Sooner Gymnasts In Philadelphia To Make History

April 9, 2003

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 meet will air on ESPN Monday, April 13, at 3:30 p.m. (CST).

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.

All About Depth
The key this season to the Sooners success can be found in the number of gymnast contributing in every meet. OU goes 12 deep and relies on specialists Brett Covey, Quinn Rowell, Brian Trause, Jock Stevens, Michael Gehart and Jamie Henderson for big scores on their signature events. OU has counted scores above 9.0 on rings and vault in at least the last eight meets, while accomplishing the same feat on high bar in six of those meets. Remarkably, the Sooners could have counted their four lowest scores in the MPSF Championship and still won the meet by eight and a half tenths (216.875-216.025) over California.

A Ring Thing
The catalyst behind the Sooners run at a second ring (national title) is their exceptional still rings team. Over the last five meets the average score that OU has dropped (not counted) is a 9.41, a number that is good enough for No. 14 in the GymInfo Event Rankings. OU has been ranked No. 1 on the event all season and holds that spot by a 1.2 points over No. 2 Ohio State. All five of OU's regulars on rings are ranked in the the top-14 on the event.

Furney And Williams Tops In MPSF
After winning the all-around conference title and setting an NCAA record en route to their fifth consecutive conference championship, Daniel Furney and Head Coach Mark Williams were locks for the MPSF yearly awards. Furney received the MPSF Gymnast-of-the-Year Award, which strengthens his case for the NCAA top award, the Nissen Emery Award. Williams has received MPSF Coach-of-the-Year for the fourth consecutive season, a first in conference history.

Williams Surpasses 80 Win Mark
OU Head Coach Mark Williams reached the 80-win plateau faster than any other coach in men's gymnastics collegiate history with the Sooners' conference championship this season. Williams has an all-time record of 83-7, for a winning percentage of 92 percent. Williams is also one of three coaches in history to win a gymnastics championship in his first three years as head coach. He can reach 95 wins by the end of the season if the top-ranked Sooners sweep through NCAA team prelims and finals.

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, for a 68-3 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 two highest scores and 10 of the top 18. The only other schools with scores in the top 18 are Penn State and Ohio State

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.

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 parallel bars, No. 2 on vault, No. 5 on pommel horse and No. 5 on high bar. Four gymnasts in OU history have won the Nissen award, while senior David Johnston was a finalist last season. The winner of the 2003 award will be announced Thursday, April 10 at 7 p.m., during a pre-NCAA Championship banquet in Philadelphia.

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 22 of 31 (excluding NCAA Championships) since 1999. OU has defeated its last 32 collegiate opponents, the nation's longest current streak. OU's home and road (18) winning streaks stand as the longest active streaks in the country.

Oklahoma Ranks
Oklahoma has been the No. 1-ranked team on still rings every week (11) this season. For the fourth consecutive week the Sooners are the top-ranked team on pommel horse. A dramatic move for OU, considering it was ranked No. 9 in the early weeks of the season. OU remained No. 1 on high bar for the third straight week and moved up one spot to No. 2 on p-bars and vault. OU remains No. 3 on floor for the third week. OU has been the No. 1 ranked team for five straight weeks.

This marks the fifth 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
OU has 14 individuals ranked in the top-10 on individual events (including all-around), nine of whom are in the top five

Perhaps the biggest surprise in this week's individual rankings is that Brett Covey, ranked No. 1 on still rings for 10 weeks, dropped to No. 3. Covey is ranked behind Marshall Erwin of Stanford, who defeated him at the MPSF Event Finals, and Kevin Tan of Penn State.

Shannon Carrion moved up to No . 14 on still rings and is the only Sooner regular not ranked in the top-10 on the event.

Senior Josh Landis remained No. 1 on pommel horse, giving the Sooners three gymnasts at the top of the seven individual spots. Furney jumped to No. 5 on the high bar and No. 8 on still rings thanks to impressive scores at the MPSF Championships. Furney remained moved into the top spot on paralllel bars and remained top dog in the all-around.

Brothers David and Jamie Henderson flipped rankings for the third straight week, with David moving to No. 5 on rings and Jamie dropping to No. 9. David is also ranked No. 12 on parallel bars.

The most remarkable Sooner may be Brian Trause who is ranked No. 16 on p-bars, despite competing with a torn ACL.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooner Gymnasts In Philadelphia To Make History

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