Completed Event: Men's Gymnastics versus Ohio State on April 17, 2026 , Win , 322.825, to, 320.294
Final
Men's Gymnastics
322.825
vs Ohio State
320.294
University of Oklahoma Athletics
No. 2 Sooners At No. 10 Stanford On Saturday
February 25, 2004 | Men's Gymnastics
MEET 6
February 28, 2004 (9 p.m. - CST)
Palo Alto, Calif.
Burnham Pavilion
Teams:
No. 2 OKLAHOMA
No. 10 Stanford
Preview
The No. 2 Sooners travel to Palo Alto, Calif. to face No. 10 Stanford on Saturday, February 28 at 9 p.m. CST.
The Sooners (10-0) are coming off three wins over current-No.6 Michigan, No. 8 Nebraska and No. 9 Minnesota last Saturday in Norman, Okla. The victories gave the team its 48th straight win over NCAA opponents which broke the school's old mark of 47 set by the football team in the mid 1950s.
Stanford is averaging 208.660 and lost its last time out against another MPSF foe and current No. 1 California. Stanford's 212.300 against California was a season-high. The Cardinal are led by senior captain Dan Gill. Gill ranks amongest the nation's top ten in every event except rings and is the No. 1 all-arounder in the country averaging 55.200.
Thom Glielmi is in his second season as head coach of the Stanford men's gymnastics team after serving as an assistant coach at Minnesota for three seasons. Gill is the Cardinal's only senior this season and the rest of the roster is composed of three juniors, two sophomores and six freshmen.
Stanford is 3-3 on the season and will host this year's MPSF Championships on March 19-20.
"This is a good chance for us to get a feel for how we need to prepare for the conference meet in March, which they host," said Oklahoma head coach Mark Williams. "They have a team which has posted some reasonable scores and they will probably be one of the top 12 teams competing at NCAAs. So we are going to have to do a pretty good job to stay with them. I imagine we should get a chance to give some guys a rest on some events and give some of the other guys who have not competed as much this year a shot. That will in fact help us to put together our best lineup against Illinois two weeks from now."
Next weekend, OU will host current No. 3 Illinois at 7 p.m. (CST) on Saturday, March 6 in McCasland Field House.
Complete Release | Season Statistics
Top 15
The Oklahoma men's gymnastics team moved up one spot to the No. 2 position after posting a season best 221.475 score thier last time out in Norman.
OU is coming off a NCAA National Championship undefeated season in 2003 and 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.
The Sooners are also ranked in the top six of every event with 15 individuals ranked in their respective events, including Josh Gore (1st-parallel bars) and Quinn Rowell (9th-high bar).
EVENT National Rank Average
| Floor Exercise | 4 | 36.035 |
| Pommel Horse | 3 | 36.135 |
| Still Rings | 3 | 36.055 |
| Vault | 6 | 36.610 |
| Parallel Bars | 1 | 35.815 |
| High Bar | 2 | 36.875 |
48 Straight!
OU extended its winning streak to 48 straight wins with its latest victories over current-No. 6 Michigan, No 8 Nebraska and No. 9 Minnesota. The school record for consecutive victories is held by the football team, which won 47 straight from 1953-1957. The gymnasts streak includes 30 on the road, where the Sooners last lost at Stanford on March 9, 2002. Dating back before that, the Sooners have rattled off 30 straight victories at home. The last time an OU team lost in Norman was Jan. 28, 2000, against Ohio State.
“I still feel like in football it is different because you can only get one victory at a time and it is over a four year span,” said Williams about the streak. “It is a little like comparing apples and oranges because unlike gymnastics, football can not defeat three teams in one day. We have certainly had the opportunity where we could have let down and not put together this string of wins.
The guys have been amazing and I am grateful for the work ethic they have put forth over this span to be this successful. It is great to be a part of history.”
Records Are Meant To Be Broken
The Sooners have broken two school event records so far this season and one individual mark. Last weekend the Sooners posted a school record 36.700 on the parallel bars. The previous mark of 36.500 was set last season against Stanford and Ohio State at home.
On Feb. 21 against then-No. 1 Ohio State and then-No. 2 California the Sooners broke two records. The first was the team's high bar score of 37.550. OU recorded a 38.250 breaking the old mark set on March 7 of last season. Senior co-captain also broke a record set back on that same day last season by breaking Daniel Furney's 9.700 with a 9.850 against the Buckeyes and Golden Bears.
Oklahoma 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.
Mark Williams' Record at Oklahoma
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Last Time Out (vs. Minn., Mich., Neb. - Feb. 21)
The No. 3 Oklahoma men's gymnastics team defeated No. 7 Michigan, No. 8 Nebraska and No. 9 Minnesota on Saturday in the McCasland Field House with a season-high 221.475 score. Michigan finished second with a score of 218.225, followed by Nebraska (213.875) and Minnesota (210.700). OU's team score on Saturday ranks number six all-time since the new scoring system was created in 2002 and is the second highest score this season in the NCAA (Illinois-221.575).
“I was happy especially since it was a meet that we were pushed a little bit with Michigan being right behind us after three events,” said Oklahoma head coach Mark Williams. “We did not have a complete meet, but I was really pleased with the performance at the end with the parallel bars and the high bar handling the pressure and stepping up.”
With the three victories on Saturday, the Sooners extended their streak of consecutive victories to 48, breaking the school record held by the OU football team, dating back 46 years ago. From 1953-1957, the Sooner football team rattled off 47 wins in a row, an NCAA record for football.
“I was very pleased with the guys performance and it is just another step towards another NCAA Championship,” added Williams. “Now go to Stanford and then host Illinois back in the field house, so if we can get through those we should be well on our way to defending our title. I like the way my guys have been finishing meets this season and we still have not hit our potential, which is encouraging because that shows we can still get better.”
The Sooners set season highs in every event except the still rings and the high bar and had the top team score in every event except for the still rings, which Michigan won.
Another school record fell on Saturday as the Sooners recorded a 36.700 on the parallel bars breaking the old mark set last season (36.500). Junior Josh Gore (ranked No. 2 in the nation on the apparatus) posted a 9.375 to take home first place honors in the event. Also taking first was senior co-captain Quinn Rowell on the high bar. For the second consecutive week, Rowell captured first place honors with a 9.600 on Saturday. Finally, senior Jock Stevens' 9.625 was good for first and keyed the Sooners' 37.225 tally on the floor exercise.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
The 2004 Men's Gymnastics NCAA Championships will be held in Champaign, Illinois this year hosted by the University of Illinois in Assembly Hall. The event will feature four sessions held on April 2, 3 and 4. For additional information click the following link: 2004 NCAAs.
SCHEDULE
| Date | Session | Time |
| April 2 | I National Qualifier | 1 p.m. |
| II National Qualifier | 7 p.m | |
| April 3 | III Team, AA Finals & Individual Event Qualifying | 7 p.m. |
| April 4 | IV Individual Event Finals | 2 p.m. |
Sooners Sign Three For 2005
The Sooners' incoming class for next season includes Taqiy Abdullah, Joseph Weaver and Jonathan Horton. All three rank amongst the best gymnasts coming out of high school and Horton is regarded as No. 1 prospect.
"This may be the best class I have recruited in my tenure here at OU. And only time will tell if these three guys can equal up to what last year's seniors (Daniel Furney, Josh Landis and Shannon Carrion) accomplished in their OU careers.”
Parallel Bars Ranks No. 1 In The Nation
For the second consecutive week, Oklahoma is ranked No. 1 in the nation on the parallel bars with a scoring average of 35.815. The Sooners feature five individuals ranked in the top 20 on the apparatus. Junior Josh Gore is the highest ranked invidual for Oklahoma. He is averaging a 9.179 on the parallel bars and is ranked No. 1 in the nation. Senior Brian Trause is also ranked (8.908-9th) along with junior David Henderson (8.850-12th), Jock Stevens (8.825-13th) and Quinn Rowell (8.750-16th).
Record Home Crowd
When the men opened their season at home on Jan. 23, they posted their season best score in front of a new regular season record crowd for an Oklahoma Gymnastics meet. Some 1,475 fans attended the meet against Air Force, also featuring the OU women against the Falcon women. The old record for a Sooner gymnastics meet was set last year when the men hosted Ohio State and the women hosted Penn State on March 7, 2003 in front of 1,227 at the Lloyd Noble Center.
Williams Reaches 100
Oklahoma head coach Mark Williams earned his 100th career win at OU after defeating Ohio State and California on Feb. 21 and he currently holds a record of 103-7, in his fifth season. Williams is the fastest coach in the NCAA to reach the 100-win plateau in the sport. Williams only trails Greg Buwick (224) in wins at the school and Buwick earned his 100th victory near the end of his 10th season at OU. Buwick compiled a 224-74-1 in 16 seasons at OU before giving the reigns over to Williams.
The MPSF
The Sooners have won the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship five years in a row, four straight under Williams. This season OU is looking to do much of the same en route to defending its national championship as well. So far in 2004, OU has competed against the likes of three MPSF teams, Air Force, California and Nebraska. The Sooners are 5-0 against those teams, beating Air Force and Nebraska on two occasions. The next conference meet is when OU travels to face Nebraska. Below is a look at how OU ranks against the rest of the MPSF.
| National Rank | Team | Total Season Avg. | Meets |
| No. 1 | California | 217.762 | 4 |
| No. 2 | OKLAHOMA | 217.525 | 5 |
| No. 8 | Nebraska | 211.700 | 5 |
| No. 10 | Stanford | 208.660 | 5 |
| No. 17 | Air Force | 197.294 | 4 |
Sooners Named NCAAsports.com Team of the Week
The Oklahoma men's gymnastics team was named this week's NCAAsports.com Team Spotlight of the Week. The men are coming off back-to-back victories at the Rocky Mountain Open (Jan. 16-17) and over the Air Force Academy in Norman on Jan. 23.
In their victory over Air Force, the Sooners scored a season-high 217.650 and junior David Henderson won the all-around with a career-high 54.125. Henderson was also tops on parallel bars, pommel horse and still rings.
Overall, 13 different career-highs were tied or broken when the defending national champions defeated Air Force. Among some of those individuals to score well were OU's senior co-captains Heath Mueller and Quinn Rowell. Mueller, fresh off winning the all-around at the Rocky Mountain Open, recorded career highs on the floor exercise (9.300) and still rings (8.75). Rowell, a 2002 All-American on high bar, set a new mark in that event with a 9.525 score that earned him a tie for first place on the apparatus with Henderson.
“It is nice to be recognized for our effort and we are just staying focused on the task at hand and that is our match-up on the road with Iowa this weekend,” said Oklahoma head coach Mark Williams. “Iowa should be an interesting challenge due to the fact that at the Rocky Mountain Open there was one tenth of a point separating us. It will also have implications towards national rankings and we just want to keep the momentum going from our victory in the home opener against Air Force and post a solid score on the road.”
Last week, OU track and field's DaBryan Blanton was NCAAsports.com Spotlight Athlete of the Week. It marks the first time since the awards have been given out that a school has been awarded in consecutive weeks for different sports.
NCAA Record
Since the new scoring system's inception in 2001 in college gymnastics (Federation de Internationale Gymnastics Code Scoring System), OU has dominated the top team scores around the nation. Not only did the Sooners break the record twice last season, but they also currently own 11 of the top 25 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. Penn State, Ohio State, California and Illinois are the only other members in the top 25. OU has posted two top 25 scores this season; (Feb. 13 - 219.600 & Feb. 21 - 221.475).
Sooners Finish Home Schedule
OU will wrapup the home portion of the schedule next week in Norman, Okla. at McCasland Field House at 7 p.m. (March 6) against current-No. 3 Illinois. It will also be Senior Night for three OU gymnasts. Jock Stevens and co-captains Quinn Rowell and Heath Mueller will see their last action in Norman as collegiate gymnasts. The men will follow that up with the final regular season match at Nebraska.
MGYM Highlights: NCAA Qualifier
Friday, April 17
MGYM Highlights: MPSF Championship
Saturday, April 04
MGYM Highlights: OU 325.250, California 315.100
Saturday, March 21
Problem Solvers: Beyond The Game - Ignacio Yockers
Wednesday, March 18
