Navy’s Brian Solomon Advances to U.S. Championships Final After Strong Opening NightNavy
By Brian Hradsky | Maryland Sports Blog
Navy men’s gymnastics standout Brian Solomon continued to prove that he belongs among the best gymnasts in the country during the opening night of the 2026 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships.
Solomon finished 17th in the senior men’s all-around standings with a score of 75.800 Thursday night in Phoenix, earning a spot in the second day of competition against a field featuring elite collegiate and Olympic-level gymnasts.
The rising Navy senior competed across all six events at the Mortgage Matchup Center and remained remarkably consistent throughout most of the evening. His performance continued a breakout 2026 campaign that already included NCAA All-American recognition and a strong showing at the Winter Cup.
For a Midshipmen program that continues to increase its presence on the national stage, Solomon’s qualification for the U.S. Championships final represented another significant achievement.
Solomon Finishes 17th in Loaded Field
The U.S. Championships bring together many of the best American gymnasts from collegiate, club and elite programs, making Solomon’s top-20 all-around performance especially impressive.
Solomon posted a six-event total of 75.800, placing him 17th overall after the first day. He finished just 0.150 points behind EVO Gym’s Michael Jaroh, who sat 16th at 75.950, and 0.600 ahead of Stanford’s Xander Hong, who finished the night 18th at 75.200.
Michigan’s Fred Richard led the all-around competition after Day One with a 79.155.
The quality of the field provided Solomon with another opportunity to test himself well beyond the college gymnastics schedule.
USA Gymnastics listed competitors from programs including Michigan, Stanford, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Nebraska and multiple elite gymnastics clubs alongside Solomon and Navy.
Parallel Bars Highlight Solomon’s Night
Solomon opened his competition on vault and immediately established a solid foundation with a 13.200.
He followed that with arguably his strongest routine of the evening on parallel bars.
Solomon earned a 9.000 execution score on a routine carrying a 4.3 difficulty value, producing a total score of 13.300. That was his highest event score of the competition.
He then scored 12.300 on high bar and 12.600 on floor exercise.
His pommel horse routine produced another strong result. Solomon scored 12.500, which placed him 19th among the 44 competitors on the apparatus — his best individual placement of the evening.
Those performances put Solomon in position to comfortably remain inside the qualifying group entering his final event.
Rings Provide Only Major Setback
Solomon’s lone significant mistake came late in the competition on still rings.
After more than two hours of competition, Solomon encountered some arm bends during the routine and had difficulty on his dismount. He finished with an 11.900.
Even with the mistake, his earlier consistency was enough to keep him in 17th place.
Navy assistant coach Ryan Terrill praised Solomon’s ability to handle the stage and recover from the understandable nerves of competing against one of the strongest fields in American gymnastics. Terrill said the emphasis entering the final would be cleaning up the smaller details and putting together six complete routines.
That is an encouraging sign for Solomon.
His 75.800 was achieved despite leaving some points available on rings, meaning he had a legitimate opportunity to improve his combined position during the championship final.
Another Major Step in Solomon’s Breakout Season
Solomon’s performance in Phoenix was not an isolated result.
The Lynnfield, Massachusetts native has steadily developed into one of Navy’s premier all-around competitors.
He entered the U.S. Championships already carrying an impressive list of collegiate accomplishments. Solomon participated in the NCAA Championship all-around final in 2025, earned All-USAG honors in both the all-around and floor exercise and received All-ECAC recognition.
His progression accelerated even further in 2026.
At the NCAA Championship qualifying meet in April, Solomon produced the highest all-around score of either qualifying session, totaling 77.697 points and earning a place in the national championship final.
One night later, Solomon finished fifth in the NCAA all-around final, earning All-American honors. Navy lists him as the fourth gymnast coached by Kip Simons to achieve NCAA All-American status.
That performance placed Solomon among the elite competitors in NCAA men’s gymnastics.
Winter Cup Provided Valuable Experience
The U.S. Championships also marked Solomon’s second major USA Gymnastics elite competition of the year.
He competed at the Winter Cup in Louisville in February and, coincidentally, also finished 17th in the all-around there.
His best Winter Cup result came on floor exercise, where he scored 13.500 and finished ninth overall in the event and seventh among collegiate competitors.
That earlier experience likely helped prepare Solomon for the environment in Phoenix.
College gymnastics is demanding enough, but national-level events put athletes alongside competitors training specifically for elite and international competition.
Solomon has now demonstrated that he can remain competitive in both settings.
Navy Gymnastics Continues Making National Progress
Solomon’s success is also another positive sign for the Navy gymnastics program.
The Midshipmen have dramatically expanded their national presence under head coach Kip Simons.
Navy qualified as a team for the NCAA Championships for a 10th consecutive time in 2026. Before Simons took over the program in the fall of 2015, Navy had made just one NCAA team appearance.
The program has also produced multiple individual All-Americans in recent seasons.
Solomon joined Syam Buradagunta and Isaiah Drake among the Midshipmen who have earned NCAA All-America recognition during the current era of Navy gymnastics.
That progression has helped Navy become much more than simply a strong service-academy program.
The Midshipmen increasingly have athletes competing with the best collegiate gymnasts in the country, and Solomon’s appearance at the U.S. Championships pushes that visibility beyond the NCAA level.
Family Has Olympic Connection
Solomon also comes from an accomplished athletic family.
USA Gymnastics lists his mother as Nancy Kerrigan Solomon, the former Olympic figure skater who won bronze at the 1992 Winter Olympics and silver at the 1994 Winter Olympics.
His father, Jerry Solomon, has worked in sports management, while his brother played collegiate golf.
Brian Solomon began gymnastics in 2008 and lists pommel horse as his favorite event — fitting considering that pommel horse produced his best placement on the first night in Phoenix.
Solomon Returned for Saturday’s Final
Solomon’s 17th-place finish qualified him to return Saturday evening for the second day of senior men’s competition.
Because the championship has now concluded, we can also update the original Navy report with the final result.
Solomon scored 73.800 on the second day, giving him a 149.600 combined two-day all-around total. He ultimately finished 19th overall in the final standings.
His Day Two scores were:
Floor exercise: 11.300
Pommel horse: 11.650
Still rings: 11.800
Vault: 13.350
Parallel bars: 13.250
High bar: 12.450
Combined with Thursday’s 75.800, Solomon finished another high-level national competition with valuable experience against the top tier of American men’s gymnastics.
MSB Take
Brian Solomon’s 17th-place performance on the opening night deserves attention beyond Navy gymnastics circles.
This was not simply another collegiate meet.
Solomon competed against some of the strongest gymnasts in the United States and earned his way into the championship final.
More importantly, this performance fits into a clear trend.
He finished 17th at the Winter Cup, became an NCAA All-American with a fifth-place all-around finish in April and then returned months later to finish inside the top 20 at the U.S. Championships.
For Navy, having an athlete consistently competing at this level is a major accomplishment.
Solomon will return to Annapolis as a rising senior with experience few collegiate gymnasts possess. He has competed in NCAA finals, national USA Gymnastics events and against athletes pursuing spots at the highest levels of the sport.
The next challenge will be turning those experiences into an even stronger senior season.
Considering how far Solomon has already progressed, he figures to enter 2027 as one of the most important athletes on Navy’s roster and one of the top all-around gymnasts to watch nationally.
Day One: 17th — 75.800
Day Two: 73.800
Final two-day total: 149.600
Final standing: 19th overall
For Navy gymnastics, Solomon’s run in Phoenix was another sign that the Midshipmen continue to make their presence felt on the national stage.
