A Closer Look

Feb. 25, 2001

In its first meet of the season at the Lloyd Noble Center, Oklahoma hosted Big 12 rival Nebraska, February 25. Even without several key players, the Sooners soared past the Huskers, 215.00 to 200.95.

Senior Gabe Hansen, out with a shoulder injury, watched from the sidelines as did freshman standout Jock Stevens. "I wanted to give some other athletes a chance to compete in front of the home crowd," coach Mark Williams said of the lineup alterations.

Redshirt freshman Quinn Rowell, who has had a string of series injuries since coming to OU a year ago, made his debut as a Sooner and "came through with flying colors," according to Williams. Freshman David Iammatteo and junior Jim Lovelady were also a part of the Sooners modified lineup.

OU started on floor and was a little shaky. The nervousness continued on pommel horse, where the Sooners continued to struggle slightly. "I think the guys were a little nervous, just being at Lloyd Noble for the first time this year," Williams said. "Being in a different environment and having a little different warm-up schedule may have affected us in the beginning."

The Sooners picked up the pace on rings, despite the absence of All-American David Johnston (sore bicep). A solid start by Rowell (8.4) and strong performances from Daniel Furney, Shannon Carrion and Brett Covey, all of whom scored above a 9.15, got OU back on track.

Freshmen Josh Landis (Kasamatsu) and Iammatteo (Kas 1/2) led the team on vault with 9.0 and 9.05, respectively. 2000 p-bars conference champ Everette Bierker topped the Sooner standings with a 9.0. Ryan Hillyer (junior), Landis and Furney also contributed strong routines to the Sooners parallel bars effort. OU currently leads the nation on both floor and parallel bars.

Oklahoma closed the evening with a spectacular high bar performance, topped by senior Steve Van Etten's meet-high 9.4 (two one-arm full twists, in-bar full to el-grip -- a .5 tenth bonus sequence). Van Etten was chased by Bierker (layout Jaeger) and Hillyer (layout Tkatchev, Tkatchev, Gienger) who earned matching 9.2s to tie for second.

Williams, a former Husker himself, was pleased with the win. "It's always nice when the student, me, beats the master (longtime Nebraska coach Francis Allen)," Williams said after the meet. "The rivalry between Oklahoma and Nebraska existed back when I was competing and will probably always be around. It was exciting when I was a competitor and it's exciting now that I'm a coach. There's always something about special about competing against this team."

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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