Back-To-Back Champs Start Title Defense In Colorado

MEET 1 - Rocky Mountain Open
January 16-17, 2004
Colorado Springs, Colo.
Cadet Gymnasium West Gym

Teams:
No. 2 OKLAHOMA
No. 6 Iowa
No. 10 Nebraska
No. 15 Air Force
University of Washington Club
Arizona State University Club
United States Olympic Training Center

Rocky Mountain Open Preview
The two-time defending national champion Oklahoma Sooners open up the 2004 season in Colorado Springs at the Rocky Mountain Open. The team finals will be held on January 16 at 7 p.m. and the event finals follow the next day at 1 p.m. The competition is composed of host Air Force ranked No. 15 in the Gyminfo preseason poll, No. 6 Iowa and No. 10 Nebraska. The U.S. Olympic Training Center (USOTC) squad will also be there along with Washington's and Arizona State's club teams.

The Sooners enter the season ranked No. 2 in the preseason poll, behind Ohio State who competed last weekend and won the Windy City Open with a 215.75 over Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois-Chicago.

"We would like to start out the year with a score that puts us in the 214-215 range," said Oklahoma head coach Mark Williams. "Ideally that matches us with the scores that teams put up in the Windy City Open last weekend and with what we put up last year in this event."

After winning the 2003 NCAA National Championship, the Sooners will look towards their veterans to lead the team after losing Nissen Emery Award winner Daniel Furney to graduation. OU will also have to replace All-American Josh Landis, Shannon Carrion and Brett Covey. In 2004, Williams will look to senior co-captains Quinn Rowell and Heath Mueller to set the tone.

This season, the Sooners return five All-Americans from the past two seasons. Seniors Jock Stevens (All-American on vault), Heath Mueller (All-American on parallel bars) and sophomore Jamie Henderson (All-American on still rings) return from stellar seasons in 2003. From the 2002 season, senior-captain Quinn Rowell (All-American on high bar) and junior David Henderson (All-American on still rings) conclude the list of top returners for OU in the 2004 season.

Williams added, "We are bringing some guys back from injury, so our team will not be complete at the Rocky Mountain Open. However, that is not to say that we aren't going to come out strong. So we will look to put in a quality showing and we want to build off this first competition. The Rocky Mountain Open is a great meet to start the season with and we have high expectations to see how far this team has come throughout practice and the intrasquad scrimmages."

In last year's event, the Sooners scored a 214.475 to take second only behind the USOTC, defeating Nebraska and Air Force in OU's second meet of the season.

Top 15
The Oklahoma men's gymnastics team, coming off a NCAA National Championship undefeated season in 2003, was voted No. 2 in the GymInfo Coaches' preseason top-15 poll. The Sooners got three first-place votes and trailed only Ohio State, which received nine first-place votes. OU has ranked in the top five of the preseason poll over each of the last seven seasons and were No. 1 in 2003 and 2002.

“This is obviously just a preseason ranking but it still was kind of a surprise to be this high with the seniors graduating from last year,” said Oklahoma head coach Mark Williams. “I think that we will have a strong team this season. We will do our best to be in the mix come March and April and contend again for a NCAA Championship with a nice combination of experience and fresh talent on this squad.”

Also receiving first place votes and rounding out the top-five were Illinois and Michigan with a vote each, at No. 3 and No. 4 respectively, with Penn State at No. 5.

Streaks
OU enters the 2004 season riding a winning streak of 38 straight wins overall over their opponents. That includes 24 on the road, where the Sooners last lost at Stanford on March 9 of 2002. At home, the Sooners are even better rattling off 26 straight victories. The last time an OU team lost in Norman was on January 28 of 2000, against Ohio State. The school record for consecutive victories is held by the football team, who won 47 straight from 1953-1957.

Sooner Notes
Mubarak Abdullah-Simmons- junior college transfer is making collegiate debut
Brian Carr- Only freshman on the squad and will compete primarily on parallel bars and pommel horse.
Kyle Fernandez- Transferred from Penn State and gives OU depth on still rings.
Michael Gehart- Strengths are on floor and vault, but will contribute on rings, p-bars and high bar.
Josh Gore- Was ranked in the top-25 on parallel bars and pommel horse in 2003
David Henderson- 2002 All-American on still rings as a freshman.
Jamie Henderson- 2003 All-American on still rings as a freshman.
David Iammatteo- Returns to the team after last competing in 2001.
Heath Mueller- 2003 All-American on parallel bars and is co-captain with Quinn Rowell.
James Myers- Competed on every event last season, except parallel bars.
Curtis O'Rorke- Potential all-arounder after competing in every event last season as a freshman.
Quinn Rowell- 2002 All-American on high bar and is co-captain with Heath Mueller.
Jock Stevens- 2003 All-American on vault and two-time MPSF champion on vault.
Brian Trause- Senior's strength rests on the parallel bars and pommel horse.

NCAA Record
Ever since the new scoring system's inception in 2001 in college gymnastics (Federation de Internationale Gymnastics Code Scoring System), Oklahoma has dominated the top team scores around the nation. Not only did the Sooners break the record twice last season, but they also own 10 of the top-20 scores. On March 7, 2003 at home against Stanford and Ohio State, OU topped their old mark of 220.650 with a 222.500. That record would only last till the end of the month, when at the MPSF Championships the team recorded a 223.500. The only other schools to hold top 20 socres are Penn State and Ohio State.

Head Coach Mark Williams
One of the most respected gymnastics authorities in the nation, Mark Williams has coached at every level of the sport, from beginners to Olympians. Williams was named head coach of the program in 2000 and produced immediate results. With the 2003 and 2002 squads claiming national championships, he now has the program positioned as a legitimate national contender every year.

Williams has done a lot of winning during his stint as head coach, producing five conference titles, in addition to being named “Coach of the Year” by the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation four times and NCAA National Coach of the Year twice. In 2003, the Sooners went 26-0 winning the NCAA National Championship in Philadelphia, Pa. Williams was named NCAA Coach of the Year and became the first coach in NCAA history to win two national titles in his first four years as head coach. Williams reached the 90-win plateau (93-7 career) faster than any other coach in NCAA history and owns the highest winning percentage of any active NCAA coach at 93 percent. Wiliams' squad will enter the 2004 season with winning streaks of 38 overal over opponents, 24 on the road and 26 at home.

Wiliams owns the NCAA record for wins (93) and winning percentage (.930) in a coach's first four seasons. In his 23 years as a professional gymnastics coach, Williams has guided gymnasts to World Championship, Pan American Games and University Games teams.

Sooner Season Preview
After losing half the scoring from last year's NCAA Championship team, the task in 2004 will be to rebuild with last year's freshmen and sophomores, and rely on the experience of the juniors and seniors.

The Sooner coaching staff is looking to the freshmen and sophomores to expand their production to five or six events. In addition, Mubarak Abdullah-Simmons, a junior college transfer with some gymnastics experience through club teams, will be expected to contribute. This will be his first collegiate opportunity and the coaches hope to see him immediately help the team.

“We feel like Mubarak can fill in almost like a seasoned veteran after the first couple of meets,” said Oklahoma head coach Mark Williams.

In the past, a great deal of production for OU on rings has come from David and Jamie Henderson. The Hendersons and Curtis O'Rorke are returning student-athletes who will be key to the team's success this season.

“We will look for them to expand on their one to two events and get them competing in the all-around,” said Williams. “Curtis will need to be more consistent as well for us to really compete as a team. With those four key individuals, we can make it into the NCAA team finals and try to contend for another national championship.”

The rest of the Sooner lineup has a lot of unknowns based on the holes the seniors left open. Two of the best gymnasts in the collegiate ranks last year, Daniel Furney and Josh Landis, and others left open 10 spots for this year's team to fill.

“We will definitely have our work cut out for us to get back to the point we have a solid team. Hopefully by February or March, we will have answered all those questions about the lineup. We potentially are going to be a good team depending on the amount of work we put in between now and the NCAAs. I am fairly confident that we have the talent to be in a position to continue the tradition of excellence we have created here.”

It's going to be a different group for OU this season as compared to the past two national championship teams, Williams compares this year's squad to the one he started with in his first year as head coach.

“We were determined and our success was based on our work and our ability to step up week in and week out in my first year as head coach,” commented Williams. “With the past two teams I was confident that we developed a system that had the team peaking in the last few weeks of the season.

“This year I believe that this team will have to develop quite a bit along the way to be in a position to be as successful as past teams. They are going to have to work at it a lot more since there was more experience last year. Our challenge this year is to better our individual scores and elevate ourselves into the 218-220 team total range two toward the end of the season.”

SENIORS:
The 2004 squad sports a strong senior class with a lot of experience. Captain Quinn Rowell is joined by Heath Mueller, Jock Stevens and Brian Trause.

“I don't have as much concern about the ones who have proven themselves, said Williams. “All these guys have the talent and potential to be All-Americans. They are leaders and they are not unknown for their abilities across the country. My expectations will be for them to continue their success from past years.”

JUNIORS:
All-American David Henderson will look to expand his role into other events this season. Kyle Fernandez transferred from Penn State. He was recruited primarily to do still rings and has the potential to be a standout in that event. Mike Gehart has been very solid on floor and vault the last couple years and Williams is looking for him to make the lineup on rings, parallel bar and high bar. David Iammatteo is a
strong and powerful gymnast who will compete primarily on the floor exercise and vault.

“Mike's training in those events has been solid. With the talent present on the past championship squads, he did not get much experience,” said Williams.

Josh Gore recovered nicely from shoulder surgery in the fall and has been one of OU's more consistent performers. He is solid on floor, horse, parallel bars and the high bar, and will be looked upon to be a team leader along with the seniors.

SOPHOMORES:
This class could be the key to OU's success with James Myers, Jamie Henderson and Curtis O'Rorke playing key roles. Henderson, another All-American on still rings, has the talent and ability to score well in the all-around. Myers will probably compete in his top events, which include the floor exercise and high bar.

Williams added, “If those three can do what I feel they have the potential to do, then we will have a very good team.”

FRESHMEN:
Brian Carr, the lone freshman, will look to contribute on two events, the horse and high bar.

“The key for Brian is for him to take it slow and let us bring him along and see where he can help us after the start of the season,” said Williams.

SCHEDULE:
“We will go about the season the same way we have every year, start with Rocky Mountain Open, a place to begin. There we will be given the opportunity to do more than just six up on each event. That will give us a good idea of where we are at. The next part of the season, the Air Force and Iowa meets, will prepare us for Ohio State, obviously one of the better teams we will go against this year. I expect that we will be working to find out how good we are until our home meet on Feb. 21 with Minnesota, Michigan and Nebraska. I am excited to be hosting a home meet with four good teams.”

2004 Schedule

“Stanford, Illinois and Nebraska follow on the schedule and that will present some solid challenges for this team. The conference meet follows and our goal is to be the champions. Two weeks after that, NCAAs start in Illinois. We will work to get through the qualifier and compete in the finals to repeat as national champions.”

2003 Rocky Mountain Open Recap
TEAM FINALS:
OU defeated No. 9 Nebraska (206.550), No. 17 Air Force (196.375), Arizona State (188.500) and Washington (170.900) to extend its steak to 21 consecutive wins against collegiate teams. Oklahoma's record improves to 5-0 on the season, with the loss to USOTC not counting against their NCAA record.

“We had events that we were improved on from last weekend,” said OU Head Coach Mark Williams. “Our overall hit percentage was down but we were able to get to the same team score as last weekend. It was a good sign to see us improve by nearly four points on pommel horse. USOTC set a great standard tonight, which I think we are capable of meeting. We need to work on our consistency but it is early and we have time to improve.”

EVENT FINALS:
A day after finishing second in the team finals at the Rocky Mountain Open the Oklahoma men's gymnastics team brought four Falcon trophies awarded to competitors who finished in the top three in Saturday afternoon's event finals. OU was the only team asides from the United States Olympic Training Center to fill the maximum three spots (of 10 qualifiers) on each event.

OU finished in the top three and above the USOTC, which is composed for current and former national and Olympic team members, on the rings and parallel bars.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Back-To-Back Champs Start Title Defense In Colorado

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