Five For Five?

March 25, 2003

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Five For Five?

Two weeks removed from wrapping the first perfect regular season in Oklahoma gymnastics history, the men's gymnastics squad is out to claim its fifth consecutive Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Conference Championship. Three Sooners have individual titles to defend, while the squad looks to extend its unprecedented reign over the MPSF when competition gets under way this weekend in Lincoln, Neb. Team finals begin Friday at 7 p.m., with the individual event finals start Saturday at 7p.m., inside the Bob Devaney Center.

"Our goal is to win our fifth consecutive MPSF conference Championship," said OU Head Coach Mark Williams. "It is a similar format to the NCAA's, so we would also like to use that as the last step towards getting prepared for the team finals. We had a very productive week of training over spring break and this team is ready for the postseason."

The MPSF is composed of five member schools including OU. Joining the Sooners in Lincoln will be host Nebraska, Stanford, California and Air Force. OU has faced and defeated every conference foe this season, except California, which is currently ranked No. 4.

"We get the chance to meet Cal this weekend," which is one of the teams in the top five that we haven't seen. This meet is the last hurdle before team prelims in Philadelphia (site of NCAA's). We'd like to meet Penn State in the prelims and take a shot at them. A victory over Penn State would be great for our confidence going into the team finals."

Brett Covey will make a run at an unprecedented third consecutive MPSF Still Rings Championship, while fellow Sooners Josh Landis (pommels) and Jock Stevens (floor) will be angling for back-to-back titles.

OU comes into the meet ranked No. 1 for the fourth consecutive week, while three individual Sooners are holding down top spots of their own. In individual events, OU is ranked No. 1 on pommel horse, still rings and high bar. This is the third time this season that OU has been ranked in the top spot on three of the six individual events.

Nissen Emery Award Finalist Daniel Furney has been the top ranked all-arounder for six straight weeks, while also sitting a top of the vaulting rankings for seven consecutive weeks. Senior Josh Landis moved into the top spot on pommel horse last week and remains at No. 1 for a second week. Senior Brett Covey has been the top-ranked performer on still rings all season, while fellow senior Shannon Carrion is climbing up the rankings on high bar, where he currently sits No. 4.

Weekly Notes
- OU ends the season on the road in Lincoln, Neb., for the MPSF Championships and in Philadelphia, Pa., for the NCAA Championships. The Sooners have defeated 14 straight road opponents.
- OU will attempt to be the second team ever to complete an entire season with an undefeated record. The 1996 Ohio State Buckeyes are the only team in NCAA history to complete an entire season undefeated.
-Under the FIG scoring system, the 220 plateau has been eclipsed seven times. OU owns three of those scores, including the NCAA record off 222.500. OU owns nine of the top 16 scores of all time. 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 31 polls, OU has been the top ranked team 19 times.
-OU remained at the top of the national polls for the fourth 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 23 gymnasts ranked in the top-20 on individual events (including all-around), while Penn State has 18 and Ohio State 18.
-OU is currently riding a streak of 28 consecutive victories over collegiate opponents.
-OU streak of seven meets with an improved team score was snapped at Illinois. An extension of the steak would have required an NCAA record in every meet.
-OU defeated every opponent on its 2003 schedule during the 2002 season.

Sooner Notes

Shannon Carrion - Has not scored below 9.300 on still rings in the last five meets.
Brett Covey - Remains tied (9.750) in the rankings at No. 1 with Penn State's Kevin Tan on still rings.
Daniel Furney - Only MPSF gymnast ranked in the top six on every event, including the all-around.
Michael Gehart - Did not compete at Illinois for the first time this season.
Josh Gore - Ranked in the top-25 on parallel bars and pommel horse.
David Henderson - Ranked in the top-10 on still rings and parallel bars.
Jamie Henderson - 56 percent of his routines have garnered 9.0 or above.
Josh Landis - Senior moved up to No. 1 on the pommel horse.
Heath Mueller - Set a career-high with a score of 53.900 in the all-around against Illinois.
James Myers - Competed for the first time in five meets and finished third on vault (9.050) at Illinois.
Curtis O'Rorke - Freshman held out of lineup in the last three meets.
Quinn Rowell - 2002 All-American still rounding back into shape on the high bar.
Jock Stevens - One of the Sooners most talented on vault, where he finished third against Illinois.
Brian Trause - Scored career-high 9.050 on parallel bars against Ohio State and Stanford.

Coach's Points

Coach Williams on training over spring break- "Over spring break we decided to stay here and train, knowing that this was a good opportunity to the get the last things worked out and not have it affect our competition weekends. Our training last week was great and it was definetely the right decision. It was a very productive week of training."

On postseason outlook- "I am real optimistic about how we'll do this weekend. As long as we maintain our health through the NCAA prelims, we are on track to end the season in great position. Being ranked No. 1 and undefeated is something this team has earned and that will help us in the both championships."

Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship Notes

- If the men's gymnastics team claims the MPSF title, it would be the third conference championship, football and basketball being the others, for Oklahoma during the 2002-03 school year.
- Oklahoma is in search of its fifth consecutive conference championship, which would extend its current MPSF record.
- Four current Sooners have won individual conference titles. Furney on pommels (2000), Covey on rings (2001-2002), Landis on pommels (2002) andStevens on floor (2002).
- During its four-year conference title run, the Sooners have claimed 12 individual titles.
- OU has taken the MPSFpommel horse and floor titles in three of the last four years.
- OU joined MPSF in 1996 and won the conference title in its first season.
- OU has won the conference title in five of its seven years of participation.

Three Remarkable Years

The Oklahoma men's gymnastics program has experienced unprecedented success over the last three seasons. The Sooners have defeated 96 percent of their opponents since the start of 2001, good for a 74-3 record over that span. The Sooners have also dominated the scoring column. Since the NCAA changed to FIG scoring system, the Sooners have notched the top all-time score and nine of the top 16. The only other schools 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 competitor by 48.2 points over eight meets. That is an average disparity of 6.025 points 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. 4 on pommel horse. Furney is the only NCAA gymnast to be ranked in the Top 22 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

The Sooners have been exceptional since 1999 both home and away. OU has won 15 consecutive home meets and 22 of 23 in Norman since the beginning of the 1999 season. The Sooners aren't too shabby on the road either, winning 18 of 27 meets (excluding NCAA Championships) since 1999. OU has defeated its last 28 collegiate opponents, the nation's longest current streak. OU's home and road winning streaks stand as the longest actove streaks in the country.

Oklahoma Ranks

Oklahoma has been the No. 1 ranked team on still rings every week (10) this season. For the second consecutive week the Sooners are the top-ranked team on pommel horse. A dramatic move for OU, considering it was ranked No. 3 two weeks ago, No. 5 three weeks ago and as low as No. 9 at the start of the season. OU moved up to No. 1 on high bar and stayed at No. 2 on vault, a spot it has held five times this season. OU remains No. 1 in the team poll for the third consecutive week.

This marks the third week this season that OU ranks No. 1 in three individual events. No. 2 Penn State is the only other team that has accomplished this feat, doing it four times.

Sooner Ranks

For the first time this season OU has four individuals at the top of the seven rankings. Penn State is the only other team to have had four individuals ranked No. 1 in a particular week this season.

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 (No. 4) on high bar with a two-score average of 9.425. Despite his recent high scores, Carrion couldn't crack the top 20 on rings and remained No. 22 for the third straight week. Five Sooners are ranked in the top 22 on the event.

Senior Josh Landis moved to No. 1 on pommel horse, giving the Sooners four of the seven top individual spots. Furney jumped to No. 7 on the high bar and No. 8 on still rings thanks to impressive scores in Champaign two weekend's ago. Furney remained in the top spot on vault and all-around.

Brothers David 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 also is ranked No. 9 on parallel bars (9.025).

The most remarkable Sooner may be Brian Trause who is ranked No. 20 on p-bars, despite the fact that he is competing with a torn ACL.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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