ANNAPOLIS, MD - The 10th-ranked William and Mary men's gymnastics team captured the 2006 ECAC EIGL Men's Gymnastics Championships presented by the Holiday Inns of Greater Baltimore on Saturday afternoon, March 25.   The Tribe tallied a score of 206.13 at the eight-team event hosted by the United States Naval Academy.

William & Mary outscored the competition with a 206.125 to win the championship. Navy's 203.775 points placed the Midshipmen in second, followed by Temple's 203.175 points, Army's 200.0 points, UIC's 199.3 points, Springfield's 186.5 points, MIT's 184.5 points and James Madison's 181.95 points.

The title is the W&M's  third, all-time, at the event, but its first since 1994.

The second-place tally marked Navy's best finish in the conference championship since its second-place effort in 1997.

In an afternoon where every score was earned, it was a balanced team effort that carried the day for William and Mary, as six Tribe athletes turned in a total of 14 top eight finishes. The College easily outdistanced the hosting Naval Academy's second-place score of 203.78. Temple University finished third with a total of 203.18, while the United States Military Academy rounded out the top four with a score of 200.00.

Sophomore Tribe Aaron Ingram (Paxton, MA) earned All-ECAC designation by placing fourth in the all-around with a season-high six-event total of 50.03. With the top eight scores in each event advancing to tomorrows Individual Championship, Ingram qualified in three events (parallel bars, 5th-place, 8.35; pommel horse, 6th-place, 8.40; and rings, 8th-place, 8.725).

Going along with Ingram's heroics was a spectacular performance by returning two-time All-American Ramon Jackson (Orlando, FL). Jackson qualified for tomorrows individual finals in all five events he competed in on the afternoon. He posted the meet's top score on his specialty event, the parallel bars, with a 9.10 and was the second-highest qualifier on the rings with a mark of 9.30. He rounded off his afternoon with a third-place showing on the vault (9.15) and a pair of fifth-place finishes on the floor exercise (8.80) and high bar (8.950).

Despite Jackson and Ingram's standout efforts, the Tribe's highlight of the afternoon could possibly have come in the high bar, where sophomore Andrew Hunt (Upper Black Eddy, PA) turned a huge career best mark of 9.300 to pace the field on the high bar. His performance was .3 hundredths of a point higher than his previous best (9.0, set just two weeks prior).

Navy sophomore  Christopher Tam (Draper, Utah) placed second in the all-around with a score of 50.45 to lead Navy.  Tam, the 15th-ranked all-around gymnast in the country, owned a score of 8.2 or higher in five of the six disciplines and qualified for the event finals tomorrow on the high bar. One week after registering a career-best mark of 9.3 on the high bar, the sophomore earned a 9.2 from the judges to finish second among all competitors. Tam also placed 10th on the parallel bars with an 8.2.

Meet Awards
Coach of the Year - Noah Riskin, MIT
Assistant Coach of the Year - Pete Walker, William & Mary
IGC Co-Rookie of the Year  - John Vogtman, Temple
IGC Co-Rookie of the Year - Joseph Atzenbeck, Navy
Holiday Inns of Greater Baltimore Senior Athlete of the Year  - Ramon Jackson, William & Mary
IGC Co-Most Improved Athlete of the Year - Luis Perez, MIT
IGC Co-Most Improved Athlete of the Year - Ian Anderson, Vermont