WEST POINT, N.Y. (Jan. 11, 2019)— The 13th-ranked William & Mary men's gymnastics team opened the 2019 season with a fourth-place finish at the West Point Open hosted by Army on Friday evening.

No. 8 Penn State claimed the team title with a 407.5 and was followed by No. 10 Navy (395.25), No. 15 Army (392.1), W&M (382.1), No. 16 Springfield (372.25) and No. 19 Temple (302.8).

In addition to the team competition, five Tribe gymnasts combined to earn six spots in Saturday's individual event finals, which will get underway at 7 p.m. Senior Jacopo Gliozzi led the way by qualifying in two events – pommel horse (13.35) and rings (14.1) – while senior David Watkins tied for the meet's top score on rings with a career-high 14.5. Freshman Andrew Lyubovsky (floor, 13.35), sophomore Collin Lillie (vault, 14.2) and junior Tomas Palma (parallel bars, 13.25) also advanced.
 
Freshman Kevin Portofee was the Tribe's lone all-arounder and placed 10th with a 71.15 in his collegiate debut.
 
Event Recaps
Floor, 64.45 – In addition to Lyubovsky's qualifying score of 13.35, Lillie (13.15) and Palma (13.1) were the Tribe's top performers in the event.
 
Pommel Horse, 61.9 – Gliozzi posted a team-best 13.35 to qualify for the event finals, while sophomore Spencer Schrandt (13.0) and freshman Christian Gulotta (12.35) rounded out the squad's top three.

Rings, 66.8 – W&M posted the meet's second-best score on rings, as Watkins (14.5) and Gliozzi (14.1) both qualified for event finals with career highs. In addition to tying for the meet's top mark in the event, Watkins' effort ranks tied for third in W&M's record book while Gliozzi's ranks tied for seventh.
 
Vault, 68.4 – Lillie advanced to tomorrow's finals by nearly matching his career high with a 14.2, while senior Jack Hasenkopf (13.85) and freshman Kevin Portofee (13.6) also came up big.
 
Parallel Bars, 62.55 – Palma led W&M with a qualifying score of 13.25, while senior David Allen (12.55) and junior Nate Winneg (12.3) were the Tribe's other top performers in the event.

High Bar, 58.55 – Allen led the Tribe on high bar with a 12.6.