Sooner Gymnasts Streak North

Feb. 26, 2003

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Sooners Streak North
The No. 3 Oklahoma men's gymnastics team travels to face No. 11 Minnesota, Saturday, March 1 for a 7 p.m., dual meet inside the Sports Pavilion. The Sooners enter the meet riding a number of streaks, including the nation's longest winning streak against collegiate opponents, which currently stands at 24. OU is perfect on the season at 8-0, with a 3-0 record against Mountain Pacific Sports Federation opponents, while the Golden Gophers are 2-6 overall and 1-5 in the Big 10.

"It is another opportunity for a solid road score," said OU Head Coach Mark Williams. "We've crept up on Penn State and Ohio Sate in the rankings by improving our home score. I would like to see us score at least 218."

OU's senior class has been impressive all season, but it was truly special last weekend against Nebraska. Shannon Carrion recorded an OU school record, career-high or season-high on all four of his events. His score of 9.500 tied his own school record on high bar. Josh Landis obliterated his own school record with a world class 9.675 on the pommel horse. Daniel Furney, who rested on three events, picked up a first, second and third-place finish, with a high of 9.550 on vault. Brett Covey impressed again by scoring a 9.800 and claiming his fifth first-place finish on the still rings this season.

The Golden Gophers are led by two-time Big 12 Gymnast of the Week Guillermo Alvarez, who won the floor exercise at the Winter Cup. Alvarez has been selected to compete with the US National Team, thanks to his fourth place finish in the all-around at the Winter Cup.

"Minnesota is tremendous on floor and pommel horse," said Williams. "I expect them to really challenge us in those first two rotations. Hopefully, that will motivate our guys to concentrate and start off strong. This is also the first time I can remember an OU team ever traveling to Minnesota, so we are excited to begin a new rivalry with the Gophers."

OU returns home for Senior Night March 7, at 7 p.m. inside the Lloyd Noble Center. The meet will feature tributes to the departing senior class and a showdown with No. 1 Ohio State and No. 8 Stanford. Ohio State and Oklahoma have won the last two national championships. Admission to the meet is $5 for adults and $2 for children. For more information on tickets, call (800) 456-GoOU.

For more information on OU men's gymnastics, visit www.soonersports.com.

Weekly Notes
- OU defeated Minnesota at home three times last season, once during the regular season and twice during the NCAA's.

- OU set a school record with a team score of 36.025 on the parallel bars against Nebraska. It had previously broken the record at the Rocky Mountain Open, when it set the standard at 35.950. OU also broke the school record on vault with a score of 37.400 at Nebraska, Feb. 1.

- Ohio State jumped into the NCAA's top spot with an average of 218.687, dropping Penn State to No. 2 for the first time during the regular season. OU remains at No. 3 with an average of 218.062. What's ironic about the current rankings is that Penn State defeated Ohio State in State College, Pa., last weekend. Penn State scored a season-high 220.000 to defeat OSU, which scored 216.875. The rankings for the NCAA Championships are based on an average of highest home score, road score and conference championship score.

- While the Sooners are ranked behind Ohio State and Penn State in the NCAA polls, the individual rankings show the disparity is slim. OU and Ohio State each have 24 individuals ranked in the top 25 on individual events (including all-around), while Penn State has 21.

- OU has improved its team score in every meet this season.

- OU defeated every opponent remaining on its 2003 schedule during the 2002 regular season.

Sooner Notes
Shannon Carrion - Carrion had arguably the best performance of his career on Friday, recording a school record, two career-highs and four season-high scores.

Brett Covey - Has been in the No. 1 spot on rings all season and upped his average last weekend to 9.825. The next closest competitor is at 9.712.

Daniel Furney - Despite sitting out three events, Furney managed to pick up first, second and third place finishes against the Huskers.

Michael Gehart - Currently ranked No. 12 on vault with a 9.375 average.

Josh Gore - Competed for the second time this season on floor and took first against Nebraska.

David Henderson - Ranked in top 25 on three events, most notably at No. 14 on still rings.

Jamie Henderson - Freshman in top 25 on still rings (12) and high bar (19).

Josh Landis - Senior has three first place finishes this season and nine top three event finishes.

Heath Mueller - Currently ranked No. 12 in the all-around.

James Myers - Freshman has not competed since the Rocky Mountain Open.

Curtis O'Rorke - Took third on parallel bars with 8.800 against Nebraska.

Quinn Rowell - Competed on parallel bars for the first time this season and finished second against NU.

Jock Stevens - Has not competed since Rocky Mountain Open team finals.

Brian Trause - Has put off surgery to repair his torn ACL and will compete on parallel bars this season.

Coach's Points
Coach Williams on senior Josh Landis - "Josh is willing to do whatever is best for the team. We are trying to work him back into the rotation on vault. He hit an outstanding parallel bars routine in practice Tuesday and I am looking forward to his reaction in the meet against Minnesota. He has been our best on floor exercise and pommel horse all year. If he is on this weekend, it is a sign that our team will do very well."

On battle for the No. 1 ranking with Penn State and Ohio State- "The strategy with the rankings is that you want to control your own destiny at the NCAA's. You can determine which events you start on and if you are in the night or morning session by being highly ranked. This is something that we are definitely looking at . We notice what Penn State is doing and the scores they have posted. They have been better than us on parallel bars, so we are focusing on that event in practice. We face Ohio State in Norman next weekend and that will be an intense meet with our closest rival. I believe the winner of that meet will go into NCAA's with a psychological advantage."

Minnesota's Last Meet

The Golden Gophers won five individual titles including the all-around, but it was not enough as they fell to Michigan, 212.350-208.975. Senior Clay Strother won four individual titles outright - all-around (54.925), pommel horse (9.700), floor exercise (9.675), parallel bars (9.000) - and tied for first with sophomore teammate Guillermo Alvarez on the vault, as both gymnasts recorded 9.400s. Strother also recorded top five finishes on the high bar, where he was third with am 8.350 and the still rings in which the senior tied for fifth (8.800).

Furney Making A Run At Nissen Award
Senior Daniel Furney has been one of the favorites for the 2003 Nissen Award since the Sooners won the National Championship last season. Furney has only solidified himself among the nation's best since the start of the season. The Senior from New Braunfel, Texas, is currently ranked No. 1 in the all-around, No. 1 on vault, No. 2 on parallel bars and No. 3 on high bar. Furney is the only NCAA gymnast to be ranked in the Top-25 on all six events.

More Senior Superlatives

Senior Josh Landis is ranked in the top 10 on two of the four events in which he regularly competes. He tops out at No. 2 on pommel horse with a two-score average of 9.675. Landis is also ranked No. 8 on the floor (9.35) and No. 21 on the high bar (9.000).

Brett Covey posted a 9.850 in the very first competition of the season at Michigan. Ever since he landed that routine, Covey has been at No. 1 in the still rings rankings. His average of 9.825 on the event is easily the highest in the NCAA on any event.

Shannon Carrion is ranked No. 4 on the high bar with an average of 9.500. The All-American is also ranked No. 29 on the rings, but if he continues his hot streak from the home stand (average score of 9.300) he will jump up the standings quickly.

Sooner Streaks

Defending the home floor is the mark of any good team. The Sooners have been exceptional since 1999 both home and away. OU has won 13 consecutive home meets and 20 of 21 in Norman since the beginning of the 1999 season. The Sooners aren't too shabby on the road either, winning 16 of 25 (excluding NCAA Championships) since 1999. Currently, OU had defeated its last 24 collegiate opponents, the nation's longest current streak. OU defeated every opponent remaining on the 2003 schedule during their National Championship run in 2002.

Four For Furney

For the fourth consecutive week senior Daniel Furney of the Oklahoma men's gymnastics team received a weekly award, this time being named NCAA Midwest Gymnast of the Week by Inside Gymnastics. Furney received two weekly awards from Inside Gymnastics and one from the Mountiain Pacific Sports Federation in the weeks prior to his current accolade.

Furney received the honor after winning the all-around with a combined score of 54.500 against No. 5 Iowa on Feb. 14. Furney also took first place on parallel bars and high bar.

This marks the seventh weekly award bestowed upon the OU men's gymnastics program in five weeks of competition.

Young Ready For American Cup
Oklahoma men's gymnastics assistant coach Guard Young will compete in the American Cup Saturday, March 1, along with three other U.S. competitors. The meet will be broadcast live on NBC at 4 p.m.

"It has always been a dream of mine because this meet is such a prestigious event," said Young. "My expectations are to go and do what I normally do, which is to do my best and hit on my routines."

Young (Team Chevron-Oklahoma) was the final addition to the men's roster. Young, 25, also a two-time World Championships team member, finished third in the all-around at the 2002 U.S. National Championships. Young replaces Paul Hamm, who withdrew on Thursday due to a minor shoulder injury. Young will compete as an all-arounder.

"We had a short training window for this meet," said OU Head Coach Mark Williams. "I still expect him to do very well because we have had very productive workouts during that time. This has been one of Guard's goal for a long time and he's ready. I expect a great performance from him."

The remainder of the U.S. squad is filled by 2001 VISA American Cup All-Around Champion Blaine Wilson, 2001 parallel bars World Champion Sean Townsend and 2003 Winter Cup all-around champion Brett McClure.

"The American Cup is one of the premier events in the sport," said Williams. " This year's field will feature the USA's four best all-arounders. The field also includes four renowned international gymnasts. It is a showcase event for the sport and a chance for live national exposure. Showing it live on NBC is a rarity for any gymnastics meet."

Nebraska Meet Recap (2-21-03)

The No. 3-ranked Oklahoma Sooners men's gymnastics team won its 24th consecutive meet over a college opponent by rolling to a 218.875-209.900 win over Nebraska in Norman, Friday. It was OU's 13th straight home victory and its 12th straight against the Cornhuskers.

The score was a season high for Oklahoma, marking the second straight meet that the Sooners had posted a best.

OU head coach Mark Williams rested top all-arounder Daniel Furney, who competed in just three of the six events, and also gave some of his seniors a night of rest in specific events. Despite that, the Sooners outscored the No. 9 Cornhuskers in each rotation.

"The score surprised me not only because we didn't have Daniel in everything, but because we didn't have a particularly good night," Williams said. "Our hit percentage was down from last week. Fortunately, some of our veterans had some of their best performances of the year and that kind of offset things for us."

The big difference came on the pommel horse. Josh Landis scored a 9.675, the best score of the year by a Sooner on that apparatus, to lead his team to 36.025 total. The Huskers countered with just a 33.550.

"Josh's performance on the pommel horse was the key for us," Williams said.

Senior Brett Covey posted a 9.8 on the rings, the second-highest score in the nation this year. Covey also has the top mark at 9.85.

Top all around honors went to Nebraska's Steven Friedman at 52.600. NU Mace Patterson was next at 51.550, followed by OU's Curtis O'Rorke at 51.050.

Oklahoma took the top four spots on the high bar with Shannon Carrion's 9.5 leading all of the competitors. Covey's rings score easily outdistanced Friedman's 9.45.

Josh Gore scored a meet high and career best of 9.050 on the floor to lead OU, while Landis' pommel horse score helped OU take the top four spots in the event. Furney's 9.550 on the vault topped all competitors.

"Josh Gore has been out with a tender back so it was good to have him back," Williams said. "He's just real steady and he delivered on the floor for us tonight."

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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