2023 Conference Championships Recap

Stanford Dominates MPSF, Michigan Tops Competitive Field, Navy Holds Reign Over ECAC

The story of this year’s conference championships is the freshman class. In the MPSF Asher Hong took the crown and in the B1G Fred Richard secured the victory in the All-Around. Both did so in leading their respective teams, Stanford and Michigan, to conference titles. Navy easily defended their conference title utilizing their typical strategy of having many 3 event athletes while being led by conference All-Around winner, Isaiah Drake.       

Big Ten Championships (Columbus, OH)

In Columbus, the Big Ten title came down to the end. Michigan (412.4) prevailed to win their third straight team title while scoring a season high. Right behind the Wolverines was Penn State (410.7), followed by Nebraska (410.5), and Illinois (409.4). Host, Ohio State pulled off a (405.5) to round out the conference. As mentioned above, Michigan’s Fred Richard topped the podium in the All-Around competition with a massive (85.95). 

In event finals action, the Illini were the team to beat. Senior captain, Connor McCool (14.7) claimed gold on floor, National Team member, Ian Skirkey won pommel horse (14.8), and 2022 B1G rings champion, Ashton Anaya (14.475) earned his second B1G title on the event. Nebraska star and National Team member, Taylor Christopulos (14.9) took the top spot on vault, and Penn State’s National Team member, Josh Karnes (14.35) won parallel bars. The star of the weekend and this year’s Big Ten gymnast of the year, Fred Richard ended the competition in style with a 14.75 on high bar to win his second individual B1G title of his nascent NCAA career.

ECAC Championships (Annapolis, MD)

Navy (394.45) walked away with the ECAC title in 2023. With two additions to the conference this year, there was a palpable increase in energy as Greenville and Simpson made their conference championships debuts. Springfield (386.65) defended their second place finish, beating out strong conference foes, William & Mary (383.55) and Army (377.65). Greenville (376.25) and Simpson (346.65) held their own to round out the conference. 

In the All-Around contest, Navy’s Isaiah Drake (80.35) took top honors followed by Springfield’s Domonic Ramalho (77.25), and Sam Kaplan (76.45). Navy’s hold on the ECAC conference is palpable as they won 4 of 6 individual event titles. Drake continued to dominate with wins on floor (14.35), and parallel bars (13.8), Ronan McQuillan won on pommel horse (14.45), and Giovanni Gambatese took the crown on high bar (13.4). William & Mary’s Christian Marsh has been a top performer on rings (13.7) all season and was victorious on the event at this conference championship. Greenville won its first ever conference title as freshman, Ricky Mays won vault (14.4).

MPSF Championships (Colorado Springs, CO)

Stanford came into the MPSF championships as reigning NCAA champions, but were down their star, Brody Malone. The Cardinal still managed to pull off a season high score to convincingly win out over conference foes, Oklahoma (409.5), Air Force (397.25), and California (388.6). 

Asher Hong, the Stanford freshman phenom earned the top spot in the All-Around with a (83.7). In individual event competition Staford had a slew of champions. Khoi Young (14.7) on pommel horse, Mark Berlaga on rings (14.6), Taylor Burkhardt on vault (14.8), and Asher Hong on parallel bars (14.8). All of these Stanford athletes are underclassmen, which bodes well for the long term success of the Cardinal program. Oklahoma’s Emre Dodanli (14.4) took the crown on floor with a clean routine and Air Force’s Garrett Braunton won out on the high bar (14.45).