the Falcons, Army has just two seniors - Justin Sappington leads the squad with a 13.01 average on the high bar, while Ty Smith is the all-around leader, with an average of 78.28.
RIVALRY WEEKEND
This is a busy weekend for the Air Force-Army rivalry. The men's gymnastics team is one of three Air Force teams taking on its rivals from West Point this weekend. The hockey team is hosting Army in the quarterfinal round of the AHA playoffs on March 12-14, while the lacrosse team welcomes the Black Knights to the Academy on March 13.
SUNDAY'S COMPETITION
Springfield is ranked 14th (334.700 average) in the GymInfo Poll, while William and Mary is ranked 16th (329.367). Both programs are coming off of victories over the Falcons' service academy rivals. In their last meet, the Pride defeated Army by over 10 points (335.900-325.000), while the Tribe defeated Navy by a 334.850-332.100 margin. Springfield is ranked in the national top-10 on the floor exercise (10th) with an average of 57.800. Springfield has a pair of top-20 gymnasts in the all-around (Ty Evans, 12th and Josh Fox, 17th), while William and Mary's Derek Gygax is ranked 19th with an average of 82.550.
RANK YOU VERY MUCH
Sophomore Devin Menefee is ranked fourth in the nation on the still rings with a three-score average of 15.150, while Nash Mills is ranked ninth in the all-around (85.567) and 13th on the parallel bars (14.667). As a team, Air Force is ranked sixth on the still rings (58.850) and ninth on the vault (62.250).
NOBLES SHATTERS POMMEL HORSE RECORD
Chase Nobles blasted the Academy record on the pommel horse in the Falcons' home finale on March 7. The sophomore scored a 14.700 to tie for first on the pommel horse, while breaking the previous mark of 14.200 that classmate Jacob Houder set twice last season. The score is a personal improvement of nearly a point, shattering the mark of 13.800 he had set two days earlier.
FALCONS ADJUST FIVE TEAM RECORDS AGAISNT UIC
Combining for a score of 346.450, Air Force shattered its team total score on March 7, increasing its program standard by over four points. Contributing to the new program standard were Academy team records on the floor exercise (58.650), still rings (59.350), vault (63.450) and high bar (55.900). In addition, their pommel horse score of 54.650 is the second-highest total in program history.
FALCONS TAKE FIRST
Four Falcons earned a share of a first-place finish in the dual meet against Illinois-Chicago on March 7. Nash Mills and Joel Uptmor tied for first on the vault with matching scores of 15.750, while Devin Menefee won his third still rings title in as many meets with a tally of 15.350 and Chase Nobles tied for first on the pommel horse with an Academy-record score of 14.700.
FALCONS TAKE SECOND AT HOME TRI-MEET
With nine gymnasts tallying at least one career-best mark, the Falcons posted its third-highest score ever (338.350) to finish second in a tri-meet with second-ranked Stanford (356.700) and No. 12 Illinois-Chicago (336.200) on March 5. Air Force's win over UIC marked the team's first win over a NCAA Division I program this season.
MENEFEE MOVES UP
Devin Menefee improved his score on the still rings by .400 to win the still rings title. Scoring a 15.250, Menefee recorded the ninth-best score in Academy history. He became just the third Air Force gymnast to crack the program's all-time top-10 list, joining former Falcons Greg Stine and Jake Schonig.
AN ALL-AROUND GOOD NIGHT
Against Stanford and Illinois-Chicago, Nash Mills won the all-around for the second time in as many meets with a score of 84.750. Highlighted by a third-place finish on the parallel bars (14.750), Mills finished within the top seven on four of six events.
WHAT'S AHEAD FOR THE FALCONS
The Falcons return to Arizona for a tri-meet with Arizona State and Washington at the Bear Down Gym in Tucson. The meet is slated to begin at 7 p.m. (PST). It will be the final meet of the regular season for the Falcons, who open the championship season at home on March 26-27 with the USAG Championships.
