Two Sooner Men's Gymnasts to Compete at 2001 GymJam Qualifier

June 26, 2001

NORMAN, Okla. - Two University of Oklahoma men's gymnasts - assistant coach Guard Young and sophomore Jock Stevens - will compete as all-arounders in the 2001 GymJam Qualifier this Saturday, June 30, at the University of California-Santa Barbara. The top 36 gymnasts from the qualifier will advance to the U.S. National Gymnastics Championships held in Philadelphia from August 8-10. The GymJam qualifier is the first step towards selecting the U.S. squad for the 2001 World Championships, which will be held in Belgium in September.

As a member of the U.S. National Team, Young automatically qualifies for the U.S. Championships. He finished 10th at last year's Olympic Trials and has already participated in two international competitions this season. Stevens, one of OU's top returning gymnasts, finished eighth at last year's qualifier to advance to the U.S. Championships.

"Being the first championship of the new quadrenium and FIG code, expect to see some changes, not only in how the team is selected but also by how the gymnastics is done," said OU Head Coach Mark Williams. "We've had the advantage of competing during the NCAA season with the new rules and I expect that to help Jock as well as Guard. Guard has also competed in the Pontiac International Team Championships held in Hawaii and Syracuse, N.Y., and those should serve as good warm-up competitions."

Said Young, "I've already automatically qualified for the U.S. Championships but gymnastics is a subjective sport. Judges look at you and scrutinize your routine and I've added some new skills on high bar and parallel bars to make my routine look more in depth. This is a good tune-up. It's important to get out in front of the judges and compete to calm your nerves before a bigger competition."

A third OU gymnast - Daniel Furney - who qualified for last year's U.S. Championships, is unable to compete due to injury.

"We're disappointed that Daniel will not be able to compete due to an injured shoulder," stated Williams. "He suffered a torn bicep during strength workouts. He's already had the muscle repaired through surgery and I hope and expect to have him back at full strength by the NCAA regular season."

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Two Sooner Men's Gymnasts to Compete at 2001 GymJam Qualifier

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