OU Gymnastics Second At Rocky Mountain Open

Jan. 25, 2003

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The defending national champion Oklahoma men's gymnastics team (214.475) suffered its first defeat of the 2003 season at the hands of the United States Olympic Training Center (221.050) Friday night in the Rocky Mountain Open in Colorado Springs, Colo. OU defeated No. 9 Nebraska (206.550), No. 17 Air Force (196.375), Arizona State (188.500) and Washington (170.900) to extend its steak to 21 consecutive wins against collegiate teams. Oklahoma's record improves to 5-0 on the season, with the loss to USOTC not counting against their NCAA record.

"We had events that we were improved on from last weekend," said OU Head Coach Mark Williams. "Our overall hit percentage was down but we were able to get to the same team score as last weekend. It was a good sign to see us improve by nearly four points on pommel horse. USOTC set a great standard tonight, which I think we are capable of meeting. We need to work on our consistency but it is early and we have time to improve."

The individual event finals begin Saturday at 1 p.m. (MST) and nine Sooners will compete on various events.

Oklahoma began the evening on still rings and vault scoring a 35.850 and 36.150, respectively. For the second consecutive meet senior Brett Covey posted the highest score on still rings with a 9.500. Sophomore David Henderson landed a 9.150 on vault, while senior Daniel Furney notched a 9.050 on rings.

Senior Shannon Carrion led OU on parallel bars and high bar with scores of 9.175 and 9.150, respectively. Oklahoma posted combined team scores of 34.775 and 36.200 on the events to pull into sole possession of second place after four events.

Senior co-captain Josh Landis topped the Sooner results on floor with a 9.150, while the team collected a 35.350. Landis went out in fashion with a team-high 9.600 on pommel horse, which was the Sooners final event. Furney recorded recorded a 9.250 on the horse.

"As a team this is always a learning meet, we never expect a whole lot," said Landis. We definitely learned a lot. Now we can go back and start putting stuff together for the rest of the season."

Freshman Curtis O'Rorke began his collegiate career by competing in the all-around (51.200) and collecting a personal-high of 9.050 on vault.

"Curtis did a good job in his first meet," said Williams. "I saw some good things and stuff that we can build on."

OU travels to Nebraska Feb. 1, for a 7 p.m. meet inside the Devaney Center. OU opens the home schedule with a coed dual meet against Iowa Feb.1, at 7 p.m. inside the Lloyd Noble Center. Admission is $5 for adults and $2 for children. For more information on tickets, call 1-800-456-GoOU.

Individual Event Final Qualifiers
Floor Exercise Josh Landis Daniel Furney Curtis O'Rorke
Pommel Horse Josh Landis Daniel Furney Curtis O'Rorke
Still Rings Brett Covey Daniel Furney Jamie Henderson
Vault David Henderson Curtis O'Rorke Michael Gehart
Parallel Bars Daniel Furney Shannon Carrion David Henderson
High Bar Jamie Henderson Shannon Carrion Josh Gore

University of Oklahoma Athletics

OU Gymnastics Second At Rocky Mountain Open

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