Villani earns USAG All-America honors
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – With a career-high all-around score of 74.800, Michelangelo Villani earned USAG All-America honors to lead the Simpson College men's gymnastics team on day one of the USA Gymnastics Championships.
Simpson wrapped up the first day with its second-highest team score of the year, placing fifth with a 360.500. Navy earned the team title with a score of 396.800, Air Force placed second with a 395.500 and Springfield took third with a 387.350. William and Mary claimed fourth with a 382.200.
"I'm very proud of the team today," said head coach Colin Payne. "We had a tough travel day yesterday and a bare-bones lineup. These guys handled the pressure and put together one of the best performances of the season. There are still some mistakes to fix, but we are on an upward trajectory moving into ECAC Championships next weekend."
Villani finished top-6 in the all-around competition to garner the program's first USAG All-America honor. He recorded a season-best score of 74.800, setting career-highs on floor (12.800), parallel bars (12.100) and high bar (12.350) in the process.
Sterling Pariza (13.500) and Kyle Kincade (13.350) both set career-highs on floor and will advance to Saturday's individual event finals beginning at 1 p.m. ET. The top eight scorers on each event today, with a maximum of two athletes per program, secured a berth to tomorrow's finals where they will compete for All-American recognition by placing sixth or higher.
Villani and Alex Catchpole led the Storm in the five remaining events and will serve as alternates for the finals should any of the top-8 gymnasts scratch. Villani paced Simpson on rings (12.150), vault (13.900) and high bar (12.350), while Catchpole registered team-highs on pommel horse (12.100) and parallel bars (12.100).
Simpson set a new program record on high bar (57.900) and recorded its highest score of the day on vault (67.200).
Up Next
Simpson closes out its time in Springfield tomorrow afternoon as the individual event finals commence at 1 p.m. ET.
Meet Report
Floor Exercise - 62.800
Sterling Pariza - 13.500
Kyle Kincade - 13.350
Michelangelo Villani - 12.800
Camden Bontempo - 11.650
Milo Staley - 11.500
Pommel Horse - 54.950
Alex Catchpole - 12.100
Sterling Pariza - 11.750
Michelangelo Villani - 11.400
Milo Staley - 10.750
Ethan Sipos - 8.950
Still Rings - 57.050
Michelangelo Villani - 10.800
Kyle Kincade - 12.500
Sterling Pariza - 11.600
Alex Catchpole - 11.600
Milo Staley - 11.250
Connor Jenkins - 9.650
Vault - 67.200
Michelangelo Villani - 13.900
Camden Bontempo - 13.700
Sterling Pariza - 13.650
Kyle Kincade - 13.050
Milo Staley - 12.900
Parallel Bars - 60.600
Alex Catchpole - 12.950
Sterling Pariza - 12.450
Michelangelo Villani - 12.200
Milo Staley - 11.950
Ethan Sipos - 11.900
Kyle Kincade - 11.350
High Bar - 57.900
Michelangelo Villani - 12.350
Camden Bontempo - 11.750
Sterling Pariza - 11.650
Connor Jenkins - 11.600
Ethan Sipos - 11.150
Milo Staley - 11.050
All-Around
Michelangelo Villani - 74.800
Sterling Pariza - 74.600
Milo Staley - 69.400
