Coach Mark Williams' Weekly Letter

Welcome to the 2001 Sooner season! We've made some exciting additions over the summer, acquiring assistant coach Yuan Xiao, formerly a part of the Chinese national coaching staff. (The Chinese men are the current world and Olympic champions.) More recently Xiao comes to Oklahoma from Houston, Texas where he worked with 2000 U.S. Olympic team member Sean Townsend and current junior national champ Todd Thornton.

I'm excited to have Xiao in Norman because he brings coaching insights and techniques from the best gymnastics program in the world, making him a huge asset to our Oklahoma squad. He definitely knows what it takes to coach a championship team.

Also new to the coaching staff is Guard Young, a current U.S. national team member. Young, who was 10th at the 2000 U.S. Olympic trials, trained with me for most of his junior career, the high point of which was a 1996 junior national title.

As an athlete Guard has a tremendous work ethic, setting a high standard each and every day in the gym. In addition to his coaching duties, Guard continues to train for international competitions (like the November USA-China-Romania tri-meet).

Also helping out this season is 2000 co-captain Huy Ly. Huy is working as a manager this season while finishing his undergraduate degree and applying to medical school. Though functioning mostly in an administrative capacity, Huy has been major asset to the Sooner staff. Having worked with Ly for the past nine years (four years of college and five years in the junior program), I'm thrilled to have him around for one more season.

I'm proud of these new additions to my leadership team, which I feel is now one of the best in the NCAA.

With such a stealer staff, our expectations are high for the 2001 Sooner season. I feel that, on paper at least, we have a better team than last year's group, which finished fourth in the nation. Sweeping changes in scoring - including a five tenth lowering of the base score, the devaluing of many popular skills and new structuring of so-called "bonus" scores - will make a major impact on what you see this year when watching us compete.

To help you put these new rules into perspective, expect scores as much as a full point lower than what you were used to seeing last season. A performance that earned a 9.8 or 9.7 last year, will probably score in the high eight's under these new rules. But remember, even if the marks seem low, all of the other programs are also working with the same rules. (In a change from past years, the NCAA program has adopted the same set of rules and scoring procedures used at the Olympic level of the sport.)

These rule adjustments will dramatically alter individual event and team scores this season, making it harder to project how OU will stack up against the collegiate competition. It is, however, my expectation that the team will be once again be amongst the top squads and in contention for a national title.

This season, much of the responsibility of team leadership will fall on the shoulders of two-time All American and team captain Brendan O'Neil (senior). Brendan brings a remarkable amount of energy, enthusiasm and Sooner pride to the squad. He's an excellent motivator and I'm glad to have him on board.

Also key to this season's success will be the addition of former junior national team members Jock Stevens and Heath Mueller. I worked with both Stevens and Mueller throughout their junior careers and am expecting them to step up and contribute immediately to our team. Already signed, and expected to join the team for the second semester, is current junior national team member John Goodwin.

Returning All-Americans Steve Van Etten (floor, high bar), Josh Landis (pommel horse) and David Johnston (rings) should also contribute. Rounding out the core competitors for this year's team are Daniel Furney, 2000 Mountain Pacific pommel horse champ, Everette Bierker, MPSF p-bars champion and senior all-arounder Gabe Hansen.

The way I see it, the potential of this year's team is virtually unlimited. We have a tremendous amount of depth and, with the strong work ethic I've been seeing in the gym, as well as a fierce determination to return to the NCAA finals, I'm excited about our 2001 prospects.

A note to our fans and supporters: Please watch for the kick off of our annual Adopt-a-Sooner program later this month. Your contributions can help make our 2001 season the best ever! And don't forget, all the money you donate goes straight to men's gymnastics, helping our team purchase needed supplies, funding team activities and helping offset the cost of extra competition, including the USA Championships and Winter Cup.

Also, be sure to check out our website - www.soonersports.com -- each week during the season for meet reports (including live online coverage of this year's home meets), weekly update letters from me and our popular "Sooner Standout" feature, saluting the week's top gymnast. You can also sign up for electronic newsletters, which will bring all the Sooner Gymnastics news straight to your e-mailbox!

Yours Gymnastically,
Mark Williams

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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