UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (April 20, 2013) – A trio of William and Mary men's gymnasts posted impressive performances during the second day of competition at the NCAA Championships hosted by Penn State, as junior Landon Funiciello and freshman Neal Courter advanced to Sunday's individual event finals while junior Daniel Potemski placed 11th in the all-around finals.
Funiciello advanced to tomorrow's finals on rings after tying for fourth with a 15.45. The Baldwinsville, N.Y., native will be vying for his second All-America honor in the event, as he placed sixth as a freshman in 2011.
Courter qualified for the individual event finals on vault after tying for fifth with a 15.05. The Baton Rouge, La., native will look to become just the second freshman in school history to earn NCAA All-America accolades.
Competing in the all-around finals, Potemski narrowly missed out on earning All-America honors by placing 11th with an 82.2.
Sunday's individual event finals, which will begin at 2 p.m., will consist of the top 10 performers from Saturday's competition. The top eight scorers in each event on Sunday will garner NCAA All-America distinction.
Should Funiciello and Courter both earn All-America accolades, it would mark the first time in school history that the program has produced two NCAA All-Americans in the same season. Former W&M NCAA All-America honorees include: Tom Serna (vault, 1982), Sebronzik Wright (vault, 1995), Scott McCall (rings, 1996 – National Champion), Ramon Jackson (parallel bars, 2004 – National Champion, 2005; vault, 2006), and Funiciello (rings, 2011).