Brockport Men's Gymnastics

The Brockport Men’s Gymnastics team began its 2012 season on Saturday as they traveled to Annapolis, MD  for the 2012 Navy Gymnastics Open.  The Golden Eagles faced off against: Navy, Temple, William & Mary, and Springfield College. Unfortunately the Golden Eagles did not compete its full team and would finish the meet in 5^th place. Both seniors Brian Gildemeyer , and Paul Ferraro were unavailable for the competition.

Team Captains Matt Power and Ron Ayello, both agree that the team had a positive start to the season, but need to continue to work on the details especially in a short week before heading to West Point next weekend.

The team leaned on their freshmen, and they delivered. David Albaranes scored team highs on 5 of 6 events as well as in the all-around, and Alec Chatterton was the team high score on Still Rings. Junior Ron Ayello returned to the lineup after missing the entire 2011 season, competing on both the Floor Exercise and Vault.

Brockport will be back in action next weekend when it travels to Army for the West Point Open. The two-day meet will begin on Friday at 7 p.m. with the team and all-around competition. The individual finals will take place at 7 p.m. on Saturday.

The Brockport Men’s Gymnastics team is off to an exciting pre- season this year. Due to the loss of three very important team members in Yusuke Nemoto, Kenneth Byrd, and Joe Baggetta , the Golden Eagles looked weak heading into this year. However the addition of two new freshman, David Albaranes of Massapequa, New York and Alec Chatterton of Clifton Park, New York, as well as the return of Junior captain Ron Ayello, makes it look as if things are on the upward swing for Brockport. Also returning this year are seniors Brian Gildemeyer, the current floor exercise and vaulting record holder, Paul Ferraro, a still rings and vaulting specialist, as well as Rocco Henderson, a vault and floor specialist. All three of these seniors are looking to add some significant difficulty to their routines to end their college careers on a high note. Juniors Ron Ayello, and Matthew Power have shown significant amounts of leadership in their first two seasons, earning the role of team captains. All the gymnasts have come into the gym ready to work and advancements have already been noted. Brockport Men’s Gymnastics is looking forward to another Record breaking Season. Make sure you come back often and show your support for the Brockport Men’s Club Gymnastics Team!

The webpage has had the following updates:

• All broken links have been fixed (schedule links to results, links from roster to bios, bio statistics)
• All team and individual records are up to date
• All current team members now have links to yearly statistics
• Schedule page now has up to date links for results, as well as added schedules / results from 2006 and 2008 seasons
• A contact page has been created
• Links page updated

Updates forthcoming:

• A media page with pictures / videos
• Recruiting page form error fix
• Contact page form addition
• Facilities page update
• Alumni page update
• Support page update

Please feel free to leave any comments or suggestions on how to make our web page better for all of our fans!

One week after posting a season high team score at Ohio State, The College at Brockport Men’s Gymnastics improves by 10.5 points scoring 283.8 at the New England Championships hosted by Springfield College. The Golden Eagles would finish in the top 3 at this invitational as a team for the first time in school history, falling behind Tim Daggets Gold Medal Gymnastics (327.60), and Springfield College (323.05) for a 3^rdplace finish.  Also competing in this meet were club participants from R&R, Andy Valley, In-Flight Gymnastics, Tri-Town, Guigeres, US Academy, Ellis School of Gymnastics, Old Colony, and from Boston University, MIT, the University of Southern Maine, and the University of Vermont. The final team standings were as follows: 1) Daggetts (327.60), 2) Springfield College (323.05), 3) Brockport (283.80), 4) Ellis (281.20), 5) Tri-Town (267.00), 6) R&R (265.30), and 7) Vermont (206.25).

                Seniors Kenneth Byrd and Yusuke Nemoto continue to show their leadership and experience with solid performances. Byrd had another career day as he set a new personal best in the all-around with a score of 74.4. Byrd led the team on both the Still Rings and the Vault with scores of 12.3 and 13.6 respectively.   Nemoto would have his 2^nd best career all-around score with a 72.1 and lead the Golden Eagles on Pommel Horse and Horizontal-Bar with scores of 12.3 and 12.0.

                Junior Brian Gildemeyer led the team on the Floor Exercise with a score of 13.6, which was good enough to finish in 5^th place and to set a new school record.  The record was formally held by current GM A.J. Banker, “I’m extremely happy for Brian, every time a record is broken it just shows the improvement and growth of this program. In two weeks 5 records have fallen, I hope to see this trend continue throughout the remainder of the season.”   Gildemeyer also made his seasonal debut on the Parallel-Bars, scoring a team leading 12.7. He is expected to return to the all-around for the March 11^th home competition versus Minnesota and Air Force.

*Brockport would not compete 2/25 at Springfield w/ Temple due to poor weather / unsafe travel conditions.

Brockports next competition is  March 11th at home against Minnesota and the U.S. Air Force Academy.

After opening the season with back to back dismal performances, The College at Brockport Men’s Gymnastics Team showed signs of life in a head to head matchup against The Ohio State University. Meeting for the first time, the Golden Eagles were no match for the eighth-ranked Buckeyes, losing 348.25 to 273.3. Despite the loss Brockport went on to set new school team records on Floor Exercise scoring 51.95, previously a 51.8 set against Army last year, and Still Rings scoring 48.75, demolishing the previous record of 45.55 set back in 2008. Not all records were good though, Brockport scored an abysmal 31.0 points on Pommel Horse, making it the teams all-time lowest score.

The team was lead by Senior Kenneth Byrd who broke his own school record on Rings (12.9) scoring a 13.2. Also with a score of 13.05 on Parallel-Bars, Byrd would just sneak past former Golden Eagle Karl Jaanimagi who previously held the record with a 13.0. Byrd didn’t stop there, he went on to tie the team vault record of 14.1, a score set by teammate Brian Gildemeyer back in 2009.

Team General Manager A.J. Banker was in attendance at the meet and was impressed with the turn around the team has made. “I’m very proud of these guys. After two rough outings to come and compete against one of the top teams in the country and get things back on track just shows the kind of character this team has. I am particularly proud of the development of our underclassmen and of our rookies: Rocco Henderson, Paul Ferraro, and Matt Power have all made great strides and I look forward to seeing them come the end of season.”           

Sophomore Matthew Power has become an important piece of the Golden Eagle line up as he continues to improve. Scoring a 12.6 on Floor Exercise he tied a career high and with a score of 12.3 he had a career day on Still Rings, which marks the 6^th time this season that he has set new personal bests.

The junior class had a strong showing led by Brian Gildemeyer who returned to action for the first time this season. Gildemeyer competed on Floor Exercise and Vault giving the Golden Eagles the depth and experience they lacked the previous to meets. The team hopes to have Gildemeyer return to All-Around form in time for their home competition against Minnesota and Air Force March 11^th. Joe Baggetta who transferred to Brockport in the fall from Hudson Valley Community College, had career highs on Floor Exercise, Parallel-Bars, and High-Bar.              

  Assistant Coach Ron Ayello wasn’t surprised by the team’s improvement “Every member on this team has the charisma and drive to improve. These two qualities are essential for any team. The route this team is on, is the route to success.”                

 Head Coach Shaun Johnson is looking for continued improvement. “We have finally hit the ground running, and must keep the momentum going as we head into the second half of the season. There is still a lot of room for growth on this team; we have by no means hit our potential. We still have a glaring need for improvement on both Pommel Horse and High-Bar. It’s up to each one of the young men on this team to step up and make the necessary changes.” The Golden Eagles head to Springfield for their next two competitions, The New England Championships 2/20 and a tri-meet against Springfield and Temple 2/25.

The 2011 season is officially underway as Brockport opened up with a meet at the United States Military Academy at West Point for the 20th Annual West Point Open.  Competing in the annual event was Army,Navy, Penn State, Temple, Springfield, M.I.T, and of course Brockport. After ending the 2010 season on such a high note, finishing 3rd at the USAG Collegiate National Championships with a team record score of 289.55, Brockport was looking to build on last years success.

The team went on to a team score of 263.6 points, .2 less then the team scored the previous year and well below last years team average of 280.067. The team has a lot of room for improvement though, Junior all-arounder  Brian Gildemeyer did not travel with the team due to school obligations, the team also did not have Senior Kenneth Byrd on all 6 events for disciplinary reasons, Byrd would compete on 4 events instead.  Not all was bad though, Senior Rocco Henderson competed for the Golden Eagles for the first time, and Junior transfer Joe Baggetta made his return to the competition floor for the first time in over two years. 

Brockport looks to rebound as they head to Annapolis,Maryland this weekend to compete in the Navy Open. Brockport will face off with familiar foes in: Navy, Temple, and Springfield College.

Brockport Men’s Gymnastics was dropped as a varsity sport in the early 1980′s. In 2004 Men’s Gymnastics returned to Brockport when Larry LaRussa and Karl Jaanimagi founded the Brockport Men’s Club Gymnastics Team! Brockport now enters their 7thseason with their eyes set on a USAG Collegiate National Championship. 

With the departure of former head coach A.J. Banker, former team captain Shaun Johnson steps in as interim head coach for the Golden Eagles.Pre-season practice starts tomorrow,  and with most of last years team returning(Shaun Johnson now the head coach, and Sophomore Ron Ayello lost for the season due to injury) and the additions of transfer Joe Baggetta and the surprise return of 2008 freshmen all-around standout Adam Marou(has not competed for the last two years, now a senior), Brockport is looking at another record setting season.  Make sure you come back often and show your support for the Brockport Men’s Club Gymnastics Team!

Head Coach A.J. Banker has stepped down to take a job at Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy, “I have had the honor over the past 6 years to build a highly competitive collegiate club program. This program means more to me then can be put into words.” A.J. will be working under Mary Lee Tracy, a 2008 USAG hall of fame inductee, “Its the opportunity of a life time, a chance to learn from one of the best coaches in the country.”

He will be replace by Golden Eagle Alumni Jeff Parker and Shaun Johnson. A.J. will still be working with the team by moving to a general manager position, where he will be in charge of scheduling, recruiting, and promoting the team.

During his competitive career at Brockport A.J. helped the team with 5 straight years of top 10 team finishes at the NAIGC National Championships including a 2nd place finish in 2007. He also earned 9 individual top 10 finishes and was the 2007 NAIGC National Floor Exercise Champion. He became the head coach in 2008, during his two year tenure he saw Brockport move to competing a full schedule against varsity programs and finish in 3rd place at the USAG Collegiate National Championships. He served two terms on the board of directors for the NAIGC, and is serving as the collegiate club representative for the USAG men’s college gymnastics committee for the second year. Coach Banker was recently been named the President of the Collegiate Club Gymnastics Association.

The tentative schedule for the 2011 season is up and it already looks promising, make sure you check it out!

Brockport will head to The Ohio State University for a meet against the Buckeyes who finished 6th at the NCAA National Championships.

Brockport will also play host to the U.S. Air Force Academy , as well as the University of Minnesota Gophers who finished the 2010 season ranked 8th in the country.

More to come as we finalize the schedule!

The website has been completely revamped and we hope you like it! The site will be under construction for the next couple of weeks so please stop by often to see whats new!