Sooners Conclude Regular Season At Nebraska

MEET 8
March 12, 2004 (7 p.m. - CST)
Lincoln, Neb.
Devaney Center

Teams:
No. 2 OKLAHOMA
No. 8 Nebraska
No. 16 Air Force

Preview
The No. 2 Sooners conclude the regular season in Lincoln, Neb., to take on No. 8 Nebraska and No. 16 Air Force in the final tuneup before the postseason.

The Sooners (12-0) cruised past No. 1 Ilinois last weekend at home by scoring an NCAA record 225.200 to the Illini's 221.975. OU topped the previous NCAA mark which it held by posting a 223.500 at the MPSF Championships last season and it now holds the top four NCAA scores.

Junior David Henderson stepped up for the Sooners scoring a career-high 55.275 in the all-around that gave him his second consecutive all-around title. The Crosby, Texas native had a career night, taking first on the vault with a career-high 9.650, one of his two first place finishes of the evening. He also took second on the still rings with a season-high 9.700 and fourth on the floor with a career-high 9.225.

Nebraska (7-8) fell to Minnesota, 211.45-212.725, Saturday, March 6 at the Sports Pavillion in Minneapolis, Minn. The Sooners and Cornhuskers have met twice before season with OU winning out on top both times. Most recently, OU defeated Nebraska at home 221.475-213.875 on Feb. 21.

Air Force (1-13) competed for the final time this season at home its last time out, finishing third in a tri-meet with Illinois-Chicago and California, on Sunday, March 7. The Falcons posted a team total of 206.750 to finish behind Cal (217.300) and UIC (213.250). It was the team's second-highest score of the season, trailing a 208.300 on March 5.

"We plan to again modify our team line-up a bit this week in order to develop more experiences for our non-starters," said Oklahoma head coach Mark Williams. "Nebraska always runs a great competition and we look forward to competing against two MPSF teams. It should be a good warm-up for the Mountain Pacific Sport Federation meet the following week."

On March 19-20, OU travels to Palo Alto, Calif., for the MPSF Championships hosted by Stanford.

Complete Release | Season Statistics

Top 15
The Oklahoma men's gymnastics team remained in the No. 2 spot after posting an NCAA record score of 225.200 versus Illinois. For the first two weeks in March, rankings are based on a three score average (select highest four scores, counting no more than two home scores, eliminating the best of the four and averaging the remaining three.

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 this week. 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 10 of every event with 20 gymnasts ranked in their respective events, including Josh Gore (2nd-parallel bars) and Quinn Rowell (3rd-high bar).

EVENT National Rank Average

Floor Exercise	3	36.675
Pommel Horse	2	37.067
Still Rings	3	36.617
Vault	8	36.733
Parallel Bars	1	36.367
High Bar	1	37.700

Making A Case For No. 1
The two-time defending National Champions have had to prove themselves this year after losing the nation's top gymnast last season, Daniel Furney, and individual national champion Josh Landis. OU has been ranked as low as No. 6 this season and even after disposing of their second No. 1 ranked opponent, Illinois on March 6, the Sooners remain ranked No. 2.

At the time of competition, the Sooners have defeated eight teams ranked in the top 10: No. 5 Iowa, No. 2 California, No. 1 Ohio State, No. 7 MIchigan, No. 8 Nebraska, No. 9 Minnesota, No. 10 Stanford and No. 1 Illinois.

"This team has blown away all my expectations and have proven that they are as good as anyone in the country," said Williams after OU's defeat of Illinois on March 6.

50 Straight!
OU extended its winning streak to 50 straight with its victory over No. 1 Illinois. On Feb. 21 against Michigan, Minnesota and Nebraska, the Sooners broke the school record for most consecutive wins by an athletic program. The school record for consecutive victories was held by the football team, which won 47 straight from 1953-1957. The gymnasts streak includes 31 on the road, where the Sooners last lost at Stanford on March 9, 2002. Before that, the Sooners rattled off 31 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. It is great to be a part of history"

Records Are Meant To Be Broken
The Sooners bested four school marks in their NCAA record breaking peformance of 225.200 on March 6. The first and most impressive was the team score that shattered their old NCAA record of 223.500 set at the MPSF Championships last season. In addition, OU topped the program's previous highs on the floor exercise, vault and high bar. The records along with the previous marks and the dates recorded are listed below:

	March 6 Score	Old Record (Date)
Team Score	225.200	223.500 (3/28/03)
Floor Exercise	37.500	37.350 (3/28/03)
Vault	37.700	37.400 (2/1/03)
High Bar	38.275	38.250 (2/13/04)

Senior Home Finale
The Sooners defeat of then-No. 1 Illinois was special for three OU seniors as they concluded their collegiate careers in Norman. Jock Stevens etched his name into the Sooner record books with a 9.725 on the floor exercise and now owns two school records, the other being his 9.700 on the vault. Quinn Rowell won first place on the high bar for the second consecutive week with his second highest high bar score (9.675) in his career. Heath Mueller also recorded a couple new career highs, with a 9.35 on the floor exercise and a 55.175 in the all-around, both good for second place.

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. Last season the Sooners set the record on two occasions and have done it once so far this season with a 225.200 on March 6 versus Illinois. They currently own the top four tallies and 12 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 three top 25 scores this season; (Feb. 13 - 219.600 , Feb. 21 - 221.475 & March 6 - 225.200).

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

Year	Record	Conference Finish	NCAA Finish
2000	15-4	(MPSF) 1st	4th
2001	24-2	(MPSF) 1st	2nd
2002	28-1	(MPSF) 1st	1st
2003	26-0	(MPSF) 1st	1st
2004	12-0	-	-
Career:	105-7 (.936)

Parallel Bars and High Bar Ranks No. 1 In The Nation
For the fourth consecutive week, Oklahoma is ranked No. 1 in the nation on the parallel bars with a scoring average of 36.367. The Sooners feature four individuals ranked in the top 20 on the apparatus. Junior Josh Gore is the highest ranked invidual for Oklahoma. He is averaging a 9.350 on the parallel bars and is ranked No. 2 in the nation. Senior Brian Trause is also ranked (9.133-5th) along with senior Heath Mueller (9.083-7th) and sophomore Quinn Rowell (8.900-19th).

For the second straight week, the Sooners' high bar team is also the nation's best, averaging 37.700. Senior Quinn Rowell is the highest ranked Sooner on the apparatus with a 9.633 avareage that ranks him at No. 3. Jamie Henderson is No. 6 with a 9.592 average and is followed by Heath Mueller (9.300-13th) and Josh Gore (9.167-19th).

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 four MPSF teams, Air Force, Stanford, California and Nebraska. The Sooners are 6-0 against those teams, beating Air Force and Nebraska on two occasions. The next conference meet the MPSF Championships at Stanford March 19-20. Below is a look at how OU ranks against the rest of the MPSF.

National Rank	Team	Total Season Avg.	Meets
No. 2	OKLAHOMA	220.342	7
No. 3	California	217.367	5
No. 8	Nebraska	213.100	6
No. 9	Stanford	212.750	6
No. 16	Air Force	204.483	8

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.

More School Records
On top of breaking five school team records this season, some individual Sooners have also fared well in making school history. Senior Jock Stevens set a school mark on the floor exercise when he finished in first place on the vault with a 9.725 against Illinois. Stevens bested the previous score of 9.700 held by Brendan O'Neil.

Senior Quinn Rowell is the other Sooner this season to set a school mark when he scored a 9.850 on the high bar against then-No. 1 Ohio State. Rowell's score topped the old mark by a point and a half, held by Daniel Furney (9.700).

How 2004's Sooners Shape Up
With one week left in the regular season this year's Sooners are averaging a higher score then the past two national championship teams and are ranked higher than the 2002 title team. Below is look at how this year's Sooners compare to the past two OU seasons at this point in the season.

Date	Average	Rank
March 9, 2004	220.342	2
March 10, 2003	218.662	1
March 11, 2002	215.550	3

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 105-7, 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.

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.”

How The Rankings Work
Gymnastics in the NCAA undegoes a complex system of averages that differs from how any other collegiate sport is ranked. All rankings are based on your scoring average and the way the scores are averaged changes on three occasions during the scheduled season. A brief explanation of this process is listed below:

1) January 19th to February 23rd, 2004 - (Ranking by Total Season Average)
This is the simplest of the three, where you simply use the average of all meets scored.

2) March 1st to March 15th, 2004 - (Ranking by Three Score Average
In this system, you select the highest four scores and only two home meets can be counted. Then the top score is eliminated and the remaining three are averaged.

3) March 22nd 2004 - (Ranking by National Qualifying Average {NQA})
The NQA is computed by selecting the four highest regular-season scores, again counting no more than two home meets, and the highest of these scores will be dropped. The conference meet score will be used twice and added to the three remaining regular-season scores. The average of these five scores will be the national qualifying average.” (The conference score will count 40% and the regular season scores will count 60%). For an individual, his score in the conference event finals can replace a regular season score.

Last Time Out (vs. Illinois - March 6)
The University of Oklahoma men's gymnastics team broke its own NCAA scoring record Saturday night at McCasland Field House in Norman. The No. 2 ranked Sooners posted a 225.200 to easily out-distance No. 1 Illinois, 221.875. It marked the second time this season that OU took down the nation's top-ranked team. Earlier, Oklahoma bested Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio, on Feb. 13.

Before Saturday's meet, OU came in with the nation's top three scores in NCAA history under the new scoring system implemented in 2001. Against No. 1 Illinois, OU topped their previous high of 223.500 set at the conference championships last season with an amazing 225.200.

“My expectations have been blown away by this team,” Oklahoma head coach Mark Williams. “That (record) is a product of how focused these guys are and I am thrilled about what they accomplished tonight. The guys were on fire and proved that on any given night they can be as good as anyone in the country. We have to take this momentum from this competition and hopefully carry it into the postseason.”

It was senior night for three Sooners and in their last home meet this season, OU recorded three school records on the floor exercise with a 37.500, on the vault with a 37.700 and on the high bar scoring a 38.275. Senior Jock Stevens broke the school individual mark with a 9.725 that won the floor competition. Senior co-captains Heath Mueller and Quinn Rowell also scored well. Rowell took first on the high bar with a 9.675 and Mueller was second in the all-around with a career-best 55.175 and second on the floor with another career-high, a 9.35.

“This was just an unbelievable night for the seniors,” said Williams. “It was electric right from the beginning when they honored the seniors. All three of them had fantastic evenings. They really showed what an amazing group they are by their performances in this meet against the No. 1 team in the nation.”

OU (12-0) defeated the Fighting Illini in four events, losing the pommel horse and parallel bars. The Sooners never trailed in the competition and extended their overall winning streak to 50 victories.

Junior David Henderson performed solid against that nation's top team, winning the all-around with a 55.275, a career-high. Henderson also took first on the vault, recording another career-best 9.650.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooners Conclude Regular Season At Nebraska

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