Four months after becoming the highest-ever Navy finisher in the NCAA all-around, Brian Solomon is back on the national stage — and he’s advancing.
The Midshipmen senior finished 17th out of a deep field Thursday night at the 2026 U.S. Gymnastics Championships in Phoenix, punching his ticket to Saturday’s finals. It’s the sport’s biggest annual stage, drawing gymnasts from every level — youth, club, collegiate and Olympic — and this year’s men’s field includes 2024 Olympic bronze medalists Frederick Richard and Stephen Nedoroscik. The stakes are real: the all-around champion earns the first spot on the five-man U.S. team headed to October’s World Championships in Rotterdam.
Solomon opened his six-event rotation with a 13.2 on vault, then turned in his best score of the night on parallel bars — a clean 9.0 execution mark on a 4.3-level routine that added up to 13.3. He followed with 12.3 on high bar and 12.6 on floor exercise, then posted his highest individual placement of the night on pommel horse, ranking 19th out of 44 competitors with a 12.5. His only rough patch came on his final event, the rings, where a few arm bends threw off his dismount and cost him — he closed with an 11.9, his lowest score of the competition. He totaled 75.8 points across all six events, landing him 17th overall, sandwiched between EVO Gym’s Michael Jaroh (16th, 75.95) and Stanford’s Xander Hong (18th, 75.20).
“I’m very pleased with how he performed,” assistant coach Ryan Terrill, who traveled with Solomon to Phoenix, said afterward. “This was a huge stage for Brian and he did a good job of shaking off the nerves and getting into the groove of the competition. He carried himself well throughout the meet, event after event.” Terrill added that the team’s focus now shifts to Saturday: “We’re glad that Brian advanced to the second day of competition and look to improve on little details and go six-for-six on his routines.”
Solomon comes into this meet fresh off a breakout spring. At April’s NCAA Championship, he became the first Navy gymnast ever to crack the top five in the all-around, finishing fifth to earn All-American honors — a program first, topping the previous Navy best of eighth, set twice by Isaiah Drake.
