A Closer Look

March 10, 2001

On April 10, OU hosted their final home meet, and last regular season contest, in the Lloyd Noble Center in front of almost a 1,000 eager fans. The Sooners, who have been ranked number one for six consecutive weeks, were an unqualified success, topping Ohio State and Stanford by a wide margin and setting a new NCAA high for 2001 with a 217.3.

"This was one of the marker meets' that we had identified in the pre-season as a benchmark of our season's success," coach Mark Williams said. "On paper, Ohio State, which will host the NCAA Championships, may have the most talented team in the country. Today, I feel we've proven that Oklahoma is the better team, even if we don't have the same individual stars."

OU started dynamically on floor. Anchored by standouts Jock Stevens (9.3), Brendan O'Neil (9.5) and Steve Van Etten (9.1), the Sooners nabbed an early lead and never looked back.

On horse, Oklahoma continued to put their pommel problems behind them with a season-high 36.3 team total. Rings also set a new standard with a whopping 37.05 team total, backed by sophomore Brett Covey's career-high 9.75.

Vault continues to be a clean, if not spectacular, event for the Sooners. Traditionally the top vaulter, freshman Stevens botched his effort (Kas 1/2 to his back) for an 8.7, leaving Steve Van Etten to earn OU's top score, 9.1 (Kasamatsu).

On parallel bars, O'Neil, a 2000 All-American on this event, struggled throughout his set, earning a mere 7.85, but his teammates came through with strong performances, including solid sets from junior Everette Bierker (Stutz to one-bar, front 1-1/4, double pike dismount) and sophomore Daniel Furney (giant Diamadov to giant double back, double pike dismount).

OU closed the meet with a strong high bar effort from Bierker (9.1) and Van Etten (9.2), though anchor Ryan Hillyer (junior) was off and aborted his planned release series (layout Tkatchev, straddle Tkatchev, Gienger).

"Tonight's victory was a significant win for the Sooners," Williams said. "We came not only physically, but emotionally prepared, for a battle with the Buckeyes. We came out strong from the start and had a high hit percentage. We competed like a championship team. Our NCAA high score should give us confidence going into the post-season where I think we are still capable of scoring as much as a point higher. We still have not our best performance."

So, stay tuned. The best is yet to come for the Sooners.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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