Leaving A Mark On The NCAA

March 12, 2003

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Leaving A Mark On The NCAA

The Oklahoma men's gymnastics team closes the regular season with a dual at No. 5 Illinois, March 15 at 7 p.m., inside Huff Hall on the Champaign campus. With a victory over the Fighting Illini, the 2003 Sooners will go down as one of the best teams in NCAA history during the regular season.

If Oklahoma is successful in extending the nation's longest winning streak to 27 this weekend, the Sooners will finish the season with a perfect 12-0 record. No Sooner squad has ever completed a regular season without a loss and very few have in NCAA history, the most recent being Ohio State in 1996. If the Sooners are able to run the table through the NCAA Championships, the Sooners would be only the second team to accomplish the feat.

"Finishing the season undefeated and being the only undefeated team in OU history is definitely an incentive," said OU Head Coach Mark Williams. "It is something we didn't get done last year. There have been a lot of good teams here and to go undefeated would mark us as one of the better teams in Oklahoma history. It is a long four months during the regular season and to not back down to any opponent is a major accomplishment."

OU has defeated its last 13 road opponents, a span of five meets, dating back to the 2002 MPSF Conference Finals. OU defeated Illinois in a tri-meet with Ohio State last season. The Illini are led by all-arounders Adam Pummer (No.8) and Scott Weterling (No. 18). The Fighting Illini are among the nation's best on pommel horse (No. 2) and vault (No. 5).

"I think we have put ourselves where we want to be," said Williams. "This weekend our goal is to go in and perform well. We won't have our top lineup go, but we definitely want to keep our undefeated season intact and continue our progress."

Top ranked all-arounder and Nissen Emery Award finalist Daniel Furney leads the Sooners into the weekend dual. Furney has only posted four scores below 9.0 in the last four meets. Fellow senior and the top ranked still rings performer Brett Covey hasn't scored below 9.625 in six straight. Shannon Carrion and Josh Landis continue to excel on their specialties. Carrion logged a 9.600 on the rings last weekend, while Landis scored the same on the pommel horse.

After the dual with Illinois, OU wraps the regular season with a bye week. The Sooners will use the bye to prepare for the MPSF Championships, which will be hosted by Nebraska, March 28-29. For more information on OU men's gymnastics, visit www.soonersports.com.

Weekly Notes

- OU defeated Illinois in a tri-meet at Ohio State last season.

- OU heads to Champaign riding a streak of 13 straight victories over road collegiate opponents, which has spanned five meets.

- OU is also trying to end the regular season perfect for the first time in the program's history. The 1996 Ohio State Buckeyes are the only team in NCAA history to complete an entire season undefeated.

- OU defeated Ohio State for the third consecutive time. The victory over Stanford was OU's second in the last three meetings.

- OU has topped the 220 plateau three times under the FIG scoring system. They broke their won NCAA record of 220.650 by nearly two points at 222.500 against OSU and Stanford. OU scored 219.300 to win the national championship last season.

- During the collegiate gymnastics season GymInfo releases 11 weekly polls leading up to the NCAA's. Since the beginning of the 2001 season, a span of 29 polls, OU has been the top ranked team 17 times.

- OU remained at the top of the national polls for the second consecutive week. The final regular season rankings are computed by selecting the highest three meet scores (with no more than one home score). Replace the highest of these three scores with the conference meet score and average these three scores.. Individual team event rankings also determine the rotation order at NCAA's.

- A look at the NCAA individual rankings shows why OU is the top ranked team in the country. OU has 11 gymnasts ranked in the top 10 on individual events, while Penn State has 10 and Ohio State eight.
- OU is currently riding a streak of 26 victories over collegiate opponents.

- OU has improved its team score in every meet this season, a span of seven meets.
- OU defeated every opponent on its 2003 schedule during the 2002 season.

Sooner Notes

Shannon Carrion - Has improved his still rings score in five straight meets.

Brett Covey - Senior was spectacular with a 9.700 on still rings in tri-meet last weekend.

Daniel Furney - Furney now owns four the of the seven individual OU records.

Michael Gehart - Scored above 9.0 threshold on vault in seven of eight meets this season.

Josh Gore - Despite scoring 9.0 or better in previous two meets, sophomore was bumped from floor lineup.

David Henderson- Notched a career-high with score of 9.150 on parallel bars against OSU and Stanford.

Jamie Henderson - 52 percent of his routines have garnered 9.0 or above.

Josh Landis - Owns the second highest pommel horse (9.675) score in the NCAA this season.

Heath Mueller - Scored career-high on pommel horse against OSU and Stanford.

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

Curtis O'Rorke - Freshman held out of lineup in the last two meets.

Quinn Rowell - 2002 All-American on high bar, back in the swing of things with 9.100 in tri-meet.

Jock Stevens - Sophomore returned to lineup against OSU and Stanford after four week hiatus.

Brian Trause - Scored career-high 9.050 on parallel bars against Ohio State and Stanford.

Coach's Points

Coach Williams on the training plan-
"We are starting to move on from the goal we accomplished last weekend. According to our training plan we have a couple of hard weeks between now and the conference championships. We will put in some real hard training between now and NCAA's. Our ultimate goal is to peak at the team finals. Last weekend was one of the smaller peaks along the way to our ultimate goal. As far as the excitement of last weekend being worn off, we take things one at a time and until we are done with the season that is one of the smaller peaks along the way."

On emotions from last weekend-
"Are the guys as a excited about training this week as last... probably not. However they are still need to do the routines and the season is not over with just because we defeated Ohio State. The victory doesn't mean we will win the national championship. It all pretty normal for them to have a little bit of an emotional let down. Its not a bad thing either because I don't think they could maintain that level until NCAA's because it would wear them out."

Ohio State Leftovers

- OU has now won three straight matchups with the Buckeyes and four of the last five.

- OU's margin of victory March 7, was the largest in the last five meetings.

- During the last two NCAA championships, the margin of difference between the teams was an average of 0.5 points. The prior two regular season contests haven't been as close, with OU winning by an average of 2.06 points. OU has been the preseason No. 1 the last two seasons, while Michigan was the coaches pick in 2001.

- OU has the most All-Americans over the last two seasons with 19, while Ohio State is second with 14. The All-America honors were spread out between 11 OU gymnasts, while OSU's were given to 7.

- Of the top 10 all time scores under the current scoring system, OU owns six, Ohio State owns one and Penn State owns three.

Three Remarkable Years

The Oklahoma men's gymnastics program has experienced unprecedented success over the last three seasons. The Sooners have defeated 95 percent of their opponents since the start of 2001, good for a 63-3 record over that span. The Sooners have also dominated the scoring column. Since the NCAA changed over to FIG scoring system the Sooners have notched the top two all-time scores and eight of the top 13. The only other school's with scores in the top 10 are Penn State and Ohio State.

Margin Of Victory

Normally margin of victory is not a very telling stat in men's gymnastics but that doesn't hold true for OU this season. The Sooners, who have faced six of the current top 10 teams and a fomer No. 1 team (Ohio State), have outscored their closest competitors by 43.45 points over seven meets. That is an average disparity of 6.2 per meet.

Furney Launched On Sooner Awards.Com

Senior Daniel Furney of the No. 1 Oklahoma men's gymnastics team has been added to Sooner Awards.com, which is an offspring of SoonerSports.com. Furney is a finalist for the Heisman of collegiate gymnastics, the Nissen Emery Award. The New Braunfels, Texas, native is also up for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Gymnast of the Year award.

Furney Making A Run At Nissen Emery 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 Braunfels, Texas, is currently ranked No. 1 in the all-around, No. 1 on vault, No. 2 on parallel bars and No. 3 on pommel horse. Furney is the only NCAA gymnast to be ranked in the Top 20 on all six events, including the all-around. Four gymnasts in OU history have won the Nissen award, while senior David Johnston was a finalist last season.

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 17 of 26 meets (excluding NCAA Championships) since 1999. Currently, OU had defeated its last 25 collegiate opponents, the nation's longest current streak. OU defeated every opponent remaining on the 2003 schedule during their National Championship run in 2002.

Oklahoma Ranks

Oklahoma has been the No. 1 ranked team on still rings every week (eight) this season. For the first time in 2003 the Sooners are the top ranked team on pommel horse. A dramatic move for OU, considering they were ranked No. 3 a week ago, No. 5 two weeks ago and as low as No. 9 at the start of the season. Despite setting a school scoring record on high bar and just missing the mark on vault, the Sooners dropped from the top ranking on both to No. 2. OU remains at No. 1 in the team poll for the second consecutive week.

Sooner Ranks

Perhaps the biggest surprise in this week's individual rankings is that Brett Covey has company at the top of still rings. Kevin Tan of Penn State is tied with the OU senior with a 9.750 two-score average.

Shannon Carrion remains in the top five on high bar with a two score average of 9.425. Despite scoring a season-high of 9.600 on still rings, Carrion couldn't crack the top 20 on the event and remained at No. 22 for the second straight week. Five Sooners are ranked in the top 22 on the event.

Despite posting three scores of 9.600 or better Josh Landis is at No. 7 on pommel horse and remains behind fellow senior Daniel Furney, who hasn't scored above 9.55 on the event. Landis needs only to look to Carrion for a measure of revenge on Furney. Furney set the school record on high bar against Ohio State with a 9.700 but still sits at No. 7 on the event, three spots lower than Carrion.

Brothers David Henderson and Jamie Henderson switched spots, with the elder (David) jumping to No. 6 on rings (9.500) while Jamie dropped to No. 7 (9.350). David is also ranked No. 9 on parallel bars (9.025).

The most remarkable Sooner may be Brian Trause who is ranked No. 19 on p-bars, despite the fact that he is competing with a torn ACL.

Furney A Finalist For Nissen Emery Award

Oklahoma senior Daniel Furney was announced as a finalist for the top honor in collegiate men's gymnastics, the Nissen Emery Award on Tuesday afternoon. The winner of the award will be announced prior to the 2003 NCAA Championships in Philadelphia, Pa. Four Sooners have won the award with the most recent being Todd Bishop in 1999. David Johnston was a finalist for the award last year.

"I am extremely excited to be a included in the group of gymnasts nominated as finalist," said Furney. "OU has a long tradition of finalists and Nissen award winners. Hopefully I will be able to add to that list."

Furney is the only NCAA gymnast to be ranked in the top 20 on every event (including the all-around), while also being ranked No. 1 in the all-around and vault. Furney is also the only Mountain Pacific Sports Federation gymnast to be ranked in the top eight on every event (including the all-around). Last weekend, in a triangular meet with Ohio State and Stanford, Furney set a NCAA record with an all-time best of 56.350 in the all-around.

The list of finalist includes recent opponents Raj Bhavsar (Ohio State) and Marshall Erwin (Stanford), along with Clay Strother (Minnesota), Cody Moore (California), Kevin Donohue (Penn State), Cameron Schick (Iowa) and Aaron Jackson (Air Force Academy).

US Olympic legend Bart Conner, Jarrod Hanks and Dan Fink also won the award during their time in Norman.

"I think Daniel Furney is a tremendous candidate for the Nissen Emery Award," said OU Head Coach Mark Williams. "His four years stand out there with the accomplishments of Dan Fink, Todd Bishop, Jarrod Hanks and Bart Conner. I think he is as worthy as the other Oklahoma Nissen Emery Award winners. He ranks up with all time greats at Oklahoma by he has accomplished as a team leader, team captain, the number of All-America honors he's received and by being a part of a national championship team."

The award is voted on by NCAA Head Coaches, NCAA judges and team captains. The voting process will be concluded March 31, which is two days after conference finals.

For more information on Furney's candidacy for the Nissen Emery Award, visit Sooner Awards.com at /soonerawards/.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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