Sooners Shoot For Second Straight NCAA Title

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Sooners Shoot For Second Consecutive Title

Fresh off its fifth consecutive Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Conference Championship the Oklahoma men's gymnastics team will attempt to make more history by defending its 2002 National Championship at the NCAA's in Philadelphia, Pa., April 11-13. A national title for the top-ranked Sooners would be the program's fifth and make the the 2003 squad the second to repeat in OU history and 13th team in NCAA history.

The Sooners enter the team qualifiers on Friday, April 11, as the top seed and will compete in the second session which begins at 7 p.m. No. 4 California, No. 5 Michigan, No. 8 Illinois, No. 10 Nebraska and No. 11 Temple, join the Sooners in the evening session. Competing in the afternoon session is No. 2 Penn State, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 6 Iowa, No. 7 Minnesota, No. 8 Stanford and No. 12 William & Mary. The top three teams in each qualifier advance to Saturday's team finals which begin at 4 p.m. OU has defeated every qualifying team except Temple, Penn State and William & Mary, who the Sooners haven't faced.

As the coach of the No. 1 seed, Mark Williams was given the choice of rotation order. Williams chose the customary Olympic order, which OU competed in at every home meet and at the MPSF Champions. OU has recorded its top two scores of the season when competing in this order. In fact, both scores were NCAA records, with the most recent coming at conference championships.

OU won the 2002 National Championship in the friendly confines of its home floor, the Lloyd Noble Center. Last year, Oklahoma needed a 219.300 to hold off Ohio State for the program's fourth national championship. The Sooners have eclipsed that mark in the last four meets, which included two NCAA team scoring records. Penn State and Ohio State are the only other teams to hold the No. 1 spot in the GymInfo poll and also are the only others to break the 220-point barrier.

Oklahoma Notes

- OU enters the NCAA Championships with the nation's longest winning streak (32), as well as the best road (18) and home stretches (15).
- 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.
- OU finished the regular season undefeated for the first time in the program's 38 year history.
- Under the FIG scoring system, the 220 plateau has been eclipsed seven times. OU owns four of those scores, including the NCAA record off 223.500 set this season. OU owns 10 of the top 19 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 21 times.
- OU remained at the top of the national polls for the fifth 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.
- A look at the NCAA individual rankings shows why OU is the top-ranked team in the country. OU has 29 gymnasts ranked in the top-25 on individual events (including all-around), while Penn State has 20 and Ohio State 21.
- OU has been ranked No. 1 going into the NCAA Championships two (2003, 2001) of the last three years. OU has been ranked no lower than No. 2 leading into NCAA's in the last four seasons.
- OU defeated qualifying session members Nebraska and Cal at the MPSF Championship last weekend, and Michigan and Illinois earlier in the year. OU has defeated the Huskers in 12 straight meetings.
- OU improved its team score in the first seven meets of the season.
- OU defeated every opponent on its 2003 schedule during the 2002 season.

Sooner Notes

Shannon Carrion - Posted a career-high 9.650 on still rings, has not scored below 9.3 in six meets.
Brett Covey - Missed out on third consecutive rings MPSF title with second-place finish.
Daniel Furney - Snagged more accolades with MPSFer of the Year and all-around championship.
Michael Gehart - Scored over 9.0 on vault in eight of nine meets.
Josh Gore - Ranked in the top 25 on parallel bars and pommel horse.
David Henderson - Posted a career-high 9.750 on still rings, which was the highest score at MPSF's.
Jamie Henderson - Fifty-six percent of his routines have garnered 9.0 or above.
Josh Landis - Enters postseason ranked in top five on pommel horse and floor exercise.
Heath Mueller - Ranked in the top-23 on vault, parallel bars, high bar and all-around.
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 four meets, but could see action in qualifiers.
Quinn Rowell - 2002 All-American still rounding back into shape on the high bar where he is ranked No. 19.
Jock Stevens - Despite limited competition time, Stevens is ranked No. 11 on floor.
Brian Trause - Junior failed to reach conference event finals but moved up in p-bars rankings to No. 16.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooners Shoot For Second Straight NCAA Title

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