Sophomore Alex Catchpole (photo by Frank Novak)

Posted: Apr 10, 2024

Storm sending five gymnasts to national championships

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Five members of the Simpson College men's gymnastics team have been announced as official qualifiers for the 2024 National Collegiate Men's Gymnastics Championships.

Michelangelo Villani is set to represent the Storm as an all-around individual for the second year in a row. Milo Staley will join Villani in the all-around field, making his first appearance at nationals after being named an alternate in 2023.

Along with Villani and Staley, Alex Catchpole will make his return to the NCAA Championships next weekend. He qualified on parallel bars as a freshman and will compete on both parallel bars and pommel horse this season. Rounding out Simpson's national qualifier list are freshmen Brian Rollison (rings) and Jake Smith (high bar). Connor Jenkins is the second alternate for high bar.

2024 National Qualifiers (*National Qualifying Average)
Milo Staley, all-around (71.563)
Michelangelo Villani, all-around (71.500)
Alex Catchpole, pommel horse (12.450)
Brian Rollison, still rings (13.100)
Alex Catchpole, parallel bars (13.138)
Jake Smith, high bar (12.213)

The championships will begin with two pre-qualifying sessions conducted April 19 at The Covelli Center on the campus of The Ohio State University. Three teams and the top three all-around competitors not on one of the qualifying teams, plus the top three individuals on each event not already qualified on a team or as an all-around competitor, will advance from each pre-qualifying session to the finals session. Finals competition will take place April 20, with the top eight competitors achieving All-America status.

To view the complete list of national qualifying teams and individuals, click HERE.

*National Qualifying Averages includes an individual's four highest scores from the season, with the highest of these four scores being replaced with the conference championship meet score. At least one score must be a five-up, five count score and no more than two scores from a home meet may be counted.