Back-To-Back Champs Set For NCAA Postseason

2004 NCAA Championships
April 2-4, 2004
Champaign, Illinois
Assembly Hall

Teams:
No. 2 OKLAHOMA
No. 3 Penn State
No. 6 Iowa
No. 7 Michigan
No. 9 UIC
No. 12 Army

Preview
The University of Oklahoma men's gymnastics team will start its NCAA National Title defense on April 2 in Champaign, Illinois. On March 23, the two qualifying sessions of the NCAA Qualifiers were announced with the Sooners landing in the afternoon session. The Sooners (17-1) will enter the meet ranked No. 2 in the nation for the fifth consecutive week.

Oklahoma will have its hands full with No. 3 Penn State, No. 6 Iowa, No. 7 Michigan, No. 9 UIC and No. 12 Army starting at 1 p.m., (CST) on April 2.

LIVE STATS
Scores after each rotation will be posted on the following link: LIVE STATS.

OU is coming off its first defeat since March 9, 2002, after finishing second in the 2004 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships with a 219.600 behind California's 220.225. Before the MPSF meet, the Sooners had rattled off 52 straight victories.

"This team definitely has the potential to compete for the title," said Oklahoma head coach Mark Williams. "We have shown this season that we have the ability to knock off the nation's top teams but it will come down to what team shows up. This is kind of like the NCAA basketball tournament where you need to get hot at the right time. In Friday's session, we are looking to put together a consistent meet and then put it all together come Saturday. Ultimately, we want to walk away from this weekend with a meet we are proud of and we will need a good day to win another championship."

Complete Release | 2004 Statistics

In the later session, the host and current-No. 1 Illinois will battle with No. 4 California, No. 5 Ohio State, No. 8 Stanford, No. 10 Nebraska and No. 11 Minnesota at 7 p.m. (CST).

The top three teams from each session will then take the floor on April 3 for the 2004 NCAA National Championship at 7 p.m. (CST) and then the individual finals will be held on April 4 at 2 p.m. (CST).

With the exception of UIC, Penn State and Army, the Sooners have defeated each of the remaining eight teams in the championship field throughout the course of the 2004 season. That includes defeating two No. 1 ranked teams at the time of competition and one No. 2 team. On March 6 in Norman, OU recorded the NCAA scoring record (225.200) against the Fighting Illini and on February 13 in Columbus, Ohio, the Sooners knocked off then-No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 California.

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.

Tale of the Tape
The link below displays a comparison of how the teams in OU's qualifying session rank in each event by the GymInfo Polls. OU is the only team ranked in the top five of each team event and join Penn State as the only squads to feature an individual ranked in the top 15 on each apparatus.

Team by Team Comparison

Top 15
The Oklahoma men's gymnastics team remained in the No. 2 spot for the fifth consecutive week, after finishing second at the MPSF Championships. The Sooners opened the season in that same spot as voted on by the coaches and have also been ranked No. 6, No. 4 and No. 3.

The Sooner individuals this week hold down 18 top 20 spots in their respective events, including Josh Gore (9.315, 3rd-parallel bars) and Quinn Rowell (9.650, 2nd-high bar). Below is the rest of the Sooners that sit in the top 10 this week:

Sooner	Event	National Rank	Average
Jock Stevens	Floor Exercise	3	9.650
Heath Mueller	Floor Exercise	8	9.305
Heath Mueller	All-Around	10	53.390
Jamie Henderson	Still Rings	5	9.655
David Henderson	All-Around	9	53.505
David Henderson	Still Rings	9	9.537
David Henderson	Vault	9	9.400
Brian Trause	Parallel Bars	6	9.040

Complete List Of Rankings

Rowell Named Finalist For Nissen Emery Award
Senior Quinn Rowell of the Oklahoma men's gymnastics team was named a finalist for the Nissen Emery Award on Monday. The San Antonio, Texas native is co-captain of the No. 2 Sooners (14-0) who earlier this season broke the NCAA team scoring record by posting a 225.200 over current No. 1 Illinois on March 6 in Norman.

Considered the Heisman Trophy of gymnastics, the Nissen Emery Award, founded by trampoline inventor George Nissen, has been handed out to the nation's top senior collegiate gymnast annually since 1966. Since the award's inception, Oklahoma has claimed a nation high five Nissen honorees: Bart Conner (1981), Jarrod Hanks (1991), Dan Fink (1998), Todd Bishop (1999) and Daniel Furney (2003). The Sooners are the only program to produce back-to-back winners when Dan Fink and Todd Bishop did it in 1998-1999.

“The Nissen Award is the most prestigious honor in men's gymnastics,” said Oklahoma head coach Mark Williams. “It is an award in which we are honored to have Quinn be a finalist for. Quinn brings the whole package to the table in not only has he been successful in the gym, but he is also an excellent leader and a great student. He truly embodies what this award is all about.”

Besides the overall team score, Rowell has been a part of two other school records this season. On Feb. 13 in Columbus, Ohio, Rowell broke the old high bar mark of 9.700 set by Furney, with a 9.850 against then-No. 1 Ohio State. In that competition, OU also broke, at the time, the team high bar record with a 38.250. That record lasted till March 6 when Rowell posted a 9.675 to help the Sooners tally a 38.275.

Rowell has placed first on the high bar in his last three competitions and also competes on the parallel bars. His season-high on the p-bars also came against Ohio State, a 9.050 that established a career-best.

The senior was named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Gymnast of the Week on Feb. 18 after the Sooners defeated Ohio State. In 2002, Rowell earned All-America honors on the high bar and has competed at OU through numerous injuries and surgeries.

Rowell's Bio | 2004 Statistics

The other finalists for the Nissen Emery Award include Jeff Anderson, Air Force; David Eaton, California; Dan Gill, Stanford; Jamie Houle, Ohio State; Jamie Northrup, William & Mary; Bob Rogers, Illinois and Kevin Tan, Penn State.

“You have to look at all the finalists and recognize what a great group of athletes they are,” said Williams. “Quinn is honored to be a part of this field and he definitely deserves any recognition that comes his way.”

The winner will be announced at a formal banquet Thursday night (April 1) before the NCAA Championships get underway in Champaign, Illinois.

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	17-1	(MPSF) 2nd	-
Career:	110-8 (.932)

MPSF Individual Champions
Despite finishing second in the team finals at the 2004 MPSF Championships the Sooners did not come home empty handed. Senior co-captain Quinn Rowell won his first MPSF Individual Title with a 9.487 during the event finals. Rowell qualified on the apparatus by scoring a 9.675 during the team finals. Joining Rowell was junior Josh Gore. Gore also won his first conference individual title by outscoring the competition with a 9.187 on the parallel bars after qualifying with a 9.250. Gore and Rowell have been ranked among the top five in the nation on the high bar and parallel bars for most of the season and became the 90th and 91st individual conference champions in OU history.

MPSF Dominance
After taking second in the conference meet on March 19, the Sooners' streak of five straight MPSF titles ended. Competition in the Big 8 switched to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in 1996 and the Sooners won the first ever conference title under Greg Buwick. In the conference's history, OU has won six of the nine years and finished second on two occasions (1997 and 2004) and fifth in the other (1998).

Streak Halted
OU's winning streak of 52 straight ended with its second place finish at the 2004 MPSF Championships. The Sooners broke the school record for most consecutive wins by an athletic program topping the old mark held by the football team, which won 47 straight from 1953-1957. The gymnasts streak included 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. Since then, the vault record was broken at Nebraska. All the team records broken this season along with the previous marks and the dates recorded are listed below:

	New Record (Date)	Old Record (Date)
Team Score	225.200 (3/6/04)	223.500 (3/28/03)
Floor Exercise	37.500 (3/6/04)	37.350 (3/28/03)
Vault	37.750 (3/12/04)	37.400 (2/1/03)
High Bar	38.275 (3/6/04)	38.250 (2/13/04)

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. They also started off the season at the No. 2 spot.

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 (three times), No. 9 Minnesota, No. 10 Stanford and No. 1 Illinois.

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

High Bar Ranks No. 1 In The Nation
For the fourth straight week, the Sooners' high bar team is the nation's best, averaging 37.730. Senior Quinn Rowell is the highest ranked Sooner on the apparatus with a 9.650 average that ranks him at No. 2. Heath Mueller is No. 15 with a 9.280 average and is followed by Jamie Henderson (9.235-17th) and James Myers (9.220-18th).

For the first time in six weeks, the Sooners were not the top team on the parallel bars. OU dropped to No. 2 this week and trail No. 1 Illinois by 0.080.

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 competed at the MPSF Individual Event Finals posting a 9.750. Stevens bested the previous record that he held, a 9.725 recorded against Illinois earlier in the season.

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).

One Loss Teams
OU enters the NCAA National Championship meet with an impressive 17-1 record. California is the only other team to record just one defeat on the season. The other top five teams have as many as seven losses and as few as two. Tthey are as follows: Illinois (4), Penn State (2), Cal (1) and Ohio State (7).

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 nine 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, Michigan 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).

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 110-8, 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.

Consecutive National Titles
Since the creation of collegiate men's gymnastics (1953), only seven current teams have won consecutive national championships. Oklahoma, Nebraska and Penn State all have won two straight or more on two occasions and with a 2004 title, OU can join Penn State and Nebraska as the only schools to win three or more straight titles. Penn State did it in 1953 and 1954 then again from 1959-1961. Nebraska ran an impressive string of four straight titles from 1979-1982 and Oklahoma won back-to-back titles in 1977-1978 and then again the past two seasons. OU's five national championships ranks them fourth all time behind Penn State (10), Illinois (9) and Nebraska (8).

Consecutive NCAA Titles (years)	Total National Championships
Penn State (1953-1954, 1959-1961)	Penn State (10)
Illinois (1955-1956)	Illinois (9)
*Southern Illinois (1966-1967)	Nebraska (8)
Michigan (1969-1970)	Oklahoma (5)
*Iowa State (1973-1974)	Southern Illinois (4), California (4)
Nebraska (1979-1982)	*Iowa St. (3), Michigan (3), Ohio St. (3), Stanford (3)
Stanford (1992-1993)	Florida State (2), UCLA (2)
California (1997-1998)
Oklahoma (1977-1978, 2002-2003)

* indicates school no longer sponsors gymnastics program

Inside Gymnastics Feature
The two-time defending champions were previewed in Inside Gymnastics Magazine on their website and a full version of the feature can be viewed by clicking here.

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.

Undefeated Regular Season
For the second consecutive season, the Oklahoma Sooners finished the regular season without a loss, going 14-0 in 2004. Last season during their second straight NCAA Championship, the Sooners were 12-0 in the regular season and finished 26-0.

Last Time Out at MPSF Championships - March 19-20
The University of Oklahoma competed in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships hosted by Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif., on Friday, March 19 and finished second behind No. 5 California (220.225). Behind the No. 2 Sooners (219.600) was Stanford (214.675), Nebraska (211.525) and Air Force (204.900).

The Sooners entered the meet winners of five straight conference titles and six overall MPSF titles in the conference's eight years of existence. OU had also recorded 52 straight wins before the conference meet with its last loss consequently coming at Stanford to the Cardinal, March 9, 2002.

OU took its first lead following the floor exercise (fourth rotation) after California had lead the meet for the first three events. OU was able to maintain the lead after the fifth rotation before Cal passed the Sooners to claim the title.

“Cal deserved to win that meet, they performed well and were prepared,” said Oklahoma head coach Mark Williams. “They looked like they were competing at a championship level and in order for us to compete with that we needed to perform like we did in our record breaking performance against Illinois two weeks ago. My hat goes off to head coach Barry Weiner and his team and now we are going to go back home and try to work harder.”

Junior David Henderson finished third in the all-around with a 53.700 behind Cal's Randall Heflin (54.000) and Stanford's Dan Gill (54.475).

Oklahoma (17-1) started off on vault and scored a 36.850 (its third highest score of the season). Senior co-captain Heath Mueller (9.200), senior Jock Stevens (9.350) and junior David Henderson (9.400) keyed the Sooners' vault performance. After one rotation, OU trailed only California and its 37.450 on pommel horse.

The deciding event for OU was the still rings while Cal finished off the meet on the floor exercise. The Sooners' 36.925 was not enough to hold off Cal who posted a 37.850. David and Jamie Henderson were OU's top performers on the final event, posting a 9.500 and a 9.700 respectively.

OU outscored the opposition on the high bar, parallel bars and rings and had the top individual scores on the floor (Stevens), still rings (J. Henderson) and parallel bars (Gore).

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 the 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.”

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Back-To-Back Champs Set For NCAA Postseason

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